Innholdsfortegnelse for 09-Jan-2019 i Country Life

Exceptional, without exception 1 Portrait of a Hanoverian officer, oil on canvas, 1769, by Hugh Barron (1747-1791), from John Bennett Fine Paintings johnbennettfinepaintings.co.uk 2 A George I veneered walnut chest of drawers comprising two short and three long drawers, circa 1725, from Richard Courtney richardcourtneyltd.com 3 ‘Harvest in Norfolk’, oil on board, signed lower left, 20 x 26 inches, by Edward Seago (1910-1974) from Haynes Fine Art haynesfineart.com 4 A mid-18th century carved giltwood baroque mirror, retaining the original divided plates, Italian, circa 1770, from Geoffrey Stead geoffreystead.co.uk 5 A hand-hammered silver gilt casket set with large amethysts by silversmith Michael Bolton, 1986 from The Peartree Collection thepeartreecollection.com 6 A Bunch of Grapes brooch set with brilliant cut yellow and white diamonds and Tahitian pearls by Carvin French, from Nigel…

15% of British beef is exported and about 33% of lamb 90% of those exports go to the EU 40% would be the effective tariff on those exports in a no-deal Brexit 11% would be the standard tariff on all agricultural products 90% of our animal vaccines and medicines, plus fertilisers, are imported from the EU 100% of exported animal products would have to go through border inspection posts, but, with 79 days to go to Brexit, not one has been set up at Calais 76% of delegates at the conference voted Remain and only 10% were in favour of no deal, but 74% thought that farming would be better off in 25 years’ time 5% of Britain’s £100 million venison market is farmed, 70% is wild and 25% imported…

ONE of the highlights of this Christmas was a golden wedding celebration on the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland. It was a large party and, to my surprise, I found myself driving a minibus. The challenge made the whole occasion feel a little bit like a school outing. However, we were accommodated so generously that, apart from an impromptu carol concert performed by the children, it was possible for both tribes to forget each other’s existence. Everyone was delighted. The visit introduced me to Binevenagh, a craggy mountain with spectacular cliffs overlooking the sea, which is associated with a piece of family history. A great-grandfather of the children grew up in the shadow of this edifice. He also died on it: in poor weather in 1944, the plane flying him…

• From 1829 to 1914, Londoners could travel by ‘horse bus’: a small carriage pulled by two equines. Capacity was increased from 12 passengers to 25 to cope with the influx of visitors to the Great Exhibition in 1851. This was achieved by seating people on the roof. • After being removed from service, the iconic Routemaster buses (left) were sold off from £2,000. Andrew Lloyd Webber is reported to have bought one as a gift for Sir Cameron Mackintosh. • The city has 675 bus routes, 9,000 buses in service and more than 19,000 bus stops, according to a 2017 report. There are more than two billion passenger journeys a year—double that of the Underground. • From 1 to 10, the only number not in use on a London…

The height of luxury IF ever I were invited to be a guest on Desert Island Discs, I would choose all the back copies of COUNTRY LIFE to keep me informed, busy and amused while whiling away time in the shade of a palm tree. When rescued, I would relish catching up with all the later copies I had missed. With the new year, we can rejoice that COUNTRY LIFE consistently communicates to its readers with inspiration and hope, such as I found in Jason Goodwin’s succinct and revealing article ‘Listen to the language of faith’ (December 26, 2018). I’m greatly looking forward to reading the future editions. George Vernon, by email Sharpen your wits OY oh boy, that pencil sharpener you B list in the gift guide for…

YOUR October 31 cover marking the First World War rightly states ‘why we must never forget’ those who fought for our freedom and future. Just like the annual Festival of Remembrance, it’s all about the British war efforts. One could be forgiven for thinking that Britain won singlehanded, as the contributions of Indian and Empire soldiers are ignored and forgotten. At the outbreak of war, India’s enemy was Britain and not Germany, yet more than 1.5 million men enlisted and some 74,000 died for a country not theirs. India sent £100 million, followed by £20 million and £30 million for the next three years for British war efforts. Summer uniforms, boots, munitions, ships for use as hospitals and much more came from India. None of this is ever mentioned. Commonwealth…

