BASSET HOUNDS: Incorrigible, vocal and partial to unguarded food, basset hounds are as human as a dog can be, reveals devotee Flora Watkins.
TOY SOLDIERS: Lining up Wellington’s infantry or the ‘Arabs of the desert’ was once a childhood staple, but no longer, rues Charles Harris .
WINTER CITRUS: Citrus fruits, from familiar lemons to exotic calamondins, will light up winter, advises John Hoyland.
MY FAVOURITE PAINTING: David Bradley, actor, chooses Monet’s poppy-strewn meadow .
WALKING LIFE: Fiona Reynolds tackles the steep slopes of The Wrekin .
ROBINS: The first book to be devoted to the story of a single bird, David Lack’s The Life of the Robin is still revered, says Jack Watkins.
ARCHITECTURE: The history of 16th-century Rippington Manor, Cambridgeshire, is unexpectedly complex, discovers John Goodall .
A STAINED GLASS WONDER: Heraldic stained-glass windows designed by A. W. N. Pugin for Gothic Alton Towers in Staffordshire have been triumphantly restored, finds John Goodall.
INTERIORS: A country kitchen in town and how the past is informing the new .
SCALLOPS: Tom Parker Bowles relishes the sweet succulence of scallops, a rare morsel with both pagan and pious connotations.
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudia Arabia to the South Downs via Cornwall and Milan.
CRICKET: James Fisher assesses England’s — admittedly slim — chances in the next Test against Australia.
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Vertigo at Victoria Falls, a sunset surrounded by lions and swimming in the Nile: A journey from Cape Town to CairoWhy do we travel and who inspires us to do so? Chris Wallace went in search of answers on his own epic journey the length of Africa.
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A gorgeous Scottish cottage with contemporary interiors on the bonny banks of the River TayCarnliath on the edge of Strathtay is a delightful family home set in sensational scenery.
