Country Life February 14 2018
The love life of birds; the royal-wedding florist; and the best bespoke engagement rings.


Country Life February 14 2018 meets the royal-wedding florist, explores the love life of birds and reveals the best bespoke engagement rings. Find out more:
NAUGHTY BIRDS: Birds are famous for monogamy – but some are known to bend those rules, as Ian Morton explains.
FLOWERS: Charles Quest-Ritson on a trip to Italy to look at the rose of St Valentine.
DESIGN YOUR OWN ENGAGEMENT RINGS: If you're about to pop the question, or if you're already engaged but yet to get a ring, Emma Hughes has help.
WOODLAND PLANTS: At Caerhays Castle in Cornwall, generations of work have gone into breeding specialist plants.
ARCHITECTURE: Authentic Georgian colours have taken the restoration of Woodhall Park to a different level.
LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE: The gold stamper.
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MUSIC: The world's most romantic composers, by Ysenda Maxtone Graham.
IRISH STEW: Simon Hopkinson shares his recipe for this classic dish.
CHIPPENDALE: The furniture designer's great book reveals another string to his bow.
MY FAVOURITE PAINTING: Sir John Tusa makes his selection – one from an obscure German artist.
WALKING: Fiona Reynolds follows in the footsteps of the founder of the Picturesque movement.
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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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A Hampshire Manor for sale that dates back to the days of Alfred the Great, with the most beautiful staircase we've seen in years
The ten bedroom property features an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, spa complex and stables, and it was restored by the same architect who worked on Downing Street.
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