Country Life, British style
One of the indulgences I’ve allowed myself since my Anglophilia kicked into high gear three years ago is a subscription to Country Life Magazine. (It’s a weekly; I actually receive just one issue a month.) On its website, Country Life declares itself to be “…the essential weekly read for those who are passionate about the British countryside, fine art, gardening and property.” Property may come last in that statement of purpose, but it comes first in the actual magazine and takes up most of the space on the website. That’s okay, really: the real estate ads are great fodder for daydreams. For instance, there’s this:
Described as a “Magnificent Elizabethan Manor” in Colehurst, North Shropshire, this splendid domincile can be yours for a cool 1.75 million pounds – that’s pounds, not dollars. The exchange rate is currently about two dollars to the pound. Do the math and weep!
There’s always something in Country Life that mesmerizes me. In the latest issue, two feature stories stood out. The first is on the gardens of Stobo Castle, which is located near Peebles, in the Scottish Borders. The gardens have a distinctly Japanese feel to them, consisting primarily of variegated trees and shrubs and making extremely cunning and prolific use of aquatic features. It may be the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen.
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Soundtrack suggestion: “The Walk to the Paradise Garden” from A Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederick Delius
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The cover story of this issue is “Britain’s Favourite Walks.” One of the suggested routes is through Hambleton Hills in North Yorkshire. It takes in the ruins of Byland Abbey, founded by the Cistercians in 1177. As you complete your circuit, author David Hancock informs us, “…you pass the remains of the monks’ fishponds, now merely lumps and bumps in the fields.”
Music for a medieval mood: Sarum Chant by the Tallis Scholars;
A Feather on the Breath of God: sequences and hymns by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, by Gothic Voices with Emma Kirkby (I just listened to this for the first time in several years; goosebumps were instantaneous!)
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And so, Yorkshire calls again. The soundtrack for this yearning to return is 
In Praise of Yorkshire, a selection of music and readings compiled and produced by Claire Bostel of Duchy Travel By Design, Ltd.
It was Claire 
who first introduced me to the magic that is Yorkshire.
