Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-Jul-2023 i Country Life

Letter of the week Give it a try BATH RUGBY CLUB is proposing to build a new stadium in the heart of the city. It’s high time that the ‘temporary’ metal stands that butt up against the tired concrete 1970s leisure centre are replaced, but the present proposals lack ambition. Why not combine the stadium and the leisure centre to create a city quarter that people will value and where amenity, sport and commerce can really thrive? And why not adopt the Classical style and local materials that have made Bath world famous? Come on, the movers and shakers of Bath! Mark Wilson Jones and Jakub Ryng, Apollodorus Architecture, London The writer of the letter of the week will win a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Réserve Champagne…

1921 February 5 Published Teresa, Lady Berwick, ‘the daughter of Mr William Hulton of Venice’, descends the steps of Attingham Park, Shropshire, clutching a bouquet. She had married Lord Berwick in 1919 and this summer photograph was presumably taken in 1920. It appeared on the Frontispiece in an issue in which the house was first covered in the architectural pages. Every week for the past 125 years, COUNTRY LIFE has documented and photographed many walks of life in Britain. More than 80,000 of the images are available for syndication or purchase in digital format. To view the archives, visit www.countrylifeimages.co.uk and email enquiries to licensing@futurenet.com…

THE Ship Inn Cricket Club at Elie, in the East Neuk of Fife, is, its captain says—and I believe he is right in saying so—the only cricket club in the world with a beach for its home ground. As someone who has played cricket, with great pleasure, but little distinction, ever since he could stand upright, I knew as soon as I heard about it that I had to see this place. Inquiries, introductions and arrangements were made. Not only would I see the place, I would play a game of cricket with the Ship Inn side into the bargain. As it turned out, the fixture was versus I Zingari. I Zingari are an interesting lot. The name is slangy Italian for The Gypsies. They are a wandering side, with…

Find the best properties at countrylife.co.uk CRISPIN HARRIS of Jackson-Stops in Alderley Edge (01625 540340) is handling the sale of Grade II-listed Blackden Manor near the old farming village of Goostrey, 2½ miles north of Holmes Chapel and eight miles south of Alderley Edge, the ancient and picturesque village in the east of the county, nowadays best known as one of the most expensive and sought-after places to live in the UK outside London. Lying due east of the manor is the Peak District National Park. Size matters in this affluent part of Cheshire, a fact reflected in the ‘excess of £10 million’ guide price quoted for the 9,903sq ft former manor house, which stands at the end of a long, tree-lined drive, surrounded by 28½ acres of parkland,…

OVER the past few decades, there have been regular declarations in the gardening media that shrubs are making a big comeback. It hasn’t happened yet. Gardens generally are getting smaller—too small for large shrubs—and our impatience for quick results is better served by herbaceous perennials and bedding plants. This state of affairs is compounded by the lack of experience —and, worse, a lack of interest—in growing shrubs among some garden designers. I know several designers who can name dozens of varieties of kniphofias and hardy geraniums and many forms of miscanthus, but can barely identify a viburnum or an osman-thus. Their focus is on creating plant communities of herbaceous perennials and grasses with an occasional evergreen shrub thrown in to provide ‘a bit of structure’. Memories of dingy shrubberies, hangovers…

HIGH summer. The air is thick and dreamy. Looking down the long ride between the trees to the Royal Ballet School, the white Georgian building itself seemed to dance in the heat. Two female figures walking up the hill towards us emerged distinct from the haze, one wearing a sun-bonnet, the other with a wicker basket on her arm. ‘Pride and Prejudice!’ my daughter, Freda, and I said to each other in the same instant. There arose in me an atavistic lust, the primitive hunter inside the modern human A measure of the success of any natural habitat in the Britain of 2023 is that it allows such transports of imagination across time. That, for a moment, we found ourselves lost in Regency England, unsullied, complete, within the confines…

For all the latest news, visit countrylife.co.uk ‘Deer need to be managed’ WHEN asked how many wild deer there are in Britain, British Deer Society (BDS) chief executive David McAuley replies ruefully: ‘Too many.’ The charity, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, aims to ‘educate and inspire’ the public about deer, but also to impress upon them that they need management. ‘The Government has a current environmental policy about planting trees and deer are blamed for damaging them,’ observes Mr McAuley. ‘In fact, grey squirrels, beavers and humans also destroy trees, but deer are getting the blame. We need to agree that deer need to be managed, but it’s important this is carried out with a cull plan in place.’ The last official count was in 2006, when Britain…

