Country Life

Some time between the formation of the earth, and now, some human beings decided to draw some lines on the sand somewhere to define ‘our bit’ of the earth and ‘their bit’ of the earth. We now refer to these lines as borders.

Journalist and author Jonn Elledge has always been fascinated by why and how this happens, and in this episode he joins the Country Life Podcast to talk about borders and his new book, The History of the World in 47 Borders.

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 Jonn's fascination with borders made him think that the smart thing to do would be to write a book about them. 47 of them, specifically, which he claims can tell us ‘the history of the world’. We invited him on to the Country Life podcast to discuss just how the border came to be, what they mean, some weird ones, and the somewhat disturbing truth about why a lot of them are simply just straight lines.

We answer important questions such as ‘why does Wales exist’, what happened during the partition of India, and why most borders are a bit nonsensical, when you think about it.

And at the heart of it all lies the great question: are national identities defined by their borders, or vice versa? To find out the answer, you’ll just have to listen — and if you get to the end and still want to know more (including the answer to the question ‘why does landlocked Bolivia still have a navy?’), you can buy his book, which is available at all good bookshops (and some bad ones).

'The History of the World in 47 Borders' can be bought online here. Follow Jonn on X/Twitter here

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Jonn Elledge

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On May 10, 1824, Britain's National Gallery opened its doors for the first time. This year, to celebrate its bicentenary, the gallery is hosting a whole string of events and celebrations to market the occasion.

Of all these, perhaps the boldest and most eye-catching is National Treasures, a selection of just 12 from among the thousands of masterpieces in the National Gallery's collection. The 12 paintings will be on display at 12 galleries around Britain, bringing art to people across the land, and making the National Gallery truly national.

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But how do you go about choosing the 12 most famous paintings from such an astonishing collection? It's an almost impossible task, and one that fell to one of the gallery's curators, Dr Francesca Whitlum-Cooper, who led the team that whittled down the almost countless options to the final 12.

Francesca joined James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast to talk about how it was done. She also shares the story of her life and career, how she came to be at the gallery, what art really means to us — and, of course, the practicalities and philosophy that underlies the idea of sending a string of artworks worth tens of millions of pounds across the country to be seen by fresh eyes.

You can find out more about the National Gallery, and the NG200 celebrations, at the gallery's website, nationalgallery.org.uk. And you can see the 12 paintings that made the cut for the National Treasures exhibitions at nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/across-the-uk/national-treasures

Episode credits:

• Host: James Fisher
• Guest: Dr Francesca Whitlum-Cooper
• Editor and Producer: Toby Keel
• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay
• Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Alexander-Sinclair is one of Britain's foremost garden designers and writers. He's a regular contributor to Country Life magazine and many other titles, and a regular presence on television screens talking about gardening.

He is also one of the top judges at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show — and we're absolutely delighted that he joins us to give a full behind-the-scenes account of the entire judging process.

James doesn't shy away from any of the issues — or the controversies which have raged in recent years over the unconventional winners that have had many lovers of traditional gardens up in arms.

You can find out more about James Alexander-Sinclair at his website or follow him on Instagram.

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Episode credits

Host: James Fisher Guest: James Alexander-Sinclair

Editor and producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the turn of the millennium, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell faced a crisis. They were £1.5 million in debt after spending 17 years trying to run a farm that simply wouldn't grow the crops they needed for it to be sustainable.

With all their efforts to effect change and introduce diversification failing, they took a drastic decision: to return the farm to Nature — a decision which Isabella tells James Fisher all about on the Country Life Podcast.

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Rewilding might be a buzzword in the 2020s, but at the time was almost unheard of in Britain. Only a few projects on the Continent showed that there might be a potential alternative that could save the estate. Charlie and Isabella pushed ahead — and were staggered at how, within months, Nature began to recover and restore this heavy clay farmland that simply refused their attempts at agriculture.

'Suddenly it felt like the land was breathing a sigh of relief, and everything was coming to live,' Isabella tells James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast. Even things which scientists had told them could take a century began happening within the first year, and they've never looked back.

'We knew we were on to something,' she adds, 'and it's just got better and better.'

Isabella went on to write a bestselling book about her experiences — a book which has now been turned into a documentary film, out in June 2024 (you can watch the trailer at the Country Life website).

You can find out more about Isabella, Charlie and the Knepp Estate at knepp.co.uk

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Isabella Tree

Producer and Editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paula Lester has been running the features desk at Country Life magazine for over a decade. So when His Majesty The King — Prince Charles, as he was at the time — agreed to guest edit the magazine, she was the obvious choice to guide him and his team through the process.

The result, as Paula tells James Fisher on this week's Country Life Podcast, could never have been foreseen: after months of work and literally thousands of emails, the magazine became Country Life's best-selling issue of all time. A second guest edit came; then The Princess Royal took the helm as well; and in 2022, it was the turn of Queen Camilla, while still Duchess of Cornwall, to try her hand at it.

Paula talks through those extraordinary experiences, and what it was like to work with His Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses on putting together an issue of the magazine. Everything from commissioning features to arrange a photo shoot carried out by none other than The Duchess of Cambridge (now Princess of Wales) — who phoned Paula while she was at the hairdresser!

