Country Life's top columns and features of 2022
From the characters that inhabit the Highlands to the columnist who got The Queen out of a sticky situation, here are our most popular columns, features and curious questions of 2022.
The ruins 7,000 years older than Stonehenge which overthrow the way we think about our common past
Jason Goodwin visited an ancient site — but he didn't even take his camera. Here's why, and what it told him about what he was seeing.
Smashing vases, feral kittens and putting ice in your wine — Country Life's agony aunt Mrs Hudson on how to deal with the lot
Our much-loved agony aunt is currently on maternity leave; we need her back, and soon. (Keep your eyes peeled this coming summer.)
Asset stripping, helicopters to Gretna Green, drinks all round and land at 5p an acre
Joe Gibbs reminisces about the Dutchmen who made a home in the Highlands — and made quite a splash.
How do you pronounce Belvoir, Featherstonhaugh and Bagehot?
Even simple-looking names like Powell and Coke can trip up the unwary, while Belvoir and Featherstonhaugh are positive linguistic land mines. Eleanor Doughty (Dowty? Dockerty? Dotty?) investigated.
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‘Hang on — was I just charged 64 quid for some salad, six chicken strips and a quiche the size of a doorknob?’
Lucy Baring headed in to London and felt the cost of inflation.
Curious Questions: Why do we take Christmas decorations down on January 6th?
Our Curious Questions regular columnist Martin Fone took a look at one of the seemingly-arbitrary quirks of the season.
The day I rescued The Queen
Our long-standing contributor Carla Carlisle was lucky enough to meet the Queen. And even luckier to be able to help Her Majesty out of a bit of a spot.
The burial mounds that pre-date Stonehenge by seven centuries
Vicky Liddell did some digging — pretty much literally — into the mysterious existence of barrows.
‘The very idea of stripes on a lawn made my German friend shudder’
Centrepiece of a classic English country garden, or bourgeois construct of the machine age? Our columnist Jason Goodwin took aim at the lawn.
See Country Life's top 10s of 2022
Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.
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Brockfield Hall, the great Yorkshire house that's gone from Regency mansion to modern family home
Brockfield Hall in North Yorkshire is the family home of Charlie Wood and Hatta Byng, editor of House & Garden, who have transformed it since they came here in 2020, winning multiple awards in the process. John Martin Robinson reports on the restoration project that revived this compact Regency house as a modern family home. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
By John Martin Robinson Published
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Barbour’s heritage jackets get a floral makeover courtesy of Erdem
Utilitarian outwear has taken the fashion world by storm and now Britain's world-famous wax jackets are getting in on the act, inspired by some of our greatest countryside icons.
By Amy de la Haye Published
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The Country Life Christmas message by Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy: ‘The most powerful person in the world’ is not an emperor, high priest or CEO, but a helpless baby in the arms of a loving mother
Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy on how Christmas shows us that ‘the most powerful person in the world’ is not an emperor, or a high priest or the CEO of a tech company, but a helpless baby in the arms of a loving mother.
By Rev Dr Colin Heber-Percy Published
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'Keep thy device clean': Country Life's Tech Commandments
We all use our phones too much. The least we can do is agree on a set of rules for modern etiquette in a digital age.
By Toby Keel Published
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10 ways to save the planet, according to Country Life
There are many practical ways in which we–individuals, groups and Government–can make a difference to our planet, both locally and nationally. As the General Election looms, we present 10 areas where improvement is badly needed.
By Country Life Published
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Minette Batters: We need to trade on a level playing field
After six years leading Britain's largest farming union, Minette Batters talks life after the NFU and why MPs of all parties need to take farming more seriously.
By Minette Batters Published
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British Library cyber attack is a wake up call to the cultural sector
Thankfully, physical objects are safe from cyber warfare, but our cultural institutions need to sit up and take notice, warns Athena
By Country Life Published
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‘The love we share at Christmas is a refuge. It replenishes our depleted batteries and allows us to go out again into the world’: The 2023 Country Life Christmas message, by Revd Colin Heber-Percy
A safe haven, a refuge for rest and relaxation, the place we feel we belong—the concept of ‘home’ differs for each of us. At Christmas, home is so much more than a physical location: it is all around, says the Revd Colin Heber-Percy.
By Rev Dr Colin Heber-Percy Published
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The 2022 Country Life Editor's Christmas Quiz
Challenge yourself with our traditional test of knowledge, drawn from all things Country Life, as compiled by Kate Green.
By Kate Green Published
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The Country Life Christmas message, by the Revd Lucy Winkett
As many of us celebrate a simpler Christmas, the Reverend Lucy Winkett is moved by the generosity of those often dealing with their own difficult circumstances and stresses that giving someone your time can be a great gift, too.
By Country Life Published