Country Life 23 February 2022

published 23 February 2022

ERIC RAVILIOUS: The work of ‘the boy’ is renowned for its clarity. Peyton Skipwith looks at the life of Eric Ravilious.

SELF-PORTRAITS: Self-portraits have offered an insight into artists’ personalities, interests and statuses for centuries, says Matthew Dennison.

AMPNEY CRUCIS: Plantaholic heaven? The Coach House, Ampney Crucis, Gloucestershire, home of The Specialist Plant Fairs, is as distinctive as one might wish. Tiffany Daneff pays a visit.

SCHOOLS: Pupils are leading the eco-friendly charge, reports Madeleine Silver; the schools that are joining up to offer education from toddler to teenager; finding alternatives to the old public-school/Oxbridge route; and as Harrow School marks its 450th anniversary, John Goodall looks at its grand architectural story.

JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL: The award-winning writer finds a heron battling the mud far more effectively than he manages himself.

ANNIE SLOAN'S FAVOURITE PAINTING: The author and colour expert chooses a contradictory still life.

INTERIORS: Persia is reborn in East Anglia through Boris Aldridge’s tiles, reveals Lucien de Guise. Plus, the joy of character and pattern.

LUXURY: Bags, opals and Harriet Walter.

LEEKS: A delicious recipe from our Kitchen Garden Cook.

SOUTHDOWN SHEEP: Jack Watkins on their teddy bear faces and soft wool.

ARROWHEADS: Fearsome arrowheads are being forged again in deepest Dorset, discovers Ben Lerwill.

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.