Country Life

Published by Time Inc. (UK) Ltd Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.

Miss Virginia Caterina Stuart-Taylor • Virginia is a senior policy advisor for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where she specialises in European affairs and UK-Europe relations. She is engaged to Major Alexander Major, whom she will marry at The Royal Military Chapel, London SW1, next May. Virginia is the daughter of Sir Nicholas Stuart Taylor Bt of Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire, and Malvena, Lady Stuart Taylor of Beaulieu, Hampshire.

A story of homeliness • The true meaning of Christmas may lie in the symbolism behind the familiar and comforting rituals that we all embrace at this time of year, says Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy

Country Life

Town & Country

Town & Country Notebook

Letters to the Editor

Stick with the science

Athena • Cultural Crusader

My favourite painting The Dean of St Albans

The legacy • Ninette de Valois and the Royal Ballet

Earth stood hard as iron • Waking up to discover the garden transformed by a short, sharp hoar frost is a magical experience. Tiffany Daneff looks at how to make the most of it

Love to hear the robin go tweet, tweet, tweet • We’re more emotionally connected to the robin than any other bird, says Mark Cocker, as he considers why we feel so much affection for this sweet-songed, yet feisty Christmas-card favourite

Where Britain’s first saint lies • A church built for Britain’s first known Christian martyr developed into a great abbey and has served as a cathedral since 1877, as John Goodall explains

It’s a most wonderful time of the year • Christmas is no holiday for many living in the countryside, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. Kate Green and Paula Lester talk to some very busy people

Silence is golden • Quiet yourself and the distant hum of Nature’s parts connecting and working will soon come into focus, says John Lewis-Stempel, as he stops to listen to the world around him

Each year you bring to us delight • The annual ritual of unwrapping colourful souvenirs of Christmases past, each delicately swathed in tissue paper, is a joyful, albeit often poignant moment for all, says Matthew Dennison

Baby, it’s gold outside • Artists have long been inspired to preserve Nature’s ephemeral beauty in permanent and precious metals, discovers Catriona Gray

‘Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about!’ • Variously described as ‘wearing a cloak of silver’ and looking like ‘a hoary old man’, Jack Frost has attracted many artistic depictions over the centuries– some more positive than others, reflects Deborah Nicholls-Lee

The Editor’s Christmas quiz • Horns at the ready, fingers steady, it’s time for COUNTRY LIFE’s end-of-year general-knowledge extravaganza. First go at the Christmas Quality Street should be awarded to the winner (if there are any left)

Anyone for indoor cricket? • Be it roller-skating, crazy golf or re-enacting battles, the corridors of country houses are alive with potential for all sorts of weird and wonderful games, says Melanie Cable-Alexander

No risk, no reward • Taking over the world might not seem the most festive of activities, but a game of Risk will see you through from First Night to the last of the leftovers, says Harry...