Graham Lloyd-Brunt is the founder of Lloyd Brunt Outdoor Design Charles Oppenheimer painted the garden behind the house he rented from Edward Hornel –who lived next door at Broughton House in the artists’ colony of Kirkcudbright in south-west Scotland–several times. I feel a kinship with the painting; like me, Oppenheimer was born and brought up in Lancashire and through family ties I now spend a great deal of time in Scotland. The artist has captured both the formality and intimacy one finds in successful gardens with impact where people feel comfortable and wish to spend time. The garden’s structure and symmetrical layout appeal to my design aesthetic and the soft colours painted in late evening light make the painting restful and satisfying to consider regularly Charlotte Mullins comments on…

THE handsome Dartmoor resembles a mini hunter and is one of the best children’s riding ponies: sturdy and muscled, yet not too wide in frame, and with an arguably less combative temperament than some other breeds. However, it is classified as ‘at risk’ by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The pure-bred, block-coloured (predominantly dark bay) show-ring Dartmoor pony is often more likely to have been produced at a stud than on the moor; the renowned Shilstone Rocks Stud at Widecombe-in-the-Moor straddles both worlds. The pony, emblem of the National Park, is a source of local pride and effort, but, unlike on Exmoor, where the native ponies are generally uniform, the Dartmoor Hill Pony (which has its own charity) may come in a variety of shapes and sizes. In 1988, the…

DOMESDAY records have it that, in 1086, more than half a million eels were offered as annual rent in various places around England. The villagers of Harmston in Lincolnshire paid their landlord 75,000 eels per annum. The inhabitants of Stratford-upon-Avon sent 1,000 to the Bishop of Worcester in return for allowing them use of his mill in order to grind their corn. A century later, the monks of Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire gave their neighbouring landowner a similar rent in return for being allowed to traverse back and forth across his property. Now, lest you imagine such payment was in live eels—and what a slippery transaction that would be—let me explain that it wasn’t. The eels (for culinary use) were, instead, caught, collected and delivered dead, preserved with salt. As…

THIS is the story of a brave man and some of the good things that have happened since his death. A long time ago, I was at school with a teenager named Mick May—an insubordinate youth, whom I was convinced would come to no good. I was wrong. After a successful City career, he did sterling work in the charitable sector and was awarded an OBE. Then, in May 2013, a deadly tumour was found in his lung, with a terminal diagnosis of mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. A punishing programme of surgery and repeated ‘lines’ of chemo ensued, and Mick somehow managed to survive until March 7, 2022. He published a notable book—Cancer and Pisces— which clearly and unsparingly tells the story of…

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Essex, £2.85 million Somehow set both within the city of Chelmsford and its own naturally landscaped mature grounds (which extend to some four acres), Grade II-listed Barnes Mill and Mill House is that rare yet oh-so-desired thing—rus in urbe. This beautifully converted property, consisting of the 4,360sq ft Barnes Mill and the adjoining 2,500sq ft Mill House, offers a total of eight bedrooms (four in each) in an exceptional riverside setting at the end of a quiet, no-through road. Originally dating from about 1700, the buildings have been sensibly restored and renovated by the current owners, who have lived in the house for the past 24 years, and now provide the comforts of modern living set in a property of immense period character. The gardens and grounds are nice…

Harissa lamb cutlets with garlic-and-almond beans Method Mix together the Greek yoghurt, harissa and some seasoning in a medium-sized bowl. Add the lamb cutlets, mix so they’re entirely covered, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 24 hours Prepare the beans by blanching in boiling water until cooked, but retaining a bite—a few minutes only —and then drain. Over a medium heat, add the beans back to the pan, together with the olive oil, grated garlic and lemon juice. Heat for a few minutes and finally add the flaked almonds to the beans. Toss to mix them through. Make the couscous by simply adding it to a bowl and then pouring over the chicken stock. Cover and leave to sit for a few minutes, until…

THE European beaver (Castor fiber) is probably the most innocuous of the larger mammals that have been or might be reintroduced to the British countryside. This large, vegetarian rodent with an incredible work ethic has been absent from British waterways for some 400 years, having been hunted to extinction for its fur, castoreum and meat, which is said to taste like grass-fed beef. This situation was not unique to Britain. The beaver became a threatened species in Europe, its population reaching a frighteningly low 1,200 animals after the Second World War. After a great reintroduction effort, however, the beaver is once again well established across most of its former range and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies its status as of ‘least concern’. The UK has…

