Country Life 22 January 2025

Country Life 22 January 2025 looks at fabulous finches, magical marmalade and Jane Austen's saucy legacy.

Here’s a look at some of what you’ll find inside.

Hold on to your bonnets

Annunciata Elwes learns that Austenmania is still in full swing some 250 years after the birth of Emma author Jane Austen

The legacy

Your starter for 10… Kate Green answers all your questions on University Challenge and quiz- master Bamber Gascoigne

Charmed, I’m sure

The finch is a frequent garden visitor as it roams rural Britain in search of seed. Mark Cocker showcases our delightful dozen species of this much-loved bird

Squeeze the day

Oranges are the only fruit for Jane Wheatley as she explores the benefits of bitter varieties used in marmalade and more

Recommended videos for you

All aboard!

Madeleine Silver travels with an eclectic cast of eccentric commuters all clutching their tickets to ride into the capital

Jennifer Francis’s favourite painting

The director of Turner’s House in London chooses a warm, rich work alive with anticipation and hope for new beginnings

Regency revival

John Martin Robinson admires the award-winning restoration of Brockfield Hall in North Yorkshire, a Regency gem revived as a modern family home

The good stuff

Feel toasty in the mountains with Hetty Lintell’s elegant picks

Interiors

A bathroom with links to rock royalty wows Arabella Youens and a host of gleaming luxuries catch the eye of Amelia Thorpe

Coming up roses

Charles Quest-Ritson marvels at row upon row of flowers in bloom at Whartons in Norfolk, our largest producer of Rosa

Kitchen garden cook

Curly kale is king in the winter kitchen as Melanie Johnson rustles up a Gruyère-crusted tart

Dark of the sun

The golden, honey-hued glow of Samuel Palmer’s work is now widely lauded as a mark of genius, but it wasn’t always so, as Maev Kennedy reveals

Onwards to Croydon!

Michael Billington is bowled over by the National Theatre at its very best, but left baffled by two recent revivals of the Bard