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December 2021 Archive

109 articles

31 December
Britain’s most scenic drives: The Snake Pass, Peak District
Kitzbühel, Courchevel, Gstaad or Cortina — where is the best place to buy a ski property in Europe?
Britain's oddest place names: How you can visit New York, Hollywood, Jerusalem and New Zealand, all without leaving the country
30 December
Britain’s most scenic drives: A meander through the North Cotswolds
Aspen v Whistler: Where's the best place to buy a ski property in North America?
How M.R. James wove country house architecture into his ghost stories
29 December
Britain's most scenic drives: The Cheddar Gorge, Somerset
A delightful Georgian cottage for sale in the quintessential English village where 'The Holiday' was filmed
In Focus: Handel's Messiah, the Christmas music that was created for Easter
Country Life 29 December 2021
28 December
Britain’s most scenic drives: The Causeway Coastal Route, Northern Ireland
A stunning mews house for sale on the row where Love Actually's most poignant and romantic scene was filmed
Curious Questions: Are snowflakes really all unique?
27 December
Britain’s most scenic drives: The Hardknott and Wrynose Passes, Cumbria
Country Life's 10 best nature stories of 2021
Six absolutely beautiful properties for sale around the country for over £10 million
12 best Christmas films to watch with the family
26 December
Country Life's 10 best dog stories of 2021
The Country Life Editor's Christmas Quiz for 2021: See all the answers
Boxing Day: What it is, why we celebrate it, and how 'Good King Wenceslas' earned his name on the Feast of Stephen
25 December
Country Life's best 10 articles of 2021
Take the Country Life Editor's Christmas Quiz for 2021
The Country Life Christmas message by Revd Daniel French, the brilliant and quirky vicar with a penchant for dressing in Dalek costumes at village fêtes
24 December
Country Life's best property stories of 2021
A former rectory once owned by Wordsworth's brother, reimagined to create a state-of-the-art £15m dream home — with one little snag
23 December
Janine Stone's Jeremy Spencer on getting light right
Country Life's 10 most inspiring, beautiful and evocative Instagram posts of 2021
A 16th century, Grade II-listed property that's been totally transformed by a music legend, now seeking a new owner
How to cook a Christmas turkey on the barbecue
22 December
Country Life's 10 best interiors stories of 2021
A secluded rural retreat in Hampshire with fantastic characterful accommodation in an unbeatable village location
All you need to know about carving meat, according to the experts at The Ritz
21 December
Janine Stone's Jeremy Spencer on how houses need not just blend into their settings, but can actively enhance them
Country Life's 10 best garden stories of 2021
A wonderful former vicarage and chapel set amongst glorious gardens in a peaceful village in Devon
Brussels sprouts: Fresh and nutty, sweet and savoury all at once — and a recipe to convert even non-believers
20 December
Tom Parker Bowles on Britain's best smoked salmon: 'Pure piscine simplicity and the pinnacle of the smoker’s art'
Country Life's 10 best architecture stories of 2021
See what's inside Country Life's spectacular Christmas double issue
'One of Winchester's grandest homes' is up for sale, offering fantastic family living in the heart of the Cathedral city
Curious Questions: Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?
19 December
12 glorious country homes for sale, as seen in Country Life
Alan Titchmarsh: 'Only God’s earth — in the garden and the countryside — is capable of coming up with the goods with reliability equal to that of St Nicholas'
Simon Jenkins: Europe's cathedrals are the true wonders of the world, and were once daubed in colour — it's time they were once more
18 December
A striking and historic baronial Gothic manor house for sale at £6.5m, including one of the finest treehouses we've seen for years
Curious Questions: Why is smell the most evocative of our senses, 'primal, unconscious and instantaneous, capable of stopping a person dead in their tracks'?
Morton Hall: The magnificent garden that gives an illusion of effortlessness amid the silent winter air
17 December
In Focus: Dame Laura Knight, the genius written off by the snobs of the art world, finally getting recognition for her vibrancy and expression
16 December
Best Barbour jackets: The finest waxed jackets from an iconic British company
The homes and golf course coming soon on St Lucia in a location that is 'off-the-charts spectacular'
Help save period buildings at risk
This sweet chocolate-box thatched cottage in a peaceful Hampshire village is on the market for £620,000
The Clockspire restaurant review: A sensation in Somerset — and how to prepare their signature venison dish
15 December
Building back Bermondsey: The new development breathing fresh life into one of London's vibrant areas
A farmer's view of Storm Arwen:'I surveyed the shattered wreckage of a wood I remember planting with my father one school holidays'
One of the finest surviving medieval barns in the east of England has come up for sale, a spectacular historic building offering ancient beams and an indoor swimming pool
14 December
Country Life 15 December 2021
Best wellington boots: The finest wellies you can buy
Oceanus, Mustique: A magnificent Caribbean home for sale with glorious views, and pools for every time of the day
An amazing opportunity to own a sprawling 17th century manor in West Sussex at a knockdown price — but you'll need to move quickly
A grand portion of the historic country house that belonged to John Profumo
Carla Carlisle: 'I felt a surge of gratitude and hopefulness that’s hard to describe. You could call it Thanksgiving.'
