Trending:

Dawn Chorus: How to clean a priceless chandelier, a Bohemian rhapsody for sale and our Quiz of the Day

Toby Keel Toby Keel

Blenheim's big clean, the best National Park pubs, Maria Callas's costumes and a beautiful, quirky house for sale — they're all in our first Dawn Chorus of 2025.

A smashing Spring Clean at Blenheim

2025 will be a big year at Blenheim Palace, with the £10.4 million roof replacement project getting under way. It’s something we’ve covered on the website a few times in the last year or so — most memorably with Henrietta Spencer-Churchill herself, who talked about the project on the Country Life podcast.

Before all that starts up, however, Blenheim are launching their annual ‘deep clean’ of the famous house and its contents: 11,000 books, 1,000 pieces of silverware, 38 suits of armour, some of the world’s most valuable tapestries and no fewer than 19 chandeliers will be just a few of the things to be meticulously cleaned over the next six to eight weeks.

Which is all great… but if we’re being honest, reading those stats just made us think of this:

We’re pretty sure there won’t be any Peckham-based cowboys involved in the process, of course. We wish good luck, and steady hands, to all who are.

Quiz of the Day

1) Which legendary character’s horse was named Black Bess?
2) Cottage-garden staple larkspur is more properly known as what?
3) The name of which dinosaur means ‘speedy thief’?
4) Which French Impressionist is famous for his paintings of ballet dancers?
5) Castlemilk Moorit is a rare breed of what?

Britain’s best National Park pubs

Ranking pubs is a difficult business — one man’s meat is another man’s poison, and all that — but when over 1,600 people rank a place at 9.8 out of 10, you’re probably on to a winner. That’s the rating achieved by The Black Venus Inn, in the Exmoor village of Challacombe, which has come out as Britain’s best National Park pub in a new list.

It’s a gorgeous 16th century building that’s been run by the same family — the Birches — for over 20 years, located in a spot that’s ideal for exploring the local area. The research from holiday cottage company Wheelwrights put it in top spot, just ahead of the Barley Mow in Bonsall, in the Peak District, The Dartmoor Inn in Lydford, the Tai’r Bull Inn in the Brecon Beacons and the Horseshoe Inn in the North York Moors National Park.

Bohemian rhapsody

How about this for a library?

And how about this for a bedroom?

They’re both in this gorgeous Norfolk house which we covered last week. Here’s the link if you missed it.

Jumping into 2025

That’s it for today — we’re back tomorrow

Quiz answers

1) Dick Turpin
2) Delphinium
3) Velociraptor
4) Edgar Degas
5) Sheep