Murder on the palace floor
John Goodall charts the rise, fall and rise again of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the Edinburgh landmark’s 900-year history
A nose for Nature
Harnessing the power of a dog’s snout can play a crucial role in protecting curlew, newts and red squirrels, discovers Alexa Phillips
England at its best
Kate Green celebrates the 70th birthday of Exmoor National Park, famed for a beguiling blend of wild beauty and farmed landscape
The hunger games
Find out what happens when the greenery bites back as Deborah Nicholls-Lee develops a taste for Britain’s carnivorous plants
Sarah Bardwell’s favourite painting
The managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra chooses a vibrant, glowing work
The legacy
Conservation owes much to Dr Dick Potts, says Kate Green
This perfumed arcadia
The smooth flanks of the Downs are our oldest manmade habitat, suggests John Lewis-Stempel from a lofty perch on Caburn hill
Meet the tusk force
Paula Lester puts her stalking skills to the test as she sets out in pursuit of Chinese water deer on a Bedfordshire farm
Duck and cover
Harry Pearson hails the dandy, diving eider duck, safeguarded since the time of St Cuthbert
Once upon a time in the west
David Profumo relives the days when the fabled waters of Lewis were seemingly ‘paved with fish’
The good stuff
The advent of autumn calls for richer hues, advises Hetty Lintell
100 Interiors
Matthew Dennison recommends a pediment for a grand flourish
Where her tears fell, asters grew
Michaelmas daisies are among the shining stars of the autumn garden, declares John Hoyland
Natural beauty
Amelia Thorpe selects sculptures to adorn any outside space
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson on parsnips
Foraging
John Wright goes rooting around for the subtle, subterranean flavour of Britain’s native truffles
Gone fishing
This piscatorial profession and pastime has kept artists hooked for centuries, finds Carla Passino
Not to be sneezed at
Snuff taking is nothing to get sniffy about, argues Harry Pearson
She’s got the key, she’s got the secret
James Clarke examines The Secret Garden’s enduring appeal a century after the author’s death
Moving with the times
Michael Billington is spoilt for choice with a run of first nights
And much more
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The fate of the last wolf in Britain? Country Life Quiz of the DayOur daily quiz tests your gut instinct, powers of deduction and downright luck. Unless you happen to know all the answers for sure.
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How to make an ethereal-sounding seafood, spinach and asparagus puff-pastry cloudOur Kitchen Garden Cook's recipe for a stuffed puff-pastry cloud is easier to make than it is to say.