IMPY was a wonderfully wicked dog,’ declares Lady Rebecca Wharton, fondly recalling the lurcher once owned by her parents, Hugh Courtenay, the late 18th Earl of Devon, and Diana, Countess of Devon, at the family’s ancestral seat, Powderham Castle near Exeter. ‘On one occasion, she appeared in the middle of a wedding hosted in the grounds carrying a deer’s head that was weeks old, which she’d found on her run. She dragged it straight through the middle of the guests and trotted into the house. She was so naughty; she got away with everything.’ Impy’s infamous escapades did little to dampen the family’s love of lurchers—Lady Rebecca has had them ever since and currently has two. ‘I was out galloping one of my horses recently on a lovely bit of…

Go wild in style Wilderness Festival—the fancy one for those who don’t ‘do’ festivals—is back from August 3–6 and you can still buy tickets. Set in the beautiful grounds of Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, the famous cricket match will have you transfixed and there is set to be an astonishing foodie offering this year, too. Chefs such as Adam Handling will be cooking up a storm (fingers crossed for sunshine) and Ben Quinn’s Long Table Banquet In The Woods is set to be magical. Culture vultures will get their fix with lots of music and poetry—plus Letters Live is not to be missed. £275.40 for a non-camping ticket for the full weekend (www.wildernessfestival.com). Style and substance At The Game Fair this week (July 28–30), TROY London is set to make…

THE design is the easy bit,’ says Hugh Petter with a sideways grin. ‘Perhaps the greatest challenge when maximising the opportunities presented by any house, old or new, is to develop an understanding of the architectural traditions of its location.’ He’s poring over the heritage statement that informed the transformation of Meadow Farm into a home that offers plenty of room for a sociable couple, as well as an artful blend of old and new. The five-bay listed house was pretty, but not huge The house sits in a quiet, wooded location, a stone’s throw from the coast of Jersey, and belongs to Rupert Bradstock, founder of the buying agency Property Vision, and his wife, Anna, whose Old Rectory in Berkshire Mr Petter brought back to life after a devastating…

SET back from Harston High Street in Cambridgeshire, the front of Park House appears very much the gault-brick and stone Victorian Gothic Revival building designed in 1854 by George Edmund Street, who was most famous for creating the Royal Courts of Justice. Inside, the house has been refurbished to give a light and bright interior, but retains the original detailing, so it is only as you approach the sizeable garden at the back that the striking contemporary kitchen extension is revealed. When the current owners, David and Sharon Smith, first saw the property in 2017, plans had already been commissioned for the extension and for a terrace overlooking a bold new flower garden below. As it was, they were happy to inherit both the local architectural practice, Cowper Griffith, and…

THE other day, I had what I’m tempted to call a commonplace encounter with common swifts. In truth, most people attached to the most aerial of our summer migrants know that there is seldom anything ordinary about such an extraordinary creature. Five birds, possibly parents with chicks to feed, were assaulting the insects wafting up from a Derbyshire hillside of tall grasses and flowers. They scythed down over the slopes, the blade-like wings held dead level, as they exploited both the effects of gravity and the fresh breeze to spire and jink after unseen prey. Occasionally, one made a flight-line that cut slantwise across the current, so I could hear a swush-ing noise from the flight feathers, like the sound of air on an arrow fletch. For a split second,…

I HAVE been reading L’Affaire Ruffini (Editions Libretto, 2021) by the journalist Vincent Noce, documenting his investigation into a number of fake Old Masters that have been unmasked since 2016, with suspicions going back to 1985. Many curators, collectors, connaisseurs, restorers, scientists, dealers and auctioneers, well-respected as well as less reputable figures, have been fooled or swindled across the international art market. A few have had their reputations enhanced, others have stayed silent. There have been court cases involving many millions of pounds. Last month, Lino Frongia, an Italian artist, was arrested for the second time, on suspicion of forging Hals, Cranach, El Greco, Parmigianino, Velázquez, Orazio Gentileschi and other masters; the controversial critic and politician Vittorio Sgarbi has called him ‘the greatest among the living Old Masters’. Many of…