Country Life

Published by TI Media Limited 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 Katy Hessel • Katy is a writer, broadcaster and the bestselling author of The Story Of Art Without Men. Her new book, How To Live An Artful Life, is out tomorrow (November 6). She writes a fortnightly column for The Guardian and is the daughter of Chris and Susan Hessel of Crouch Hill, London N8.

Remember, remember

Country Life

Town & Country

Town & Country Notebook

Stuff & nonsense

Letters to the Editor

Time to go Dutch

Athena • Cultural Crusader

My favourite painting Dominic Jones

A Georgian triumph • The Georgian Group’s Architectural Awards, sponsored by Savills, attracted another outstanding crop of entries this year. We reveal the winners, as chosen by a panel of judges chaired by COUNTRY LIFE’s Architectural Editor, John Goodall

Country-house treasures

Get me to the church in time • Parish churches need the same campaigning energy that saved the great country houses 50 years ago

A dynastic seat • An outstanding Jacobean house was an unexpected product of dynastic disappointment. John Goodall examines the remarkable circumstances of its construction

The legacy • Thomas Bewick and wood engraving

Dangerous beasts (and where to find them) • Britain is a country mercifully bereft of threatening fauna–or so you might believe. John Lewis-Stempel provides a miscellany of our otherwise benign land’s more fearsome critters

Splinter group • Nature’s spiky deterrents–thorns, spines and prickles–may be quick to catch us out, but they can also prove to be a useful ally, discovers Laura Parker

The 39 Steps • The timeless rules of chivalry

The 39 steps to being a gentleman • Many have attempted to update the codes of gentlemanly conduct for 2025, but as, William Hanson shows, the timeless rules are still the best ones

Welcome to the new jazz age • There’s more than a whiff of swing in the air–and on the airwaves. Will Hosie explores the resurrection of one of music’s most gentlemanly genres

Get down to business • A deep-green suit is an unexpectedly–yet undeniably–smart option for the man about town, affirms Amie Elizabeth White

What do you get a man who already has everything? • Jeremy Langmead sets out to find the ultimate personalised gift

Suited and booted • Party season beckons, notes Amie Elizabeth White, and a velvet jacket cuts an elegant figure in any room

Whirlwind by name, whirlwind by nature • The tourbillon is among the most beguiling instruments in watchmaking, finds Tom Chamberlin

Playing the field • On hill or river, a country gent never forgets his layers, says Amie Elizabeth White

Prep ahead • Call it polo-mania or ‘intelligent dressing’, sporty and sleek is the style of the moment, notes Amie Elizabeth White

What women want (on wheels) • James Fisher gets to drive fast cars for a living, but are sleek lines and high horsepower quite the babe magnets so many men think they are?

Flight mode • If winter sun is calling, reach for sky blues and a splash of colour, suggests Amie Elizabeth White

Let’s get slip-shod • Slippers have made their way out of the bedroom and into the street, finds...