As healthy as they are divisive, Martin Fone takes a look at the humble Brussels sprout. Why do we eat them at Christmas? Does anybody eat them during the rest of the year? And do they really come from Brussels?
Charity shops have become a staple of British high streets in the past decade, and more and more of us are doing our shopping there — particularly as times are tight. But what's the story behind them? Martin Fone unearths the history of the charity shop.
Many of our best-loved and most moving Christmas carols started life as poems in search of a tune. Andrew Green uncovers the writers whose works were nearly forgotten, yet are now imprinted on the memory.
As we prepare to embark upon the season of wrapping leftover foodstuffs, Martin Fone answers a question that's been bugging us for years: is it dull side up and shiny side down, or the other way around?
The smell of something familiar can transport you back in time as none of the other senses will, says Ben Lerwill.
Sobriety is easier and more interesting than it used to be, finds Giles Kime, who has spent the past year exploring the unanticipated delights of alcohol-free beer.
Once a sweet treat fit for the Royal Court, jelly was transformed into a favourite dessert of the masses by the launch of Rowntree’s concentrated jelly cubes. Harry Pearson tells their tale.
A brilliant conversationalist, a cracking host and, surprisingly, an excellent actor, Charles III genuinely cares for people and strives to make a difference to their lives. Anna Tyzack speaks to some of those who have crossed his path.
The pandemic forced millions of us to re-evaluate where and how we live — and what's important to us. The answer for many was to live off the grid. But can it really be compatible with modern life? Adam Hay-Nicholls tried it out — and spoke to some of those who have made it work.
The rows upon rows of ghoulish, glowing squash down your street can only mean one thing: it’s Halloween. But have you ever stopped to wonder whether a pumpkin is a fruit or a vegetable? Alexandra Fraser investigates.
Long or round, large or small, prehistoric tumuli dot the countryside. Vicky Liddell explores the history, folklore and literary influence of burial mounds or barrows and reveals how they were nearly lost to the 18th-century digging mania.
A chance encounter with Nature's answer to the helicopter prompts Martin Fone to ponder how sycamore seeds managed to fall to earth so gracefully.
No English country house is complete, or so it sometimes seems, without an Aga at the heart of the kitchen — yet it's a Swedish invention whose roots are rooted in a tragic explosion, as Martin Fone discovers.
Just when you were musing about the nature of coincidences, along comes Martin Fone to explain exactly what they are — and what they aren't.
Martin Fone tells the tale of a true British culinary classic: the pork pie.
What are the origins of our national anthem? John Goodall investigates the extraordinary story behind both the tune and the words, as well as their influence on other nations.
The UK is switching on to a future of home-grown, greener power — and yet this future is drawing on the past. Jonathan Lee revisits the renewable revolution that started right here.
After a summer of stoic queuing in planes, trains and automobiles, Country Life has identified five reasons why patient queueing is the British tradition that we secretly love to love.
Captain Matthew Webb was famously the first man to successfully swim the English Channel — or was he? Martin Fone investigates.
The annual Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race has been a fixture on the sporting calendar of Britain for almost two centuries — but there is a far older example still going, Doggett's Coat and Badge, which boasts an unbroken record of winners for more than three centuries examples. Martin Fone explains.
