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From 'Gerroff my land' to 'Get on my land': Farmers are keen to set the record straight with Open Farm Sunday 2025
The event — which sees farmers throw open their gates to visitors — returns for its 19th year on Sunday, June 8 with hundreds of farms across Britain will be taking part.
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New balls please: Eddie Redmayne, Anna Wintour and Laura Bailey on the sensory pleasures of playing tennis
Little beats the popping sound and rubbery smell of a new tube of tennis balls — even if you're a leading Hollywood actor.
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How Country Life launched the career of Alistair Mackenzie, the architect who created Augusta National's iconic golf course
Alister Mackenzie winning golf hole design.
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Is anyone more superstitious than a sports star?
When it comes to worrying about omens and portents, nobody gets quite so worked up as our sportsmen and women.
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Curious Questions: Why do golf balls have dimples? And why are tennis balls furry?
As the weather picks up, millions of us start thinking about dusting off our golf clubs and tennis rackets. And as he did so, Martin Fone got thinking: why aren't the balls we use for tennis and golf perfectly smooth?
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'Dozens died, and during the 1683 Thames Frost Fair a party of skaters was caught by the wind and blown out to sea': The risky business of skating on thin ice
Now that we've successfully negotiated the ice skating season, spare a thought for those in the past who literally put their lives on the line to enjoy winter's most elegant pastime.
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Skate at Somerset House is the friendliest thing you'll ever do in London
Relying on the kindness of strangers is alive, well, and found in Skate at Somerset House on the Strand.
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The seven greatest winners in the history of the Badminton Horse Trials
The Badminton Horse Trials, the oldest competition of its kind in the world, celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2024. Kate Green chooses seven heroic winners in its history.
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How a British team of mountaineers conquered Everest, the 'goddess of the sky'
Seventy years ago, on the eve of the Queen’s coronation, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest. Octavia Pollock considers the legacy of their achievement and what it meant for British mountaineering.
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The A to Z of the Cheltenham Festival, from Arkle to Zarkander
Here is all you need to know about the 2023 Cheltenham National Hunt Festival, one of the greatest sporting occasions on the calendar.
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The Royal Company of Archers: The tale of the The Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland
Sir Walter Scott’s legacy lives on as The Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland, The Royal Company of Archers, celebrates its bicentenary on a joyful royal occasion. Jamie Blackett brushes off his uniform.
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Country house eventing: Where houses meet horses
Some of Britain’s greatest country houses become equine sporting amphitheatres once a year. Kate Green reports on how cultures collide with spectacular results. Photographs by Mark Williamson and Christopher Doyle.
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Curious Questions: Was Captain Webb the first to swim the channel?
Captain Matthew Webb was famously the first man to successfully swim the English Channel — or was he? Martin Fone investigates.
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Curious Questions: What is the world's oldest extant rowing race?
The annual Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race has been a fixture on the sporting calendar of Britain for almost two centuries — but there is a far older example still going, Doggett's Coat and Badge, which boasts an unbroken record of winners for more than three centuries examples. Martin Fone explains.
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'Ever since Christ stilled the waters of Galilee, fishing and mortality have been entwined'
Joe Gibbs recounts his latest exploits on the water after a visit to the River Ewe.
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The Cheltenham Gold Cup: Everything you need to know about the week's big race
It is 90 years since Golden Miller won the first of a record-breaking five victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Jack Watkins looks back at other equine heroes of the race and assesses the Irish raider Al Boum Photo’s chances of making history at this year’s Festival.
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Wimbledon's 'critical' expansion plans spark controversy in SW19: 'The locals feel that Wimbledon used to hold a special place in their hearts. Now, it’s just a big, money-driven machine'
The All England Lawn Tennis Club's ambitious plans to expand into Wimbledon Park have caused consternation among local residents. Annunciata Elwes reports.
