Country Life 4 September 2024
Country Life 4 September 2024 looks at the lore of otters, takes a slippery slope in St Moritz, celebrates Burghley's founder and marvels at the miracle of moss.

Here's a look at some of what you'll find inside:
Building blocks
A sensible framework on land use must be in place before we embark on a ‘build, build, build’ crusade, argues Fiona Reynolds
‘Neither fish nor flesh’
Laura Parker charts the lore and legends attached to Lutra lutra, that bewhiskered, bright-eyed beacon of conservation
Interiors
Amelia Thorpe luxuriates in an array of elegant tubs, tiles and accessories for the bathroom
London Life
- A fresh vision of the city’s future
- Tom Parker Bowles lauds the capital’s most fêted restaurateurs
- Jo Rodgers marvels at a pop-up stationery shop
Travel
News of islands and ice
Jane Wheatley cruises the waters of Indonesia and Australia
Rosie Paterson is on a slippery slope in St Moritz
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Pamela Goodman relives the ups and downs of walking on Paxos
Talk of the ton
Susan Jenkins examines the high fashion of the Regency period, from low-cut necklines to trussed-up regal sausages
Claire Booth’s favourite painting
The soprano is moved by an emotional Expressionist work that hits you between the eyes
What’s next?
Carla Carlisle is growing weary of damaging family feuds as she charts a positive way forward
Building nationhood
The meticulous restoration of Villa Golescu in Romania is a tribute to the country’s Revival style, suggests Jeremy Musson
The legacy
Kate Green celebrates the 16th-century life of William Cecil, the man who left us Burghley House
By the light of the harvest moon
How do onion skins reveal what the winter holds in store? Lia Leendertz explores the weather lore for September
The best seat in the house
Chairmaker Finn Koefoed-Nielsen tells Nick Hammond how he met his ‘national treasure’ mentor Jim Steele thanks to Country Life
Friends in low places
Mark Cocker gives us the low-down on the miracle of moss, a wonder of the natural world that lives right under our feet
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell selects elegant bags that are bound to work for you
It started with a blank canvas
A painterly eye has transformed the gardens at Patthana in Co Wicklow into an artistic delight, reveals Jane Powers
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson revels in the soft and squishy joy of figs
Foraging
Humans have been harvesting hazelnuts for millennia and long may it continue, says John Wright
And much more.
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.
-
Robin Hood's seaside getaway, and who appears on the £20 note?
Our daily quiz features one of the most beautiful spots in Britain... but where is it?
By Toby Keel Published
-
A glorious 17th century home in one of the most exclusive waterside villages in Britain
Orchard House was lucky not to have been sunk beneath the surface of Rutland Water when it was created in the 1970s — but it did, and today this wonderful spot is looking better than ever.
By Toby Keel Last updated