LOOK, a fox!’ It takes a few moments to register that the little girl, who has made the exclamation in south London’s Dulwich Park, is referring to the bright-eyed, pointy-eared creature sitting at my feet. Her father hastily corrects her. ‘No, that’s not a fox, it’s a…,’ he falters, ‘some kind of dog?’ It’s as good an explanation as any. Bono is a mongrel, a stray who was found wandering the streets of Romania. ‘Perhaps there’s corgi in him,’ a rescue-home worker surmised when I picked him up. ‘Goodness knows what else.’ The mongrel is the underdog of the canine world. From the beginning, it’s been left to fight its corner without purpose or social status to suit mankind—we’re not talking designer crossbreeds here, but proper Heinz 57s, the survival-of-the-fittest…

• Baird & Co has an annual clear-down to collect every last speck of gold dust that might have been missed. Last year, when carpets and workers’ clothing were collected and burned, £15,000 worth of bullion dust was found • There are 186,000 tonnes of gold in the world—worth about $7.5 trillion (£5.73 trillion) • Current worldwide gold production amounts to 2,000 tonnes per year • RAF pilots flying over enemy territory still wear belts containing gold sovereigns in case they’re brought down and need to barter for their freedom • As well as gold bullion and other precious metals, Baird & Co also handles bespoke commissions, from solid-gold Cadbury chocolate bars to a miniature model of Canary Wharf made in platinum for a private client, valued at £300,000 •…

Kilim Cube, £1,095, Andrew Martin (020–7225 5100; www.andrewmartin.co.uk) Empire bedside chest of drawers, £790, Brights of Nettlebed (01491 641115; www.brightsofnettlebed.co.uk) Bedside table with two drawers, £786, Chelsea Textiles (020–7584 5544; www.chelseatextiles.com) The Hatfield Chest, from £4,985, Davidson (020–7751 5537; www.davidsonlondon.com) Beauvais bedside table, £295, OKA (0333 004 2042; www.oka.com) Blackbird cabinet, £495, India Jane (020–8799 7152; www.indiajane.co.uk) Serra bedside table, £1,195, Soho Home (020–3819 8199; www.sohohome.com) Vienna bedside, £1,080, Julian Chichester (020–7622 2928; www.julianchichester.com) Aldwych tall side table in Warm Black, £400, Neptune (01793 427450; www.neptune.com) Salina bedside table, £265, Ercol (01844 271800; www.ercol.com) Small D-end table with a scalloped frieze, £1,500, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler (020–7493 2231; www.sibylcolefax.com)…

Serves 6–8 I like to use a mixture of Bramleys and eating apples—I use Coxes here—for greater depth of perfumed flavour and contrasting textures, but, of course, you can use all Bramley if you prefer. Don’t be tempted to cut the fruit too small; you don’t want it to collapse into fluff. Ingredients For the crumble 220g plain flour¼tspn of salt½tspn ground cinnamon or ginger (optional)150g unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small cubes80g granulated sugar 40g demerara sugar1tspn finely grated orange zest3tbspn fresh orange juice40g flaked almonds or jumbo oats (optional) For the fruit 500g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped500g eating apples, such asCoxes, peeled cored and roughly chopped80g–100g caster or granulated sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit3tspn freshly squeezed orange juice1tbspn finely grated orange…

Properties of the week Cumbria, £1.25 million The pale-grey stone walls of Clarghyll Hall, on the fringe of Alston in the North Pennines AONB, wear 500 years of history well. Listed Grade II*, its eight acres include mature walled gardens, woodland, a productive kitchen garden, lawns, an ornamental pond and a dovecote. Inside, there are nine bedrooms, a great hall, a formal dining room with an oriel window and a library. Permission in perpetuity has been granted for the conversion of a former estate manager’s house (partially completed) into a four-bedroom property. Savills (01325 370500) Berkshire, £1.7 million Surrounded by estate land owned by Sir Richard Sutton Limited, in an AONB and approached via a narrow country lane, it’s safe to say that the views from Coombesbury Farm House are…

