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 Grace Breen • Grace is a marketing manager for Schöffel and a graduate of the Royal Agricultural University in Gloucestershire, who coaches at the Quorn Hunt branch of the Pony Club. She is the daughter of Michael and Sharan Mulligan of Seagrave, Leicestershire, and married Joshua Breen last August.

Power struggles

Country Life

Cathedral school fights closure

Town & Country Notebook

Stuff & nonsense

Letters to the Editor

Dancing daffodils herald spring

Athena • Cultural Crusader

Does the bell toll? • In light of the proposed closure of the cathedral school in Exeter, the actor and presenter wonders whether the writing is on the wall for all others, too

My favourite painting Carmen Alvarez • The Marlborough Family by Sir Joshua Reynolds

Country-house treasures

Studios of real purpose • A terrace of purpose-built studio houses has artists at work within it once again. Jeremy Musson explores the history of these buildings and a modern connection with Florence

Michael Bond and Paddington Bear

Sing when you’re winning • Red kites, great spotted woodpeckers and pink-footed geese are only a few of the birds doing brilliantly in the British Isles right now. Mark Cocker celebrates their success stories and looks at what might be learnt from them

Staff meeting • Far more than a walking aid, a properly made stick is a tangible–not to mention very useful–link to the land itself, says Gabriel Stone

A map, a map, my kingdom on a map • With emerald hills here and sinuous rivers there, a Yorkshire farmer’s years spent surveying the land on horseback resulted in a lavish and surprisingly accurate atlas of Elizabeth I’s Britain, says Ben Lerwill

A wedding who’s who • Giles Kime presents a dramatis personae of 21st-century nuptials

Wedding belles • Silver, red or even black, marriage gowns of the past were seldom white, until Queen Victoria opted for the hue of purity in 1840, discovers Matthew Dennison

The time of our lives • Friends of COUNTRY LIFE share their honeymoon destinations and where they would go if they could do it all over again

Weddings Notebook

Will English eyes be smiling? • Anglo-Irish rivalry is a traditional feature of the Cheltenham Festival, but, recently, it’s been a one-sided battle in Ireland’s favour. This year, however, Jack Watkins suggests that British trainers could stage a fightback

Cupboard love • The latest kitchen designs and accessories, selected by Amelia Thorpe

Property news

Stirring stuff • A great kitchen defines a house and these five properties have showstoppers for keen cooks and consummate hosts alike

London Life • Your indispensable guide to the capital

Need to know

To buy or not to buy • A spectacular range of homes is sparking up the London market this month. Will Hosie rounds up his favourites

Where the wild things are • When Public House Group opened The Pelican in 2022, the boozer became the sexiest place in town. Now, its founders are turning their attention to farming, finds Will Hosie

Charm offensive • Charles Quest-Ritson meets Glenn Shapiro, a former sculptor and sheep...