Country Life December 13/20 2017 is our fabulous Christmas double issue featuring the Editor's Christmas Quiz, ducal dogs, Ian Rankin's exclusive 'Rebus' story, animals that deserve Oscars, panto perils, real elves and crib makers. Find out more:
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE: The Bishop of Gloucester embraces the hopes and fears of all the years
LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE: The cake maker
FAVOURITE PAINTING: The Bishop of Warwick, the Rt Rev John Stroyan chooses a batik he commissioned from an ‘untouchable’ in India
COMMENT: Fiona Reynolds goes on the trail of the Mitford family
ARCHITECTURE: John Goodall describes the late-medieval struggle to award Wells Cathedral its status
DOGS FIT FOR A DUKE: From Rupert the collie-cross and Suzy the shih tzu, dogs have long been a duke’s best friend, finds Matthew Dennison
WILDLIFE: The kingfisher or ‘ice bird’ is an artist’s favourite, marvels David Profumo
SHORT STORY: Rebus finds the truth behind a festive parlour game in Ian Rankin’s exclusive short story
GARDENS: Jacky Hobbs visits the star-spangled festive extragavanza at 17th-century Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in France
ANIMAL OSCARS: Animal ‘actors’ are often remembered long after their human counter-parts, says Flora Watkins
HISTORY: The endless winter of 1947
THE EDITOR'S CHRISTMAS QUIZ
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GARDENING: Ivy has virtues we should all celebrate, says Steven Desmond
REAL ELVES: Katy Birchall meets the real-live elves who respond to children’s letters
CRIB MAKERS: Julie Harding on the people who create Nativity scenes
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR: John Lewis-Stempel frets as his cows are tested for TB
LUXURY: Hetty Chidwick brings the latest in luxury, profiles Fly Victor and discovers Jools Holland’s life essentials
MOTORING: Charles Rangeley-Wilson tests the new Levante from Maserati
REEL LIFE: David Profumo’s fishing year
INTERIORS: Ben Pentreath and Henriette von Stockhausen debate eating spaces and Giles Kime loves a pom-pom
ART & ANTIQUES: Michael Hall reveals how the art collections of Charles l and Charles ll were reunited
FEASTING: Mark Price’s dream day of Christmas eating
COOKING: Simon Hopkinson provides ideas for smoked salmon
MAGIC: Emma Hughes finds out what it takes to be a modern-day magician
PANTOMIMES: Perennial pantomime villain Kit Hesketh-Harvey explains a much-loved ritual
INTERVIEW: Jeremy Taylor meets the cricketing ballet dancer Alexander Campbell
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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.
