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 Amanda Bush • Amanda is a former amateur jockey and was assistant to the late National Hunt trainer Grant Cann. She is now an office administrator for MARS Badminton Horse Trials in Gloucestershire, which starts on May 6. Amanda is the daughter of Nick Bush of West Kington, Wiltshire, and Olivia Cann of Lower Hamswell, Bath.

Hats, horses and high jinks

Country Life

A hole new level of chaos • Britain’s mass of potholes continues to prompt angst, anger and, occasionally, amusement. Many councils responsible for road repairs appear to be fighting a losing battle, accident statistics are mounting and the cost of making the nation’s roads smooth again is soaring. Is relief for motorists just around the corner or still miles away?

Town & Country

Town & Country Notebook

Stuff & nonsense

Letters to the Editor

Hare today and every day

Athena • Cultural Crusader

My favourite painting Simon Harrison

Country-house treasures

Rising to the challenge • In the second of two articles, Jeremy Musson considers the significance of the work of the late Knight of Glin–and his daughter Catherine FitzGerald–in keeping this castle in family hands

‘Gold bubbles rising into sky’ • A wader with a haunting call, the enigmatic curlew has inspired both gloom and life-affirming joy in the hearts of some of our greatest writers, finds Jack Watkins

Hi ho silver lining • Far prettier than its cyprinid cousins the gloomy tench and the greasy bream, the glittering common bleak–or blay–loves nothing more than carousing with insects come high summer

Beau Brummell and the Royal Ascot dress code

The Season

The Season’s who’s who • As hats and morning coats are brushed off, picnic hampers are packed and shoes are polished, COUNTRY LIFE picks some of our favourite characters from the Season’s milieu

Crowning glories • Markers of time, place and personality, headpieces are little pieces of theatre; exquisite sculptural objects that exist in dialogue with the body, says Melanie Cable-Alexander

Think inside the box • A penchant for picnics is part of our cultural DNA, regardless of the weather. Pork pies, pan bagnat and good company are integral to getting it right, says Tom Parker Bowles

Which club is right for you? • Will Hosie rounds up the 10 clubs everyone won’t stop talking about–both during the Season and beyond it

Luxury Notebook

A few of my favourite things • Sarah Corbett-Winder is a fashion consultant, sometimes known as the ‘Wardrobe Whisperer’, and founder of Kipper clothing. She recently moved from London to a historic farmhouse in the Welsh countryside, where she lives with her husband, three children and two miniature dachshunds.

Good morning, sunshine • Glittering diamonds and jovial yellow gemstones signal brighter days ahead

A garden lover’s library • George Saumarez Smith reveals his design for COUNTRY LIFE’s stand at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which embodies his passions for architecture, drawing and books, and his fiancée Jane Kennerley’s love of plants

The living is easy • Garden furniture and accessories for life outside this season, selected by Amelia...