Country Living UK January 2021

Just over a year ago, I bought a copy of Charlie Mackesy’s bestselling book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse for each member of the Country Living team. As the newly appointed ‘leader’, I wanted to share the collection of inspirational ink drawings that powerfully – yet simply – convey the importance of honesty, belief (of self and others), perseverance, acceptance and, above all, kindness. I genuinely hoped that we’d be able to use those values as a basis for working together as a team. And indeed we have. But at the time, I had little idea of how pertinent these themes would turn out to be in wider society. And as we pause to reflect on the most challenging of years, it’s heartening to know that,…

“Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.”Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ring Out Wild Bells QUAINT AND QUIRKY… Plough Monday First referenced in the late 15th century, Plough Monday marks the end of Christmas and the start of the traditional agricultural year. Having not quite got all the merrymaking out of their systems, revellers would pull a plough around the village, collecting money while singing, dancing and drinking. Central to celebrations were a man dressed as the Fool and a young boy dressed as an old woman – or the ‘Bessy’, as she was known. Especially popular in the Midlands and East Anglia, the custom still takes place in rural Essex, Nottingham and Norfolk,…

Follow @CLArtisans on Instagram for news of our Shop at Home Artisan Markets in 2021 and to see more unique products from CL artisans FOR STOCKISTS see Where to Buy PHOTOGRAPH BY NATO WELTON PRICES AND AVAILABILITY CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS. *FOR AN ADDITIONAL COST **PLUS £2.50 PER CHARACTER ***DIFFERENT INKS ARE REQUIRED FOR PAPER AND FABRIC…

When I open my crisp new Country Living calendar each year, one of my first entries is always for the last weekend in January: the Big Garden Birdwatch, which takes place from 29-31 January this year. The RSPB started this groundbreaking project over 40 years ago in collaboration with the BBC’s Blue Peter, as a way of monitoring the fortunes of Britain’s garden birds. It has since become a fixture in the calendar of hundreds of thousands of people across the UK. Over one weekend, we all dedicate an hour to taking note of the birds that visit our gardens, balconies or local parks, and then send our findings to the RSPB. Some will do it while out walking, others looking out of the window from the comfort of an armchair.…

AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST Sally Coulthard It’s often said that dogs are a man’s best friend, and this couldn’t be more true in smallholding and farming. For thousands of years, humans and dogs have worked together in the name of agriculture – but the relationship hasn’t always been so companionable. Far from sleeping on the sofa and going for the occasional walk, early domesticated dogs would have enjoyed an uneasy truce with their human friends. Some would have been used for hunting, others to guard settlements and livestock. Some dogs cleaned up and scavenged scraps around the camp, while others were deployed for combat or dog fights. It wasn’t unusual for dogs to find their way onto the menu in Iron Age settlements. While the first domesticated dogs appeared more than 12,000 years…

FOUNDER OF HEN CORNER Sara Ward In the height of summer, we’re more than grateful for the canopy of shade offered by large apple trees. Few pastimes are more delightful than cocooning yourself in a hammock strung up between the trunks, gently swaying as you watch the occasional cloud dance above. And yet, come winter, once the fruit has been picked and the leaves have fallen, the dark skeleton-like branches reach their bony fingers across the sky, obscuring the limited winter sunlight. Now is the time to cut them back. Established apple trees need pruning every year, keeping the tree and future fruit healthy. It can also help restore trees that are very old, which is especially useful for heritage varieties such as Dabinett and Doctor Hogg, and encourage growth for the…