13 December
Everything you need to transform your library into the most decadent room of the house: from a £6,000 bookcase to a secret games table
The Thames-side home of the composer Gustav Holst is up for sale, a true gem in one of London's most desirable villages
My Favourite Painting: Laurence Cumming
12 December
The ultimate view of Loch Ness for sale? A secluded and spacious home that showcases state-of-the-art living in the Highlands
A gardener's guide to winter, from late autumn to the end of February
Five reasons why you shouldn't get a dog for Christmas
Grand Lodge, The Freemasons’ Hall, London: A temple to peace
11 December
An utterly charming ancient thatched cottage in a peaceful Suffolk village within an hour of London, for sale at just £650,000
Curious Questions: How are ice sculptures are made?
The 10 most famous trees in Britain, and the (often grisly) stories behind them
Rosie and Jim: 'I'll give anyone who can find me an affordable flat my entire Sex and the City box set'
10 December
One year on from successful merger, Murray Income keeps an eye on the long term
The Manor House for sale in the English village where the local pub landlord once refused to take a Picasso in exchange for a round of drinks
The £20 sketch bought at a yard sale that turned out to be an original Dürer, and worth over £10 million
9 December
The 10 types of cloud you'll see in Britain (and what they tell us about the weather)
A farmhouse? A castle? Whichever it is, it's a 'wildly enchanting' home set in the rolling landscape of Northamptonshire
Scallops: Tom Parker Bowles on the sublime seafood that 'is both achingly tender and blissfully sweet'
8 December
How white-feathered barn owls terrify their prey into submission: 'It’s like a ghost coming on it'
A 700-year-old manor house for sale once owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and it's a wonderful blend of age and beauty
What you need to know about the new rules on log burners, wood-burning stoves and open fires
Country Life 8 December 2021
7 December
A hot pink house in Hertfordshire where Hollywood royalty — including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton — partied during the 1930's and 1950's
A painstakingly-renovated and irresistibly pretty Georgian townhouse in the heart of Chichester
Jonathan Self: 'Town folk know pleasures, country people joys'
6 December
A library reborn: How a former call centre became an elegant but relaxed room
How Bloomsbury became the cradle of British culture
My favourite painting: Leonie Benesch
5 December
Nine wonderful properties for sale, from a Gloucestershire cottage to a Scottish paradise, as seen in Country Life
How to grow spectacular winter flowers that will make your garden smell wonderful until Spring
The ten unwritten rules of walking your dog - and how to follow them
The Tudor Great Chamber at Gilling Castle, and the bizarre tale of its salvation
4 December
Curious Questions: Why do we send Christmas cards?
Mervyn Millar, the genius puppet master behind War House and more: 'When there’s a puppet on stage, it does something different to your engagement with the storytelling'
Rosie and Jim: The blood-curdling horror of a stag-do group on a three-hour train ride
3 December
A £20,000 bargain? This crumbling Art Deco lift on the Kent coast is seeking a brave buyer with a head for heights
Best Christmas gifts for gadget lovers, from iPads and headphones to tablets and keyboards
A spectacular Georgian townhouse that was the home of the prime minister who steered Britain through the abdication crisis
In Focus: How Fabergé created his delicate, technical, imaginative, whimsical and always recognisable eggs, only to die 'exhausted and broken'
2 December
The 'unique' mosaic discovered at a Roman villa in Rutland that 'puts the county on a national and international stage'
Rolls-Royce Cullinan review: Part 'awesome beast', part luxury hotel suite, part cocktail bar — and still able to do 0-60 in 5 seconds
The 'last grand country house in Wiltshire' is lying empty and unloved, and seeking a saviour (with deep pockets) to bring it back to life
How to make parkin, the traditional Northern ginger cake
1 December
The 'irreplaceable' trees destroyed in their thousands by Storm Arwen
Barnacle Geese: The curious tale of the bird which people believed grew on trees
Curious Questions: Why do we have Advent calendars?
Country Life 1 December 2021
A large Arts & Crafts house with its own rotunda in West Sussex that's perfect for families