![A Duke of Burgundy [Hamearis lucina] butterfly resting on a leaf with its wings open. Credit: Getty](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/a637NjJAiWVoV4XeDYkjVY-1920-80.jpg.webp)
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Brodsworth Hall's 150-year-old follies — restored, reopened and remarkable
Brodsworth Hall's gardens and unusual follies have been restored during lockdown. Annunciata Elwes takes a look.
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The best new gardens opening to the public in 2021 under the National Garden Scheme
The NGS was hit by Covid-19 last summer, but the signs suggest that the 2021 National Garden Scheme openings should go ahead as usual. Annunciata Elwes takes a look at some of the highlights.
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Oxburgh Hall's 125 acres of parkland being returned to its former glory
Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk is being restored to its former glory thanks to pictured taken by the RAF after the Second World War. Annunciata Elwes explains more.
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Charlie Waite: One of the world's best landscape photographers on how to take pictures, the unknowable beauty of Britain and why an iPhone can be good enough
Charlie Waite — the British landscape photographer famous for his painterly approach — on how he produces such striking images and how amateurs might follow suit.
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Cerne Abbas: Was the giant naked man an artistic act of defiance aimed at monks?
New evidence suggests that the Cerne Abbas giant is much older than previously thought — and that its creation might have been 'a big two fingers' aimed at the Benedictine monks who had recently established an abbey.
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The British rivers being made officially clean enough for wild swimming
2020 saw a disturbing rise in sewage being dumped in British rivers, but new schemes are popping up to clean up our waterways — and some are even on their way to receiving Environment Agency clean-water standards. Annunciata Elwes reports.
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Chateau International Space Station: The $1 million bottle of wine that's literally out of this world
Sending wine to space, and bringing it back down to earth to sell for a good cause seems like a Herculean effort. But the true admiration must be for the astronauts who managed to resist the temptation to pop it open for some 14 months.
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Ten masterpieces of twentieth century architecture at risk from the wrecking ball
The Twentieth Century Society's annual list of at-risk buildings has been released, and — as ever — will stimulate lively debate.
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Dormice waking from hibernation 'to discover a bigger, better world'
The dormice of Wensleydale will have a nice surprise as they awaken from hibernation this year, thanks to a major conservation effort over the past few months. Annunciata Elwes explains.
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Why Britain's finest attractions need visitors like never before — and those who go will be rewarded: 'You are likely to never see them so quiet again'
A huge drop in visits to the best museums, zoos and houses in Britain has prompted calls for an extra day's holiday at the end of summer to help us all enjoy them.
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The stone-by-stone project to rescue the cloisters at Iford Manor: 'We've saved it from collapse'
One of Wiltshire's prettiest houses, Iford Manor, has been recognised by Historic Houses for its fabulous restoration of the medieval-style cloisters. Annunciata Elwes tells the tale.
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The 10 things you can do to help save hedgehogs
The decline in hedgehog numbers in Britain in recent decades has been shocking — but it seems that things might be stabilising, and these charming little creatures need our help. Hedgehog Street have shared ten things we can all do to help out.
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The vast classical labyrinth being built in the heart of Cornwall
Kerdroya will become the largest classical labyrinth on the planet once complete. Annunciata Elwes takes a look at the work in progress.
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In Focus: The £16,500 book that's a perfect 1:1 scale reproduction of the Sistine Chapel frescoes
Michaelangelo's great masterpiece, the frescoes that adorn the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, has been reproduced in a quite extraordinary volume of books. Annunciata Elwes takes a look.
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Glyndebourne, Garsington and The Grange among the summer outdoor operas going ahead in Britain this year
Glyndebourne 2021 and several of the other open-air opera events that are such a feature of the British summer are planning to go ahead as planned, as the country looks beyond the global pandemic. Annunciata Elwes reports.
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Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance village
Beauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
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Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cake
The most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
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Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired Shakespeare
An oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energy
Our Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
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John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War Memorial
Annunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
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Bealach na Bà, on the Applecross peninsula: Travelling the steepest road in Britain
Bealach na Bà is as unforgettable and beautiful as it is nerve wracking.
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The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: The surreal space where Lewis Carroll and Willy Wonka meet Capability Brown
Surrealism, philosophy, nature and gardening come together at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, as Annunciata Elwes explains.
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In Focus: A photographer's magical celebration of the farmers of Yorkshire
Photographer Valerie Mather has chronicled the lives of farmers in her award-winning images, which are now collected together together in a handsome book: Yorkshire Born & Bred: Farming Life.
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Birds of Cors Dyfi, Montgomeryshire: The remote sanctuary for over 100 types of birds
Annunciata Elwes looks at this remote spot beloved of some of Britain's rarest species of birds.
