Country Life June 7 2017 is our stunning summer number featuring the alternative Season; the joy of the lido; country-house opera; and the art of the great British picnic. Find out more:
ARCHITECTURE: Cobthorne, the striking town-house home of the head of Oundle school in Northamptonshire, has a rich history, finds Clive Aslet
GARDENS: George Plumptre finds out how a field beside the grounds of Woburn Abbey was turned into a garden
BREATHING LIFE INTO CLANDON: As a shortlist of architects is announced, Simon Jenkins argues that this great Surrey house deserves to be lived in again
PICNICS: Gregory Holyoake explores why it is we eat outside better than anyone and Raymond Blanc, Thomasina Miers and Tom Kerridge pack their picnic essentials
LOVELY LIDOS: Emma Hughes dives in to discover why we still love a lido
ART: Caroline Bugler admires the beauty of Raphael’s drawings
MY FAVOURITE PAINTING: The Artistic Director of The Grange Festival. Michael Chance. chooses a Vermeer full of ‘drama and beauty’
THE ALTERNATIVE SEASON: Forget Wimbledon and Ascot—there are delights to be found everywhere. Anna Tyzack offers her recommendations for the alternative Season
COUNTRY-HOUSE OPERA: The summer opera season has never had more to offer, says Flora Watkins
INTERIORS: Furniture maker Simon Burvill talks to Arabella Youens and can you make floor-to-ceiling windows work?
THEATRE: Can theatre cast new light on the issues of the past, asks Michael Billington
COOKING: Melanie Johnson experiments with aubergine, the "poor man's steak"
PROPERTY: Historic country houses and garden squares in the capital.
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‘‘In the silence, it is the most perfect blue I have ever seen. If my goggles weren’t already overflowing with water I might even weep’: Learning to freedive on the sparkling French Riviera with a five-time World ChampionFive-time freediving World Champion Arthur Guérin-Boëri calls the serene waters of Cap-Ferrat his office. Now, one storied hotel is offering guests a chance to take a deep breath and jump into the deep unknown with him.
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The Hollywood garden designers who turned their hand to a magical corner of SomersetCaisson House's fifteen abandoned locks were part of the draw for Amanda and Phil Honey, who have created this astonishing garden in the grounds of the former headquarters of the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company just outside Bath. Caroline Donald discovers more; photography by Jason Ingram.
