Curious Questions: Which person has spent the most time on TV?
Is it Elvis? Is it Queen Elizabeth II? Is it Gary Lineker? No, it's an eight-year-old girl called Carole and a terrifying clown. Here is the history of the BBC's Test Card F.
Is it Elvis? Is it Queen Elizabeth II? Is it Gary Lineker? No, it's an eight-year-old girl called Carole and a terrifying clown. Here is the history of the BBC's Test Card F.
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines.
As the 2024 Prroms get under way, we take a look at the man who began this great British summer institution: Henry Wood.
Jane Seymour bought this stunning house a few years after becoming one of the most celebrated Bond girls in the entire 007 series; now, it's seeking a new owner.
Music, sport, gardens and more — here are some of the best events to attend this summer.
Forget bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens — Jonathan Self loves the sound of a burning log shifting in the stove and a tractor misfiring on its way up the lane.
Beatrice Harrison, aka ‘The Lady of the Nightingales’, charmed King and country with her garden duets alongside the nightingales singing in a Surrey garden. One hundred years later, Julian Lloyd Webber examines whether her performances were fact or fiction.
There are few things less pleasurable than a tuneless public rendition of Happy Birthday To You, says Rob Crossan, a century after the little ditty came into being
Burns Night has been celebrated for well over 200 years – here's everything you need to know about celebrating Scotland's national poet.
Once a time of merriment when rules were subverted, Twelfth Night has long since lost its sparkle, says Vicky Liddell, as she digs into the colourful past of the Feast of Fools and finds that some traditions live on.
Ian Morton explores the runaway success of the Dickens Christmas classic and reveals the 'real' Ebenezer Scrooge, who was far from a mean man.
Aled Jones speaks to Country Life about his favourite Christmas carols and Christmas traditions.
Patrick Galbraith has a night to remember.
The Country Life Index of articles is all articles published by Country Life, since 1897, in one place.
Country Life's cultural crusader Athena takes a look at the thorny issue of live music ticket prices — and how the habits of concert-goers today show that the struggles of classical music and opera to find an audience run far deeper than mere cost.
Not all heroes wear capes, some are more likely to put on the wrong trousers and ask their dog if he wants ‘more cheese’. Harry Pearson meets Wallace and Gromit, two of our best-loved Plasticine characters.
The Proms are a great British institution and a remarkable success story, says Country Life's cultural commentator Athena.
Revellers in ball gowns and dinner jackets, turning up on board £200,000 boats to dance and party while knocking back magnums of vintage champagne? It can only be the extraordinary Henley Festival, the high-end musical extravaganza that's a sort of Glastonbury-on-Thames for the (very) well heeled. We sent Emma Earnshaw along to see what it was like.