Walter Crane ties neatly into a theme of this week’s column, as he, Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott were the pictorial drivers of the late-19th-century Georgian revival. At the London Antique Rug and Textile Fair from January 22 to 27 on the mezzanine level of what is now known as the Battersea Evolution in Battersea Park, with the Winter Decorative fair below, he will be represented by an exceptional 10ft 5in by 4ft 4in embroidery hanging. It will be offered by Meg Andrews from Hackney, a new exhibitor at the fair, who points out that the embroiderer has used the ‘Burden Stitch’ in the basket. This was invented by Bessie Burden, sister of Jane Morris and sister-in-law of William, for whom she worked. Other notable exhibits will include a Teke…

Britain’s Heritage: Stained Glass Aidan McRae Thomson (Amberley Publishing, £8.99) How to look at Stained Glass: A Guide to the Church Windows of England Jane Brocket (I. B. Tauris, £12.99) Kempe: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe Adrian Barlow (The Lutterworth Press, £25) STAINED glass is not an artform that enjoys much popular interest. Not one panel, for example, is on permanent display in either the National Gallery or Tate Britain. There is a great irony here, not least because stained glass is properly a type of painting and has, notably in the 19th century, involved celebrated artists whose canvasses and panels today command great popularity and huge sums of money (indeed, in this sense, David Hockney’s new window, unveiled in Westminster Abbey last autumn, follows in…

AN old friend gave us a beautiful book this Christmas: Four Hedges by Clare Leighton, which accounts for a year of making a garden on a cold slope of the Chilterns. The year is 1935 or thereabouts, when the book was first published. Leighton wrote the text and provided the illustrations, 50 or more woodcuts, each of them revelling in the forms she finds about her: a hen thrush on her nest, a slug on a leaf, a spray of gooseberries, a frog. July is a man in a flat cap, sharpening his scythe; January an axe in a stump, blue tits on the hopper, snowdrops, Iris stylosa and Christmas roses. She talks about the sound of wind in the trees—the roar in the elms, the swish of the poplars—and…

TWENTY years ago, anyone who suggested that Britain should preserve its agricultural land as a matter of national policy, in case we needed to feed ourselves, faced derision from the political establishment. Dig for Victory seemed far distant; farmers were encouraged to diversify into golf courses and tourism. Unless poor countries could sell their produce into rich markets such as the UK, claimed Gordon Brown, they would never develop. Food security? It belonged to the past. Occasional bad global harvests were successfully overlooked—the food riots that ensued were in Haiti and other struggling societies. Brexit, however, has brought the issue home. We import 40% of what we eat; even a temporary disruption of the carefully calibrated system by which food is distributed to shops could have severe consequences for a…

A good night’s rest A 13-mile stretch of the M1 is closed until next week to avoid disturbing endangered dormice, which are hibernating in vegetation next to the motorway, during roadworks A healthier environment The Government has announced the plastic-carrier-bag charge will double from 5p to 10p and extend to all shops by January 2020 Woodcock The current population is higher than expected, says the GWCT, as large numbers of woodcock arrived in late November, despite the long dry summer…

Quiz of the week 1) Monotremes are the only order of mammals to do what? 2) Oak Apple Day, celebrating the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, is in which month? 3) Which playwright wrote Absurd Person Singular? 4) What is the name of the syndrome that leads to a person feigning illness to obtain medical attention? 5) Rose gold is achieved by mixing which element with gold? Time to buy ‘And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too’ The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini Unmissable events Exhibition January 12–March 21 International Garden Photographer of the Year ( above ), Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Cranbrook, Kent. The best amateur and professional garden and landscape photography will be on show…

