Country Life 16 February 2022
Country Life 16 February 2022 looks at bloodhounds, common land and Stonehenge.


Songs from the garden of Eden: Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato talks to Henrietta Bredin about gardening, keeping busy and singing to save the planet
The bloodhound gang: Lolloping, intelligent, with the best nose in the business, a bloodhound is worth the slobber, believes Katy Birchall
Think big: It’s increasingly easy to emulate Capability Brown and transform your garden in mere moments by planting mature trees, reports Charles Quest-Ritson
Martin Brudnizki’s favourite painting: The interior designer chooses a richly coloured abstract
It’s a game of snakes and ladders: Jamie Blackett embraces inflation with a rare holiday
Masterpiece: Jack Watkins admires Thomas Hardy’s first major success, Far From the Madding Crowd
English homes old and new: In part two of our anniversary series, John Goodall studies the 15th-century household
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A brush with history: Family-run company Hillbrush is celebrating its 100th birthday in fine style, finds Julie Harding
Twinkle, twinkle ancient stars: A 3,600-year-old bronze ‘sky disc’ is the centrepiece of a new exhibition, finds Vicky Liddell
A lack of common knowledge: The ancient commoning system is good for farmer and land alike, yet is under threat, discovers Octavia Pollock
Travel: Luxuriating in St Tropez, France
The good stuff: Hetty Lintell on specs appeal
Interiors: Amelia Thorpe finds extra space
Kitchen garden cook: Melanie Johnson on carrots
Pure acting: The performance is all that’s needed for Michael Billington
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
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Graham Norton's elegant East London home hits the market, and it's just as wonderful as you would expect
The 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?