Country Life 14 August 2024

Country Life 14 August looks at the importance of our rare native breeds, why your A-Levels don't matter too much, how to bring the country house into the 21st (and maybe 22nd) century and Country Life's tech commandments.

Here’s a look at what you’ll find inside:

Breed for victory

Our treasured native livestock breeds are in danger of being lost, yet they have a crucial role to play, believes Kate Green

Levelling up

Anyone waiting with trepidations for the A-level results should take heart from the likes of Nelson and Brunel, says Alice Loxton

If walls could talk

Old houses with poor wifi need not be denied new gadgets, from wireless lighting to kettles that can be switched on remotely. Julie Harding taps her screen

Recommended videos for you

What makes you click?

From a hollowed-out cow to autofocus and gyro-stabilised cameras, clever ideas continue to transform wildlife photography. Amie Elizabeth White takes a look down the lense.

Full steam ahead

Neil Buttery fires up the pressure cooker, back in our kitchens and tenderising those bones

Paint your wagon

Sturdy, hardworking and now prized for their rarity, farm wagons were key to rural life in times past. Jack Watkins rolls out the surviving examples.

Country Life’s tech commandments

Follow thou Toby Keel’s wise advice for digital life and thou shalt not be shunned in society

Planting for the future

The new generation is building on a fine legacy of gardening and travel at Bryngwyn Hall in Powys, where Caroline Donald wanders among trees gathered from far-flung countries

Foraging

John Wright sets off into the woods in search of meaty rot fungi, the magnificent chicken of the woods and its cousin, joy-inducing hen of the woods

Waiter! My soup is cold

It might be an acquired taste, but gazpacho — recipe of your choice — is worth tasting again. Tom Parker Bowles dips his spoon into a Spanish favourite

And much more