Country Life 28 February 2024

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

And they called it puppy love

From perfect poodles to the loyal and lovable labrador, our dogs are close to our hearts. Victoria Marston reveals the nation’s favourite breeds down the decades

Robert Hardman’s favourite painting

The author chooses a glorious work that irritated a former PM

How does your garden village grow?

The hand of Lutyens is still in evidence at Knebworth Garden Village in Hertfordshire, but new development plans threaten to ruin its character, finds Clive Aslet

Here’s rooking at you

The rook is one of our most complex and misrepresented birds. Mark Cocker delves into the history of our relationship with the much-maligned corvid

Hitting the sweet spot

Partial to a pink shrimp or craving a cola bottle? Sweets are a form of currency at school — and Madeleine Silver is first in the queue at the tuck shop

Book your place

Here’s the Country Life guide to independent-school open days, with 50 to choose from

Rascals and rusticants

Harry Pearson investigates celebrated student scrapes involving Byron’s pet bear, Oscar Wilde’s lobster on a lead and ‘Mad Jack’ Mytton’s horseplay

Interiors

Arabella Youens finds everything is shipshape in north Cornwall following the transformation of an old boat shelter into the stylish and characterful Net Loft

Luxury

Hetty Lintell is dazzled by a new jewellery collection that is a real force of Nature, plus elegant wrist watches, beautiful jackets, fine shirts and a few of Jane Churchill’s favourite things

New for old

Tiffany Daneff visits Pembury Hall in Kent and finds that an overgrown garden has been reinvented for a new generation

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson finds earthy celeriac comes into its own alongside some strong flavours

I left my soul there, down by the sea

Riding a wave of fond childhood memories, John Lewis-Stempel is mesmerised by seashells and seaweed on the seashore

The brush of an angel

Matthew Dennison reveals how Angelica Kauffman overcame petty 18th-century bias to be regarded as ‘possibly the most cultured woman in Europe’

And much more