Country Living UK March 2020

…is when we start to look forward to spring and are full of good intentions to finally spruce up the house and garden. In this issue, our home and style director Ben Kendrick (left) has curated an expert guide to refreshing the kitchen (page 70). He clocks up 21 years with us this year and reckons he’s shot hundreds of kitchens in that time. “In some ways, it is one of the easiest areas to style and photograph, as it’s a room people really invest in,” says Ben, who’s a keen cook himself. “But they can be tricky, too – lots of boxy shapes, or there’s a big island unit that’s inevitably just where you want to place the camera!” Meanwhile, our regular columnist Sara Ward (below, far left) is…

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade”Charles Dickens, Great Expectations 3 The number of ‘borrowing days’ in March. Folklore has it that the last three – traditionally stormy – days of the month are purloined from April, as stroppy March tries to keep control of the weather before spring wins through. GRASSROOTS POETRY From Keats to Wordsworth, nature poets are part of our literary landscape but we need more, and now more than ever. Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has set up an award for poems about the environment, describing the climate crisis as a “background hum that won’t go away” while he is writing. The Laurel Prize, which is being run…

Editor’s choice “There’s nothing like a handcarved Windsor chair made with timeless tools and techniques. This one has a deep green-painted finish and exposed seat, which give it a fresh originality”…

Alexandra Palace, 23-26 April 2020 For tickets and more information, visit countrylivingfair.com FOR STOCKISTS see Where to Buy *INK SOLD SEPARATELY. PRICES MAY INCLUDE SPECIAL OFFERS AVAILABLE AT THE FAIR ONLY. ONLINE PRICES MAY DIFFER. PRICES AND AVAILABILITY CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRES…

There is a huge cherry tree outside my bedroom window. It’s clearly been there for many years, as it is taller than the house, and its gnarled spread dominates both my garden and that of my neighbour. Research tells me it is Prunus padus ‘Colorata’, the pink-flowered form of the bird cherry. The RHS gave it an Award of Garden Merit and, as it doesn’t come true from seed, this and all existing trees are clones of the original, discovered in Sweden in the 1950s. Wow! I thought, when I moved in – this is going to be some show! And how right I was: each spring it begins with deep purple leaf buds and stems, bronzing into a coppery tone as the leaves unfurl. The blossom appears next – beautifully…

I got my first Swiss army knife when I was just ten. It seems young in hindsight, but my older brother had got his two years earlier, and I’d spent the summer enviously watching him whittling sticks and carving his name into things. By the time it was the new school term, he must have had a sticking plaster on the end of every finger. I loved mine. It had everything an outdoor girl could want – scissors, screwdriver, blade, bottle opener, saw and file – although I’m not sure the toothpick ever got an airing. I’m determined to teach all my daughters to use pocket knives safely so they can enjoy adventures outside. I’m also a believer in having as few tools as possible. I still have a penknife now…