When I was a kid, seeing a badger was a bit of a rarity. When Country Life's boss, Mark Hedges, was a kid, it was even rarer: his dad once stopped the car to let little Mark and his family take a look at a badger who'd been hit by a car, since they'd never set eyes on one before.
Years of extensive protection for badgers means that they're far more numerous — great news for badgers, but much less good news for hedgehogs and cattle farmers. They're far more easily spotted than they once were.
One place where you'll *really* see badgers easily is, apparently, St Leonards-on-Sea. The Sussex seaside town is home to a host of Eurasian badgers who happily toddle round the streets, feasting on scraps left out for them, prompting photographer Ian Wood to set up a hide to see if he could snap some photos of them.
Naturally, he set that hide up across the road from some Banksy-inspired badger street art.
Ian's effort paid off in fine style when one of the badgers didn't just stop nearby, but even paused to take a look at his Ganster Badger doppelganger. The resulting picture has just earned Ian the People's Choice award in the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. See www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/peoples-choice to see more of the shortlisted pictures.
Quiz of the Day...
...has moved into its own little story, with buttons, and pictures, and all sorts of fun bits, whcih we're published every weeknight at 5pm. Give it a whirl.
Interesting times
The Bank of England trimmed interest rates on Thursday in a move that looks — at least in part — designed to boost the property market ahead of the impending Stamp Duty increase coming in April.
That said, a slight trim in interest rates won't do that much. At the moment, first-time buyers pay no stamp duty when buying a home worth £425,000; come April they will be paying £6,250.
And the savings they'll make on interest rates? Should they put down £50,000 and borrow £375,000, that 0.25% equates to about £50 a month. At that rate it'd take just over ten years to recoup the six grand. Ouch.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous
We've no idea how Architectural Digest persuades so many big names to show them around their homes, and stick the resulting videos on social media. But they do, and it's fascinating as you'll find out in this one with Sienna Miller. In which she casually drops the news that she just decided to buy it, more or less on a whim, when she was 25., proving that not all first-time buyers are worried about interest rates and Stamp Duty.
'The 20th century Tarzan, a party animal swarmed under by supermodels, rock stars and the rest'
If you haven't yet read Christopher Wallace's piece on the incredible life of photographer Peter Beard, go and do it now.
We'll wait...
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See? We told you it was worth it.
A day in the life of Peter Beard.
That's it for this week — we're back on Monday!
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Graham Norton's elegant East London home hits the market, and it's just as wonderful as you would expectThe four-bedroom home in Wapping should be studied for how well it uses two separate spaces to create a home of immense character and utility.
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Sign of the times: In the age of the selfie, what’s happening to the humble autograph?When Ringo Starr announced that he was no longer going to sign anything, he kickstarted a celebrity movement that coincided with the advent of the camera phone and selfie. Rob Crossan asks whether, in today’s world, the selfie holds more clout than an autograph?
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George Monbiot: 'Farmers need stability and security... Instead, they're contending with chaos'The writer, journalist and campaigner George Monbiot joins the Country Life podcast.
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Exploring the countryside is essential for our wellbeing, but Right to Roam is going backwardsCampaigners in England often point to Scotland as an example of how brilliantly Right to Roam works, but it's not all it's cracked up to be, says Patrick Galbraith.
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In all its glory: One of Britain’s most striking moth species could be making a comebackThe Kentish glory moth has been absent from England and Wales for around 50 years.
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The birds of urban paradise: How to get twitching without leaving the cityYou don't need to leave the concrete jungle to spot some rare and interesting birds. Here's a handy guide to birdspotting in Britain's towns and cities.
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Food with a pinch of salt: The crops we can harvest from the seaFilling, rewarding and nutritious, vegetables and plants grown in saline environments — whether by accident or design — have plenty of potential. Illustration by Alan Baker.
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White-tailed eagles could soon soar free in southern EnglandNatural England is considering licensing the release of the raptors in Exmoor National Park — and the threat to pets and livestock is considered to be low.
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Britain's whale boom and and the predator that's far scarier than a great white shark, with wildlife cinematographer Dan AbbottThe wildlife cinematographer Dan Abbott joins us on the Country Life Podcast.
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'They are inclined to bite and spray acid to protect territory': Meet the feisty red wood ant