Resident agony uncle Kit Hesketh-Harvey solves your dilemmas Tough love QA good friend of mine is smitten with a new girlfriend, but it’s become clear to everyone else that she’s using him. She has no interest in knowing his friends and family or doing anything that doesn’t involve spending vast sums of his money. How can we make him see what sort of person she is? H. L., Dorset A Ooooh. Tough one. I know—I’ve been there. He’s too dazzled right now to listen to anyone, even if you take him aside for a man-to-man game of billiards at your club, a threshold that she may not darken. However, take heart. If and when the money runs out, she’ll be off faster than you can say ‘card declined’. And…

LAST year, we found a dead cock sparrowhawk that had killed itself hitting my father’s greenhouse. It was such a good specimen that I sent it to the taxidermist rather than throwing the body away. When we received the sparrow-hawk back in all its glory, it came with a note from the taxidermist explaining that, upon starting work, he found a pipistrelle bat in its crop. This struck me as the most appalling bad luck for the bat, which must have got its timing wrong. He was either up too early or the sparrowhawk had decided to have a late night. I wonder if any other readers have witnessed sparrowhawks taking bats? Willy Browne-Swinburne, Northumberland The writer of the letter of the week will win a bottle of Pol Roger…

AT the end of last year, Athena went to a fundraising reception in London and was heartened by news from Antigua, where an enlightened conservation project is under way to repair and restore Government House at the heart of the historic precinct in the capital, St John’s. Having withstood the ravages of fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and termites, the house is an extraordinary survival of shared heritage and one of the most important historic buildings on the island and, indeed, in the Caribbean. When it was threatened with demolition, the governor-general, Sir Rodney Williams, intervened decisively to save it. Launched by The Duke of Sussex two years ago, the restoration project aims to enable this operational government building to be opened to the public for a range of multiple uses. What…

Famous fans include Sir Ranulph Fiennes, whose mongrel, Bothie (left, with Sir Ranulph and his wife, Virginia, in 1982), accompanied him on the polar Trans-globe Expedition; TV presenter Kate Humble, who has two; and Graham Norton, who is often pictured with his terrier-cross, Madge The Kennel Club introduced Scruffts, the crossbreed competition, in 2000. There are four categories: Most Handsome Crossbreed Dog, Prettiest Crossbreed Bitch, Child’s Best Friend and Golden Oldie In 2008, a study by Aberdeen University concluded that crossbreed dogs have better spatial awareness and problem-solving abilities than pedigrees Dolores, a Battersea mongrel, bagged a role in the 1957 film Across the Bridge . She received the following favourable review in the News Chronicle : ‘St Sebastian never gazed skyward with so…

These lilies are usually ordered about now for delivery and planting in spring Plant the bulbs about 6in deep. If the ground is too shallow, mulch the surface thickly with compost to raise it or plant in deep pots All will grow in full or partly direct sun Lily auratum and L. speciosum var. rubrum need acid soil, ideally, a gritty, loam-based mix such as John Innes Ericaceous. The other species will tolerate a wide pH range, although L. regale prefers alkaline conditions. For all, the soil should be fertile and moist but free-draining Stems can be tied to canes if they’re becoming overly bowed or top-heavy Remove dead flowers, but allow the main stem to…

JOHN RUSKIN was one of the truly great figures of the Victorian age, prodigious in his energy, his interests and his achievements. Although he established his reputation as an art critic, championing the work of Turner and, later, the Pre-Raphaelites, he ranged over numerous other fields, making important contributions to topics as diverse as Gothic architecture, Venetian history, travel writing, drawing practice, watercolour painting, geology, ecology, economics, building conservation, penal reform, universal education, welfare provision, handicraft, religion and Classical mythology. (Great British Tastemakers COUNTRY LIFE, December 11, 2013) ‘‘Tolstoy saluted him for being among “those rare men who think with their hearts”’ He wrote interesting fairy stories, moderate poetry and a highly unconventional autobiography, Praeterita. The intoxicating eloquence of his prose was admired by both Henry James and Oscar Wilde.…

