The view from Country Life

A week when the weather turned against us but Jeremy (when he's in the office) is able to enjoy the view from the new building

A week of rain to dampen the spirits, but it does encourage the green in every corner. Miraculously Paul Barker the photographer who was sent to take up to date photographs of our finalists for the Genuis of the Place Award (an award sponsored by Savills for the best revived landscape setting of a country house), managed to find openings in the weather to record the glories of Gresgarth, Daneway, Rycote and others, to capture slices of blue sky and sunlight at key moments, often very early in the morning.

Our desks have moved again within the new offices, but I am satisfied that if I look left I can see Southwark Cathedral, with that spectacular curve of the railway, and glimpse the turrets of the Tower of London. Our new cafe is wonderful, with a view directly over Tate Modern and St Pauls' effectively making a surreal montage, the food is very good too, and I have probably been the first to buy lunch there for a Gloucestershire-based baronet, a rather good lasagne. Pity no Chianti can be bought, but having Decanter in a next door office could be promising...

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.