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.

Doctor Sophie Ella Louise Bashall • Sophie is a doctor at University College Hospital, London, and is engaged to Julius Morgan-Giles, whom she will marry at St Leonard’s Church, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, in June. She is the daughter of Lieutenant-General James and Sarah-Lucie Bashall of Sutton Veny, who appeared on the Frontispiece together on July 29, 1993.

Kiss like a bee

Country Life

Take the high road, Defra

Town & Country Notebook

Letters to the Editor

Britain at its blooming best

Athena • Cultural Crusader

My favourite painting Benjamin Appl

A village of rare beauty • The historic buildings of a Transylvanian settlement have been restored and preserved with the help of several foundations and backed by The King’s personal enthusiasm. Jeremy Musson reports on this remarkable place

The legacy Beatrix Potter and the Lake District

The gift of second sight • Tubby little bundles of joy, guide-dog puppies may be irresistibly sweet, but they’ve been expertly engineered to perform life-changing duties, discovers Katy Birchall

Going a ganging • The ancient custom of ‘beating’ willow wands around parish perimeters is still performed today–minus the medieval brutality, discovers Vicky Liddell

So goes the merrie month of May • With returning swifts screaming across the rooftop and golden buttercup pollen gilding his Wellingtons as he strides across the cow meadow, John Lewis-Stempel marvels at the many pleasures of May

We’re going on a stag hunt • The stag beetle’s intimidating appearance belies its vulnerability, says Claire Saul, as she discovers what we can do to help them survive

Throwing caution to the wind • Spring is the time to see the muscular and noble goshawk, usually as elusive as a ghost circling and swooping through the sky

Put a knot in it • It no longer matters if you’re not a surgeon or a comedian: after the dark days of endless leisurewear, bow ties are back, says Simon Mills

Luxury Notebook

A few of my favourite things • The Bristol-born car nut is best known from our television screens (Top Gear, The Grand Tour, Our Man In…). Splitting his time between London and Wiltshire, James May is co-owner of The Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe and, inspired by the flavours of his travels, has launched his own gin brand, James Gin.

Case in point

Classic good looks • One of the most photographed stands at last week’s Chelsea Flower Show was COUNTRY LIFE’s ‘outdoor drawing room’, a tranquil Italianate loggia designed by Isabella Worsley, says Giles Kime

Treasures of the East • East Anglia appears to be full of wonders, from carriage driving and an escaped puma to a Harrods pavilion and ancient forests, as these houses show

Natural bounty • With an expanse of sandy beaches, 125 miles of lock-free Broads waterways, sea colonies and nature reserves, there’s plenty of Nature to enjoy in Norfolk. Arabella Youens picks some charming houses on the market

A famously good show • From tiny spots of the soft yellow buttercup to towering tree ferns from Co Kerry, SW3 was filled with interest large and small, finds Tiffany Daneff

Of pepper and pigsties

Going flat out • A...