An ideal manor house
New research has shed fresh light on idyllic Mapperton in Dorset, finds Timothy Connor
‘A party real, partly dream country’
Thomas Hardy’s Wessex, the land of Casterbridge and Egdon Heath, exists, at least in some form, discovers Susan Owens
Fishing in troubled waters
The life of a small-boat fisherman has always been hard, but new uncertainties mean fresh dangers. Ben Lerwill takes to the waves
The slug of the Baskervilles
Another black beast haunts the wilds of Dartmoor. Jack Watkins searches for our largest land slug
Xanthe Arvanitakis’s favourite painting
The director of Chiswick House picks a striking equestrian portrait
The brilliance of Thomas Telford
Fiona Reynolds visits an engineering marvel, the Shropshire canal
Masterpiece
Jack Watkins on why Edward Thomas’s Adlestrop beguiles
To have and to hold
The lost art of Devon stave-basket-making is being revived, reveals Natasha Goodfellow
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell dons her stripes
Furniture with a future
Arabella Youens meets five designers of the new antiques
Walk on the wild side
Deep in Cornwall lies Kestle Barton Gallery, the gardens of which link it perfectly to the landscape, says Caroline Donald
In good time
Amelia Thorpe chooses elegant sundials to enhance any garden
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson conjures delicious meals with samphire
With fairy shoes in every flower
Far from stinging their gatherers, pink and white deadnettles have healed country people for centuries, discovers Ian Morton
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The BBC and the contender for the greatest April Fool's prank ever playedAs April 1 looms, Martin Fone tells the tale of one of the finest stunts ever pulled off.
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How to disconnect from reality and feel like a new person in under 72 hoursOur round-up of the best British retreats that work wellness wonders in under 72 hours.
