Country Living UK

Whether you live in the town or countryside, in Country Living you’ll find a wealth of ideas for your home and garden, learn about traditional crafts, keep informed of rural issues, enjoy irresistible dishes using seasonal produce and, above all, escape the stress and strain of modern-day life.

Country Living UK

A note from the editor

VINTAGE HOME • ON SALE 7 JUNE

July

94,000,000 • The number of picnics we Brits average every year, come rain or shine*

discover • Neist Point’s eponymous lighthouse has granted sailors safe passage through stormy seas since the turn of the century. Perched on the Isle of Skye’s most westerly peninsula, the solitary structure stares out over Moonen Bay and The Minch – a strait separating the Inner and Outer Hebrides and teeming with wildlife. Visitors may glimpse gannets, guillemots, whales, dolphins, porpoises and basking sharks (isleofskye.com).

WEEKENDERS

emporium

Editor’s choice

Living the GOOD LIFE • There’s never been a better time to go self-sufficient. In our ongoing series, Sally Coulthard shares tried-and-tested tips from her Yorkshire smallholding

3 of the best • EASY EDIBLE FLOWERS TO GROW

GET THE KIT • Cornflowers have a gentle, clove-like flavour and look sensational in a salad

A flower-covered sponge • “Using edible flowers to decorate cakes gets the biggest ‘wow’ response,” says edible-flower farmer Jan Billington (right). “Any cake with buttercream icing will work here, but my personal favourite is Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge, shown here.”

7 questions …with an edible-flower grower • Jan Billington of Maddocks Farm Organics has been growing organic edible blooms on her Devon farm since 2008

Going GREENER • Our quick and easy guide to sustainable living

ASK AN ECO EXPERT • This month Christine Grosart, the scuba diver on a ghostly mission to save marine life from a mortal threat

View from here • Susy Smith reports on the rise of the repair cafés that are determined to fix our throwaway culture

A MAN of MANY PARTS • Currently starring in Anything Goes, Simon Callow is one of Britain’s best-loved actors. He is also a writer, director and connoisseur of the English countryside

Simon’s SCRIPT

MAKE it BEACH PERFECT • From windbreaks and deckchairs to sailboats and sunhats… easy crafts for bucketloads of fun in the sand

LUCY WORSLEY • The TV historian adores dressing up, but she’d love to give Henry VIII a dressing-down

20 WAYS with SHORELINE SHADES • Coastal colours and pared-back, tranquil tones conjure a soothing, restful mood in every room

Whale WATCH • There’s never been a better time to spot a humpback whale. Here’s why – and where to see one

STRAWBERRIES • In our ongoing series highlighting delicious produce around the country, we meet the artisans and farmers helping to bring it to our table. This month:

5 PICK-YOUR-OWN FARMS

PRESERVING BY THE BOOK…

TRY THEM WITH…

Scarlet starlets

SLEEP IN LUXURY WITH COUNTRY LIVING AT DREAMS

MOVING TO… The North Devon coast • Hankering after a life by the sea? Don’t leave home without our new expert guide for house-hunters

WHAT YOU COULD BUY

Live like a local…

APPLEDORE

TRANSPORT LINKS

FURTHER AFIELD • If you explore the surrounding coastline, here are just some of the highlights you’ll discover

Artisans OUT & ABOUT • Our CL Pavilions will be popping up at country shows across Britain this summer. Come and say hello to talented exhibitors like these

EARNING their STRIPES • Fifteen years ago, the classic Cornishware pottery was at breaking point. Then one family set about...