Country Life October 4 2017
Globe-making; the 10 best driving tracks; plus how to read a puddle.


Country Life October 4 2017 reveals how to read a puddle, the 10 best tracks to drive to plus why the countryside is in our DNA. Find out more:
COUNTRYSIDE DNA: Living in the countryside is a peculiarly British ambition, points out Mark Hedges
TOP 10 DRIVING TRACKS: The drive of my life What could be better than cruising down a country lane beneath a blue sky? Doing it to the perfect sound-track, of course. Angus Gibson selects his top 10 driving tracks
PUDDLES: Walking on water Often seen but never studied, every humble puddle tells a story, reveals Tristan Gooley
GARDENS: Cutting a dash The glorious cutting gardens at Parham, West Sussex, continue to fulfil the time-honoured tradition of providing flowers for the house, finds Jacky Hobbs
LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE: The hat-block maker
COMMENT: Another country Being über-cool can backfire, says Carla Carlisle
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
FAVOURITE PAINTING: Clementine Cecil, the director of Pushkin House chooses a melancholy etching by two of the Soviet Union’s determined ‘paper architects’
Subscribe to Country Life from £34.24, or £2.70 an issue
ARCHITECTURE: An ambitious round of restoration is reviving Stanford Hall in Leicestershire after a challenging 20th century, says John Goodall
MADE IN BRITAIN: Nigel Heldreich, a memory-box maker, explains his craft to Arabella Youens
INTERIORS: Thirty years on from Withnail and I, Arabella Youens revisits the Uncle Monty ’s taste for deep Howard-style sofas and Amelia Thorpe selects examples of Victorian upholstery
GLOBE-MAKING: Katy Birchall gains an insight into the tricky world of globe making
TRAVEL: Jane Watkins enjoys a mini-break in Vienna and Victoria Marston escapes to Crete
COOKING: Kitchen garden cook Melanie Johnson makes butternut squash tartines
PROPERTY: Penny Churchill explores dream fishing estates and Annucinata Elwes round up properties boasting beautiful libraries.
If you loved this issue, why not subscribe to Country Life and get your copy delivered to your door every week?
You can also subscribe to the digital edition on your tablet and download your copy every Wednesday.
Back issues of Country Life magazine can be ordered online here.
Agnes has worked for Country Life in various guises — across print, digital and specialist editorial projects — before finally finding her spiritual home on the Features Desk. A graduate of Central St. Martins College of Art & Design she has worked on luxury titles including GQ and Wallpaper* and has written for Condé Nast Contract Publishing, Horse & Hound, Esquire and The Independent on Sunday. She is currently writing a book about dogs, due to be published by Rizzoli New York in September 2025.
-
A well-connected rural playground with 23 acres on the edge of the South Downs National Park
Old House Farm is an impressive family home with a wealth of amenities that would inspire any rural passion.
By Arabella Youens Published
-
The UK gets its first ‘European stork village’ — and it's in West Sussex
Although the mortality rate among white storks can be up to 90%, the future looks rosy for breeding pairs in southern England.
By Rosie Paterson Published