Country Life 14/21 December 2022

Here's a look at what you'll find inside the 2022 Christmas Double Issue of Country Life.

Our annual Christmas double issue is without doubt one of our great highlights of each year. It’s been months in the planning and execution; here’s a little taster of just some of the things you’ll find inside.

A time to give with love

The Revd Lucy Winkett offers her message of hope this Christmas

Paul O’Grady’s favourite painting

The actor, presenter and dog lover chooses a convivial Swedish scene

The ghost of a Christmas past

How do the preoccupations of 2022 compare with 1897?

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Invincible to enemies

On the 950th anniversary of its royal transfer, John Goodall explores splendid and influential Lincoln Cathedral

Ice and snow in art

Ice and snow consumed the painting world in the 16th century to create a pantheon of snowy masterpieces, says Michael Prodger

Hey, Mister Snowman

Katy Birchall selects her carrots and coals

The magic of Midnight Mass

The Revd Colin Heber-Percy sets his mind to the enchanted service on Christmas Eve

’Tis the season to eat merrily

From the goose to the pudding, it’s worth getting the best for Christmas. Tom Parker Bowles presents his pick of the producers

 

Of spice and men

The scent of the season is unmistakeable, but why are some spices so firmly associated with Christmas, asks Emma Hughes

Carve! The herald angels sing

Ben Lerwill meets woodcarver William Barsley, whose work echoes Westminster Hall

The master of disguise

If you manage to spot the well-camouflaged ptarmigan, you’re lucky, says Simon Lester

A winter’s tale

Alexandra Wood remembers the frozen wonderland of a childhood power cut

The Editor’s Christmas Quiz

No peeking at the answers!

Plenty of room at the inn

As the snow falls, the villagers gather in the warm fug of the pub to welcome an early arrival, relates Kate Green

Put a ring on it

Once necessary, now eco-friendly, napkin rings are enjoying a revival, says Matthew Dennison

The golden goose

Succulent and tasty, it’s impossible to resist a juicy goose, finds Tom Parker Bowles

Interiors

Arabella Youens, Matthew Dennison and Amelia Thorpe wax lyrical about candles

Luxury

Last-minute treats, watches and diamonds to savour and Kit Kemp’s favourite things

One pine day

John Lewis-Stempel marvels at the pine cone, an edible example of Nature’s artistry

In the still of winter

Tiffany Daneff explores Fullers Mill, Suffolk, where plantsman Bernard Tickner created a remarkable garden from rough land

Pigs for Christmas — and for life

Could you eat your garden resident? Julie Harding talks to those who can and can’t

Bursting with life

Plant your bulbs and let the beauty unfurl, urges Stephen Desmond

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson tucks into Brussels sprouts

Gone rabbiting

Fiona Reynolds walks the real-life Watership Down in the paw-prints of Hazel and Fiver

The farmer’s verdict on 2022

Jamie Blackett looks back over a turbulent year from the sanity of his farm

The flying ghosts of Christmases past

Jack Watkins salutes the magnificent equine heroes of the King George VI Chase

They wrote the words the whole world sings

First poems, now familiar carols, the likes of Hark! the herald angels sing often have unexpected origins, discovers Andrew Green

A coalition of interest

John Goodall talks to Sir Philip Rutnam, the erudite new chairman of the National Churches Trust, about the difficulties ahead

Masterpiece

Jack Watkins is swept away by Peter Pan

An Othello for the times

Michael Billington reviews the theatrical year

All creatures great and small

How the animals from our favourite childhood books stay with us forever

And much more besides