THERE are a few daffodils already flowering in the village below my cottage, a sure sign of a mild winter. The wild snowdrops are well out, having appeared as if from nowhere in the past two weeks. They grace the banks along the deep-cut lanes and grow in clumps wherever they see fit. It is always a wonder to me why some plants like one little spot and totally shun an area a few feet away. As with so much of Nature, it’s sometimes a pleasure not to know everything and simply marvel at it. I’m planning a new vegetable plot, which will involve building a rabbit-proof fence, as the local population certainly doesn’t need any encouragement to visit the garden. I’m also researching what to grow in a herbaceous…

THE case for the soldiers ought to be stated with frankness and sympathy. They have shown themselves heroes in the fight, shrinking from no hardship, and ever ready to face the greatest of all sacrifices. They would acknowledge that to ensure the fulfilment of the terms of peace it will be necessary to place an army of occupation in Germany. But when this is allowed it still remains true that there is no longer need of an army of such dimensions as was needed in the full tide of war. Many who have been for a long time at the front and are war weary may most reasonably argue that it is for others to take their places. Men who have not been in the fighting line might well be…

Is it a good idea to break away from established systems of wine classification and strike boldly out on your own? This happened in the 1980s, with the super-Tuscans in Chianti, when ambitious producers chafed at rules outlawing Bordeaux-style blends. On the whole, it doesn’t occur in France, where the top wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy sit quite happily at the apex of the appellation d’origine contrôlée system. Now, there are signs of it in Spain, first with Cava and now in Rioja. Why you should be drinking them I can understand a top producer such as Raventós i Blanc wanting to break away from DO Cava, as the latter covers a vast swathe of Spanish sparkling wine, often of very ordinary quality. I’m less sure about the admired…

Where to begin? The aim is to create a calm, well-planned environment in which you can relax and feel comfortable, with everything you need to hand. Start by considering the furniture —we like to used a mix of old and new to give character to a room, because choosing all new pieces can look soulless. Create a furniture layout, placing the bed first against the wall that will comfortably accommodate it and add bedside tables. Don’t forget to factor in the position of the doors and windows. If you have the space, an armchair or chaise longue makes a comfortable place to read and a side chair is useful as a place to put your handbag on or throw your clothes over as you undress. I like to think about…

ICOULDN’T be more surprised to learn that crumbles are a relatively recent, wartime invention than if you told me Vera Lynn trilled the White Cliffs of Dover into being in 1942. We imagine that the crumble, that most British of puddings, has always been with us. However, Alan Davidson’s Oxford Companion to Food states: ‘Recipes for crumble do not appear in old books of English recipes, nor is it recorded until the 20th century. Crumble is much quicker and easier to make than pastry and it seems probable that it developed during the Second World War.’ In her fine book English Puddings: Sweet and Savoury, Mary Norwak claimed the first printed mention of the crumble appeared in the 1950 edition of Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cook Book —so, both…

The old cast-iron warning signs had their uses for fine lawns and none more so than in frosty weather, when the black footprints reveal the route of miscreants. When frost is settled, we should all stick to the paths or face the ugly consequences. The frozen grass blades snap underfoot and soon darken and the damage will not be repaired until warmer weather induces new growth in several weeks’ time. Therefore, in frosty weather, attend to other tasks in the potting shed (often long delayed) and the armchair. In this country, you don’t usually have long to wait for a change.…

LAST week, I mentioned a splendid silver punchbowl that would help to lighten the winter’s gloom. This week, I have the chance to discuss my favourite wine glasses, which would accompany it very happily. I have been collecting lemon-squeezer rummers for a long time and, as prices have naturally risen over the years, it is as well for me that the set of eight that I noticed recently is actually in a painting rather than on a dealer’s shelf. Lemon-squeezers were produced, so far as I know, only in Britain, where, towards the end of the 18th century, the term ‘rummer’ took over from goblet for short-stemmed wine glasses. Some say that it derives from rum punch, but that’s unconvincing; more likely, it is a borrowing from Dutch and…