Country Living UK July 2021

A close friend of mine has recently retired. She and her husband are heading off to Pembrokeshire to set up home by the sea. In truth, it’s got me thinking – not so much about retirement, but of the coastal life I’ve always hankered after. Don’t get me wrong: I really appreciate landlocked rural living and know how lucky I am to be surrounded by acres of woods and farmland. But there’s something about the seaside – the tang of salt in the air, the sound of waves crashing on the shore – that makes me feel altogether different. What better way to reset your perspective than to stand on a beach and just stare out to that point on the horizon where the water meets the sky? Dedicating much…

Wild Nights Out by Chris Salisbury (Chelsea Green, £14.99) Wildlife-watching needn’t stop when the sun goes down. This hands-on guide teaches children and adults how to explore nature at night – from stargazing to calling for owls. Tapestries of Life by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson (HarperCollins, £14.99) Bees pollinate crops – and kingfishers inspired high-speed trains: we are connected to nature in more ways than we realise. This book highlights the enduring links. Woodston by John Lewis-Stempel (Transworld, £20) From Paleozoic volcanoes to the Land Girls via Saxon occupation and the Tudor wool trade – the award-winning nature writer charts the sweeping history of a quintessential English farm. The Heeding by Rob Cowen and Nick Hayes (Elliott & Thompson, £12.99) This collection of poetry and illustrations reflects on a whirlwind year and the small moments that shape our lives…

“Before them were the sands, with rocks and little pools of saltwater, and seaweed, and the smell of the sea and long miles of bluish-green waves breaking for ever and ever on the beach.” CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe TRY YOUR HAND AT… BAT DETECTING Bats numbers in the UK have nose-dived over the past century, but you can help track them from now until September in the Bat Conservation Trust’s National Bat Monitoring Programme. You just have to spend an hour at dawn or dusk recording your findings. Look out for some of the UK’s 18 species, from the common pipistrelle to the Daubenton’s bat. Swot up on their sounds and profiles on the BCT website, where you will also find a survey form and can apply…

Follow @CLArtisans on Instagram to see more unique products from talented makers FOR STOCKISTS see Where to Buy PRICES AND AVAILABILITY CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS. POSTAGE/DELIVERY IS IN ADDITION TO THE PRICES QUOTED HERE…

Staycation stampede!” reads the newspaper headline. Crikey, I think, we’d better get something organised for our break away this year before we’re too late. It turns out we already are: a quick search online shows that many properties are fully booked until 2022! How ridiculous, I scoff, then castigate myself for being so foolish and leaving it to the last minute. I mean, it’s not as if we didn’t know that the entire UK population, banned from travelling abroad, was going to be holidaying at home this summer. I need a strategy to ensure success. First, the destination. A place we know or somewhere we’ve never visited? Countryside or coast? The Country Living team are putting together a feature on their favourite British beaches (see page 66) and this makes up…

People used to be so sniffy about British wine. Now, thanks to the concerted efforts of a handful of dedicated vineyards, home-grown wine is one of our country’s most sparkling jewels. I’m often asked how realistic it is to grow your own grapes in this country. The answer depends on what you want to do with them and where you live. The quick response is to say that anyone with a greenhouse can grow dessert grapes – ie grapes for eating. Ideally, these need to be grown indoors, in a greenhouse or conservatory, where they can properly ripen to their full sweetness. Or, if you don’t want to be endlessly watering your vine, you can plant it outside and, through a hole in the glass or wall, train the vine…