Country Life

Published by TI Media Limited Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.

Mrs Rebecca Metcalfe • Rebecca is an art adviser and interior decorator, who sources rare objects for clients. She is the daughter of Stephen and Katrina Reitman of London NW3 and the wife of Misha Metcalfe, whom she married at Oakley Court, near Windsor, Berkshire, in July 2024.

Nature’s jigsaw puzzle

Country Life

The best of Bodmin

Town & Country Notebook

Letters to the Editor

The urban takeover

Athena • Cultural Crusader

My favourite painting Zoë Wanamaker

A house of many inspirations • A pre-eminent country-house adviser has created a home from a 300-year-old farmhouse and farmyard, as Jeremy Musson explains

The legacy • Joe Henson and native breeds

From this slumber you shall wake • The dozy, golden-coated hazel dormouse may have got its paws under the Mad Hatter’s table, but numbers of this elusive woodland rodent are worryingly low, laments Jack Watkins

All ‘Clough-ed up’ • A romantic experiment surrounded by the natural majesty of North Wales, Portmeirion began life as an oddity, but has evolved into an architectural phenomenon kept alive by dedication, discovers Ben Lerwill

The imitation game • Feats of cunning and creativity, Britain’s thousands of defensive pillboxes were disguised as Gothic lodges, haystacks, public loos or even branches of WHSmith, discovers Harry Pearson

Telling a tail • It’s tricky to carry a framed portrait of your favourite pet with you, says Hetty Lintell, so why not immortalise them in a beautiful piece of jewellery

Are you sitting sociably? • Carefully placed furniture encourages conversation, says Emma Burns of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler

In search of Arcadia • In any country estate, owners ought to be able to find refuge from the busy world–something entirely possible at these three properties

Always in style • Old rectories and vicarages have never lost their crown, taking architectural pride of place in villages across the country for centuries

London Life • Your indispensable guide to the capital

Need to Know

It all happened on Booksellers’ Row • Fire, murder and regicide plotting–Cecil Court has a colourful history and remains one of London’s most atmospheric streets, says Huon Mallalieu, who has spent a lifetime browsing there

A prince among plantsmen • The magnificent magnolias, many of them collected as seed in the wild, are only one aspect of this enthralling garden, reports Charles Quest-Ritson

A touch of honey

Kitchen garden cook Jersey Royals

Queen of the hedgerow • With a scent like summer, frothy heads of elder were once used to minimise the ravages of smallpox, but avoid sitting under the tree, warns John Wright

Island state of mind • Libby Brodie reveals everything you need to know about the Maldives, from getting there in style to sustainable certifications, as Rosie Paterson visits four of the best resorts

Having a meltdown

Like duck to Turner • J. M. W. Turner was a mystery, but his home in Twickenham lifts the veil on his devotion to his father and, through a forthcoming exhibition, his interest in animals and his sense of humour

Close to your chest •...