As well as the royal guest edits, Paula explains how the magazine's features come together each week, looking at where ideas come from, how they're brought to life, and the amazing team around her who make sure that it happens 52 weeks a year.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Paula Lester

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The housing crisis in Britain has gone on for decades almost unchecked — but it's only thanks to voices such as Nicholas Boys Smith that we can use the word 'almost' in that sentence.

Nicholas is the founder of Create Streets, a think tank and consultancy which looks at property development and town planning across Britain. He joins host James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast to explain what has been going wrong, why we've lost faith in planners, architects and developers, and what we can do to put things right.

Striking a balance between preservation and progress is right at the heart of what Nicholas has to say — for there is no reason at all why we can't make buildings which are modern and practical while also preserving the beauty of our villages, towns and cities.

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Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Nicholas Boys Smith

Producer and Editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond the Monarchy and the Church, there is only one building in Britain which is designated with word 'palace': Blenheim Palace.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is beyond any doubt one of the world's greatest, and most famous buildings. It was built to commemorate a famous battle 320 years ago: the victory in the Battle of Blenheim led by John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, in which the army of Louis XIV was beaten in what was France's first major military defeat in half a century.

Queen Anne was delighted by the outcome, and granted Churchill both the land and the funds to create a grand house which, from the start, was planned as both ancestral home and national monument.

Three centuries later, the house and gardens — designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and Capability Brown respectively — are just as magnificent today, and one of the most visited buildings in Britain, with as many as 6,000 people a day visiting.

Keeping a great house like this running is no easy feat, as Blenheim's director of operations Emily Spencer explains in this episode of the Country Life Podcast.

"It's an ongoing battle," Emily explains of the need to balance restoration, conservation and the needs of visitors, from the £40 million project in place to keep the building standing to towing visitors' cars out of muddy fields.

But the efforts are all worthwhile, Emily adds.

"The second you step across the landscape, it's everything — it all has such a power over you."

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Emily Spencer

Producer and editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How important an interior designer is Emma Sims-Hilditch? 'In my view, she has almost completely turned the country house aesthetic on its head, and reinvented it for the 21st century,' says Giles Kime, Country Life's Executive Editor and our resident interiors guru.

'She's a great believer in creating houses which are not just elegant, but also function brilliantly and are perfectly configured for family life.' 

Emma joined Giles for this special episode of the Country Life Podcast to discuss her ideas on design, architecture and making historic houses fit for 21st century living.

She talks through several of the projects she's worked on — not least her own. It's a former schoolhouse which she and husband — the designer John Sims-Hilditch of Neptune — took on as a complete wreck while they were still in their 20s, and turned it into a magnificent home.

At Country Life, we’ve covered many of Emma's projects over the years — this boot room, for example, and this bedroom — but you can see more of her work at the Sims Hilditch website or on Emma’s Instagram page.

Episode credits

Interviewer: Giles Kime

Guest: Emma Sims-Hilditch

Host: James Fisher

Producer and Editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Green isn't just the Deputy Editor of Country Life magazine. She's also one of the country's foremost equestrian journalists, having worked at four Olympic Games as well as countless other top events around the world.

With her book on the 75th anniversary of the Badminton Horse Trials just launched, Kate tells the tale of how the crushing disappointment of the 1948 Olympics paved the way for a resurgence in the sport on these shores, which has led to Britain becoming the home of eventing.

Kate joins Country Life Podcast host James Fisher to talk about Badminton, equestrian sport in general and the incomparable magic of the Olympic Games, from being chased by irate security guards while walking the showjumping course in Atlanta to the outpouring of joy shared by fans and competitors alike during the golden weeks of London 2012.

Kate's book, Badminton Horse Trials at 75, is published by Quiller (£40) — find out more about it here.

Episode credits:

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Kate Green

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is it all about? It's the question that Man has been struggling to answer since the dawn if human consciousness. And while we all have to figure out our own answer, it's never less than fascinating to hear of others who've found theirs.

And in that light, this week's guest on the Country Life podcast is Colin Heber-Percy, a successful screenwriter for film and TV who, in his 40s, stepped away from a lucrative career and retrained to become an ordained minister in the Church of England. Today, Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy is a rural vicar in Wiltshire, and while he still writes — his book Tales of a Country Parish became a bestseller — his main concern now

Colin joined James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast to talk about that change of gear in his life, and how hiw foray into the world of the clergy was less a career change and more a way of tying together all the threads of his life. Religion and ‘The Big Questions’ had long permeated his life and his work and, by becoming a vicar, he could truly focus on all of them.

Somewhat controversially, he still describes himself as an agnostic — which for a vicar, is quite the claim. Ask him why, and the answer is intriguing — how can you have faith if you claim to know everything? Is not knowing what Easter is really about?

Colin also speaks about what he would do if made Archbishop of Canterbury for a day, ponders the questions of medieval metaphysics — really — and, perhaps best of all, explains how the packaging of a Bounty Bar makes for an ideal emergency dog collar.

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Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy

Producer and Editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.