Impressive horsepower
Last week, members of the public and press at Cheltenham Festival were treated to a first look of Aston Martin's new Vantage Roadster. Look out for a test drive and review on the Country Life the website in early May.
When the pupil becomes the master
When carrying out conservation work on its 18th-century Venetian paintings, staff at the Wallace Collection reappraised one of the vedute, The Grand Canal with San Simeone Piccolo, long thought to be by Canaletto, and attributed it instead to his nephew and pupil Bernardo Bellotto. He would have painted it when he was 16, making this the earliest known work by the Venetian artist.
London's right on time
The Watches of Switzerland group opened up a brand new Rolex flagship store over the weekend — one of the largest in Europe.
The new site, on London's Old Bond Street, spans four floors and includes a Rolex exhibition celebrating some of the brand's best-loved models of the last 120 years. Timepieces available to purchase include the GMT Master II, Cosmograph Daytona, and Submariner models.
Beaver or not, here I come
Last week, the National Trust released the first two pairs of Eurasian beavers into the wild, in the Purbeck area of Dorset, following Defra’s announcement in February that applications to return the semi-aquatic rodents into river catchments in England would be accepted.
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Under the hammer: A 30-carat aquamarine pendent smuggled out of Russia and recently attributed to FabergéThe ribbon-bow surmount is synonymous with the Russian jewellery houses.
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19 completely charming houses for sale across Britain, as seen in Country LifeOur pick of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life in the last few days includes everything from a sprawling mansion in Kent to a charming Cornish cottage at under £500k.
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Dawn Chorus: Britain's best museum gift shopsOur Friday morning news review on museum shops, beech trees, ash dieback, and a rail replacement service you'll be happy to see the sight of.
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Dawn Chorus: How to listen to The King's new playlist, Spike Milligan's wonky house and Burgh IslandMonday morning's Dawn Chorus round-up finds presidential inspiration, a comedic home and more.
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Mexico, Miss Argentina and north Norfolk: How padel is taking over the worldWhat is padel? Why is it so popular? And what can it do for the countryside?
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'As fun a dog as you’ll ever come across’, and a global icon — so why have smooth fox terriers become so rare?Once so popular they were labelled the ‘English terrier’, numbers of smooth fox terriers have dwindled to worrying levels. Yet these smart and charming little dogs could rival the labrador if better known, devotees tell Flora Watkins.
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Dawn Chorus: The unseen Queen, the ultimate Highland train and the three-bedroom wreck for sale at £695k -
The fast and the furryous: When some cool canines stole the show from priceless cars in St MoritzThe ICE is synonymous with beautiful cars, but everyone knows that the real stars of the show are the dogs strutting their stuff on St Moritz's frozen lake.
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Dawn Chorus: A Blue Plaque for Marc Bolan, holidaying in the Caribbean with Francis Ford Coppola and a history of the National Gallery in 25 picturesPlus the best of the property pages, and how the railways will save the countryside.
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Everything you need to know about Hampstead: The real star of 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy'From Protestant Dissenters to Dame Judi Dench, Hampstead has long been synonymous with liberal values and prosperity — which is what makes it different from other parts of London. Now, it's stealing hearts the world over in the latest Bridget Jones film.
