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
FAVOURITE PAINTING: Clementine Cecil, the director of Pushkin House chooses a melancholy etching by two of the Soviet Union’s determined ‘paper architects’
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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.
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The Country Life guide to Somerset: What to do, where to stay and how to eatSomerset is rich in natural beauty and history, but it is its wealth of small-scale food and drink producers, farmers and makers that really set it apart from the competition. Find out how to make the most of it all with our indispensable guide.
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How to make a gloomy city garden into a haven of colour and natureTiffany Daneff discovers how to transform a typically dark London back garden into a light-filled green haven that is always in use. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
