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

A note from the editor

Welcome to AUGUST • This month: host a SUMMER CELEBRATION outdoors · Take in a show at an OPEN-AIR THEATRE · Bring back GARDEN GAMES · Escape to a COSY CABIN in the Dorset wilderness · Plus, meet classical superstar SHEKU KANNEH-MASON as he prepares for the Proms

THE GREAT GARDEN GATHERING • August days and balmy nights were made for outdoor entertaining. Gather friends for FILMS, FESTIVITIES and FEASTING

4 moments in the gloaming as DAY TURNS TO DUSK

Large tortoiseshell butterfly

Outbuildings DORSET • Lizzie Thomson enjoys a summer stay at a barn-turned-boutique hotel where HOME-GROWN HOSPITALITY and glorious countryside provide the perfect escape

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL • Ed and Dom’s Bridport highlights

GARDEN GAMES & GATHERINGS • Alfresco essentials FOR EVERY summertime soirée

ALFRESCO EATS & TREATS • Throw together an IMPRESSIVE PICNIC that’s simple, seasonal and delicious. No sogg y sandwiches in sight…

Sheku Kanneh-Mason • As the BBC Proms returns this summer, the star cellist talks world premieres, Welsh mountains and bringing classical music to a new generation

8 open-air THEATRES • Where the setting is just as captivating as the performance

DAY TO NIGHT • MAKE the most of warm SUMMER EVENINGS outdoors

5 places to see a celestial light show

August

FIELD NOTES THE GREAT GARDEN SHOW AT THE NEWT, SOMERSET • 9-17 MAY

FIELD NOTES GOODWOOF, CHICHESTER, WEST SUSSEX • 16-17 May 2026

The Village Noticeboard • In her regular column on village life, Paula Sutton is seduced by unwanted teacups and discarded bric-a-brac. Yes, it’s the annual Yard Sale

“WE’RE LOSING OUR CAPACITY TO DISAGREE AGREEABLY” • Broadcaster and now festival founder Mariella Frostrup on dog walks, Somerset’s creative energ y and reviving the lost art of civilised debate

STARTING A NEW CHAPTER • In rural Dorset, two friends left demanding careers behind for a slower life and found themselves at the heart of something much bigger

ARTISANS + CRAFT

Rich tapestries of life • Foraging flowers from the North York Moors, Olga Prinku weaves botanical embroideries that are exhibited in galleries around the world

NATURAL beauty • Exquisitely crafted homeware and fashion in earthy hues and organic textures

How to MAKE A BLOCK-PRINTED LAMPSHADE • With her new textile-printing craft kit, Molly Mahon shows how to create a tie-top fabric shade at home

HOMES + DECORATING

“I’d call our style considered chaos” • When Caroline Smiley and her late husband Andrew considered downsizing, their daughters begged them not to. Instead, they created a vibrant multigenerational home where every room is layered with colour, character and family stories

The Interiors Insider • Our decorating expert on the power of pattern to create light, space and character

The way back home • With family ties spanning generations, architect Hester Gray was drawn back to Powys on the Welsh borders to restore a 16th-century longhouse

The new VICTORIANA • Victorian style is enjoying a refined revival. Here’s how to give it a modern twist with thoughtfully layered decorative flourishes

Channel the cool of GRANNY KITCHENALIA • From enamelware to Tolix chairs, these enduring kitchen classics blend practicality, nostalgia and design heritage, and remain as covetable today as ever

Enamelware...