Articles

Win a night at Garsington Opera plus a two-night stay at Hartwell House

Garsington Opera and Hartwell House are both celebrating their 30th anniversaries – and we've teamed up with them to offer this spectacular prize for you and a companion.

The Utterly Inessential Chelsea Shopping List: What you'll need for the famed Flower Show, from chic sunglasses to an obligatory brolly

We've rounded up all the utterly inessential products that you absolutely do not need (top hats for Ascot aside) to enjoy this summers season of festivals, shows and races. This week: Chelsea Flower Show.

My Favourite Painting: Sir Cameron Mackintosh

'His dextrous manipulation of colours conjures up the intoxicating “smell” of live theatre, creating a world more desirable than ever in this isolated digital age.'

The magnificent puzzle of Crichel, one of Dorset’s grandest Georgian houses

My Favourite Painting: Mary Plazas

'There is compassion, awe, humility, a knowing yet a questioning in the glistening eyes. It moves me, it inspires me beyond the need to know.’

A night at Garsington Opera plus a two-night stay at the magnificent Hartwell House

Country Life crossword: 6th March, 2019

In Focus: How Pierre Bonnard used photography to help him paint pictures that would once have been near-impossible

The mysterious French artist Pierre Bonnard is the focus of a new exhibition at Tate Modern. Lilias Wigan went along.

Property with potential: Renovation projects for sale, starting from £150,000

The ice sculptor: 'People get very uptight about being cold but, if you relax about it, the cold is all right'

Mr Hamilton was a chef working at London's crème de la crème when he discovered a talent that would shape the rest of his life: the all but extinct world of ice sculpting.

Inside HRH The Prince of Wales' guest-edited issue of Country Life

Recipe: Red-mullet crudo with aniseed vinaigrette

Affectionately called 'the woodcock of the sea', red mullet is a fish to be prized. Thank Simon Hopkinson for this marvellous recipe.

How to identify the pebbles you find on Britain's beaches

In his 1954 book The Pebbles on the Beach, Clarence Ellis shared his passion for the simple pleasure of pebble-hunting. In this extract, he details picks out some of the most common natural treasures you'll find on our shores and notes what they might look like after polishing. llustrations by Eleanor Crow.

Cicely Mary Barker: A flower fairytale

Steven Desmond tells the beautiful tale of the author and painter who continues to delight British people of all ages with her delicate works.

11 outstanding images from a new show celebrating the incredible heights that landscape photography can reach

A new exhibition shows how modern technology has pushed landscape photography to undreamt-of levels, as the magnificent images on this page show.

The coracle-maker: ‘Coracles are the world’s oldest continuously used vessel and an important part of our heritage’

Tessa Waugh meets one of the few remaining people who make these traditional boats.

Five spectacular country cottages, within commuting distance of London and under £1m

An idyllic 'chocolate box' cottage is an achievable dream on almost any budget – even if you need to be within an hour or so of London. All these places tick those boxes in style.

Things to do in half-term, from Legoland to Petworth, and a deer safari in Shropshire

All the 2018 Chelsea Flower Show medal winners

The RHS has announced the gold medallists for the 2018 Chelsea Flower Show.

Tina – the Musical review: A recreation of Tina Turner so good that the star's name 'should be set down in pillars of lasting fire'