Country Living UK October 2020

PLANNING HER NEW ORCHARD I always like to have an outdoor project on the go and this year I’ve landed a particularly interesting one: we’re planting an orchard in place of a small copse that sits at the side of our house. When we moved to our new home on the Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire border about a year ago, I thought we should leave this magical little wooded area of the garden alone. I loved the idea of my own wild wood to escape to. I imagined creating a clearing where we’d gather with family and friends around a firepit, wrapped in blankets and sipping hot chocolate. However, closer inspection of the trees revealed a tangle of rotten trunks and spindly self-seeders, all with the potential to topple over in the autumn gales.…

Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald (Jonathan Cape, £16.99) In this collection of essays, the bestselling author of H is for Hawk switches her laser focus to wild pigs, farmed ostriches, hunting mushrooms and catching swans. The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes (Bloomsbury Circus, £20) The majority of our countryside is hidden behind walls and hedges, but this intriguing book will take you to the places blocked from public access. A Year of Living Simply by Kate Humble (Octopus, £20) As life becomes ever more complicated, the author and TV presenter presents a homage to the simple things and a timely lesson in how to live with less. English Pastoral by James Rebanks (Allen Lane, £20) From the author of The Shepherd’s Life comes the stirring history of his Lake District farm – and the family that have lived on it…

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall”F Scott Fitzgerald Quaint and quirky… Punkie Night FORGET PUMPKINS! IN HINTON ST GEORGE, SOMERSET, LOCALS CARVE LANTERNS FROM MANGOLDS. THESE TURNIP-LIKE VEGETABLES, ALSO KNOWN AS MANGELWURZELS, FORM THE BASIS OF A TRADITION DATING BACK OVER A CENTURY. WHEN THE VILLAGE MEN MARCHED OFF TO A FAIR IN CHISELBOROUGH, FOUR MILES AWAY, AND DIDN’T RETURN HOME, THEIR FURIOUS WIVES DUG UP THE VEGETABLES, CARVED OUT THEIR CORES AND TURNED THEM INTO LANTERNS, SETTING OUT ON FOOT TO FIND THEM. WHETHER THEY DID, WE WILL NEVER KNOW, BUT LOCALS STILL MARK THE OCCASION ON THE LAST THURSDAY OF OCTOBER WITH A PROCESSION THROUGH THE STREETS. TAKE YOUR TIME… TO RECITE A POEM Embrace “the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” by reading aloud a…

WEEKENDERS LEICESTERSHIRE Melton Mowbray sells itself as the UK’s ‘rural capital of food and drink’ and its claim is well-founded. Hand-raised pork pies have been made here for 200 years, and it is home to one of only six UK dairies licensed to produce Stilton. While sampling these is recommended, there are many other ways to fill your time. WHAT TO DO Once an Anglo-Saxon settlement, Melton Mowbray brims with buildings of architectural and historical significance – 705 to be precise. The Heritage Trail weaves along cobbled alleys passing imposing hunting lodges and redbrick priories. Prefer an exhibition? At Melton Carnegie Museum, you can learn about the divisive history of fox hunting in the area and how the phrase ‘painting the town red’ was coined here in 1837 when the Marquess of Waterford…

Editor’s choice “On chilly autumn evenings, there’s a simple joy in hunkering down under a beautiful blanket like one of these, made by third-generation master weavers. The raised weaves of the soft wool make them quite irresistible to snuggle up in” Tickets are now on sale for the CL Christmas Fair London (11-15 November). To book, visit countrylivingfair.com or call 0844 209 7348*. For news of our online Celebrate Christmas event, follow @CLartisans on Instagram FOR STOCKISTS see Where to Buy Editor’s choice “I’m truly smitten with this simple stoneware. The earthy rustic finish of the sandy unglazed exterior with the carved decoration has a tactile quality I just love” PHOTOGRAPHS (FULL-PAGE BLEEDS) BY NATO WELTON. PRICES AND AVAILABILITY CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS. *CALLS COST 7P PER MINUTE PLUS NETWORK ACCESS CHARGES…

When I first visited England from my hometown of Belfast as a teenager, I was impressed by many things, not least the awe-inspiring array of fashion stores on London’s Carnaby Street! But the memory that has really stayed with me was a drive through Richmond Park, on the outskirts. The extraordinary experience of being on a busy, shop-lined road one minute, and the next, passing through a gate into a parallel world of ancient trees, swaying grasses and seemingly wild, natural beauty, left a lasting impression. What astonished me most was seeing deer grazing there, apparently oblivious to the people and slow-moving procession of cars passing through. I’d never seen a deer in real life and here they were in the unlikeliest of places, on the edge of one of…