A letter? A letter? What is this — 1897 (Editor's note: incidentally, this is when Country Life was first published)? Do I have to cycle to the post box on a penny farthing?
Ahem, no it’s not, and no you don’t. There are various occasions now when you can get away with a thank you text — someone picked up the tab after dinner, someone gave you a book they thought you’d like, someone dog-sat for you, someone gave you unwarranted and ultimately quite unhelpful love life advice, but the thought was there. A brief WhatsApp or even a voice note (under a minute, please!) can work in these situations.
Alas, there are still moments when you still have to sit down, like a reluctant child after Christmas, and bash out a few thoughtful sentences by hand. After a wedding, after staying with someone for the weekend, or after a particularly inspired present.
That said, I’m a big fan of a postcard. Did you take an adorable snap of their baby during the weekend? Did you take a photo of the bride and groom, emerging from church, confetti floating into their open mouths? Go online and knock up a photo postcard, in that case, and write a few (heartfelt!) lines to go on the back of it. Quick, easy, still personal and delivered through the letterbox, but most importantly the website sends the postcard for you, which means it’ll arrive promptly rather than rolling around in the bottom of your bag until you remember to stick it in the post five months later.
Alternatively, make like my godson, Jack, who sent me a terrific thank you letter a few months ago. Jack is five, so it wasn’t a long or notably articulate letter. ‘Dear Sophia’ it said, in wobbly orange, felt-tip pen letters at the top of the page, and underneath that was a very rudimentary felt-tip drawing of a camera since I’d given him one for Christmas. ‘Love Jack,’ said more wobbly letters below his picture. That was it. Just a drawing, but I loved it so much I’ve framed it. So you could always try that after a wedding, and send a ropey sketch of a salmon canapé.
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A Cotswolds property that's the strangest mix of old and new we've ever seen... and yet somehow, it all worksThe Gasworks is a house quite unlike anything you've seen before — or at least anything you've seen all in one place. Toby Keel takes a closer look.
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'Sir David Beckham came to see our cattle a couple of years ago. He was fascinated': The stockman at the Glympton EstateTrevor Kirk, a Scottish stockman who now tends the Aberdeen Angus herd on the Glympton Estate in Oxfordshire, is one of Sir David Beckham's rural heroes in the special guest-edited issue of the magazine. He spoke to Julie Harding.
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'Sir David Beckham came to see our cattle a couple of years ago. He was fascinated': The stockman at the Glympton Estate
Trevor Kirk, a Scottish stockman who now tends the Aberdeen Angus herd on the Glympton Estate in Oxfordshire, is one of Sir David Beckham's rural heroes in the special guest-edited issue of the magazine. He spoke to Julie Harding.
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Stefan Pitman: Making great country houses cost less to heat than a suburban semiThe trailblazing architect Stefan Pitman — founder of SPASE — joins the Country Life Podcast.
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What’s better than a date with Ali MacGraw? Tending to your wax jacket, according to Steve McQueenThis is the story of the world’s most useful jacket.
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Our never-ending interest in magic and the occult, from Elizabethan England to Donald Trump's presidencyAs Haddon Hall’s rooms, complete with historic witches' marks, are transformed into exhibits that explore witchcraft and evil spirits, Lotte Brundle explores our continued fascination with the supernatural.
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England and the 1966 World Cup — which was stolen and later recovered by a dog called PicklesIn celebration of the footballing talents of Country Life's guest editor Sir David Beckham, we look back at the summer of 1966, when the England national team was on top of the world.
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Dire Straits' bassist John Illsley reveals why he swapped the recording studio for the art studio — and his consuming passionsJohn Illsley rose to fame as the bassist of the Dire Straits, but nowadays you're more likely to find him in an art studio.
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At the Bonneville Salt Flats, the only currency is speedCharlie Thomas reports from Speed Week, and talks to those with a bad case of 'Salt Fever'.
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This watch was worn by the first woman to swim the English Channel, changing the horological world forever. Now it's going under the hammerThe early Rolex Oyster was worn by pioneering cross-Channel swimmer Mercedes Gleitze in 1927.
