BASSET HOUNDS: Incorrigible, vocal and partial to unguarded food, basset hounds are as human as a dog can be, reveals devotee Flora Watkins.
TOY SOLDIERS: Lining up Wellington’s infantry or the ‘Arabs of the desert’ was once a childhood staple, but no longer, rues Charles Harris .
WINTER CITRUS: Citrus fruits, from familiar lemons to exotic calamondins, will light up winter, advises John Hoyland.
MY FAVOURITE PAINTING: David Bradley, actor, chooses Monet’s poppy-strewn meadow .
WALKING LIFE: Fiona Reynolds tackles the steep slopes of The Wrekin .
ROBINS: The first book to be devoted to the story of a single bird, David Lack’s The Life of the Robin is still revered, says Jack Watkins.
ARCHITECTURE: The history of 16th-century Rippington Manor, Cambridgeshire, is unexpectedly complex, discovers John Goodall .
A STAINED GLASS WONDER: Heraldic stained-glass windows designed by A. W. N. Pugin for Gothic Alton Towers in Staffordshire have been triumphantly restored, finds John Goodall.
INTERIORS: A country kitchen in town and how the past is informing the new .
SCALLOPS: Tom Parker Bowles relishes the sweet succulence of scallops, a rare morsel with both pagan and pious connotations.
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudia Arabia to the South Downs via Cornwall and Milan.
CRICKET: James Fisher assesses England’s — admittedly slim — chances in the next Test against Australia.
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‘Whatever do you do up there?’ enquire certain English infidels. The answer? ‘Lady, if ya gotta ask, ya’ll never know’: David Profumo's piece of heaven in Highland PerthshireDavid Profumo on the joy and wonder of the Highlands.
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I lichen the look of you: A rare lichen-covered fingerpost that's been frozen in time and donated to the Natural History MuseumA fingerpost, covered in 12 different species of lichen, has been donated to the Natural History Museum by Exmoor National Park — but they had some trouble getting it there.
