Review: The Crucible, National Theatre

Country & Town House | 7 Oct 2022

When girls started yelping and convulsing and then went limp or rigid, witchcraft was diagnosed. This was Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The Crucible —which was first staged in New York in 1953 —was, as is well known, Arthur Miller’s partly-fictionalised story of the Salem witch trials: a quasi-allegorical play based on the story of the pre-adolescents’ denunciations that gripped Salem and which saw hundreds of townsfolk accused of witchcraft and sent to their deaths. The play was Miller’s response to the paranoia and hysteria of post-war US politics, when Communists and suspected Commies were treated as devils in need of exorcism by senator Joe McCarthy and his like; something Miller witnessed personally.

• Culture

Everything You Need To Know About Cheese With Paxton & Whitfield

Country & Town House | 6 Oct 2022

Cheese making was a gift of the gods, according to Greek mythology. And this course has been created by the Paxton & Whitfield gods of Piccadilly. If you’ve ever wondered how cheese is made, how to taste it like a pro, how to describe its character, when to eat it, how to serve it and with what, this is the class for you. It’s masterminded by the super knowledgeable folk from that shop that’s had the Buckingham Palace patent since Queen Victoria. And after closing the physical classroom door for the pandemic lockdowns, in-person meetings have just started again.

• Food

Val McDermid, queen of crime, on the perfect murder

Country & Town House | 11 Sep 2022

Val McDermid, international bestselling crime writer, is talking for the first time about when she was suspected of having killed someone – and it could have been the perfect murder. The author, 67, also reveals her feelings about transitioning to become a man, and about her lesbianism. And about the medical condition that could potentially stop her from writing.

• Culture,
• Interviews

Meet me in Monaco – then Eze: the C&TH Travel Guide

Country & Town House | 16 Aug 2022

Who could fail to fall in love with this hilltop village’s narrow, terracotta-and-rough-hewn-stone alleys, steep streets that set your espadrilles at right angles, roofs of handmade red clay tiles, and bougainvillea cascading down medieval walls: one of the most beautiful villages in the Côte d’Azur, and all built among the rocks.

• Travel: Europe/ Africa

The Weekender – 48 Hours in Copenhagen

Country & Town House | 14 Jun 2022

Spring seems like the perfect time of year to explore Copenhagen, best seen on foot or by bike, leaving the newish City Circle Line loop of the metro, a decade in the making, for residents who see the city’s beauty all the time. Although, as Ingrid, who had recently moved there told me, ‘I still feel like I am seeing Copenhagen properly for the first time, as high green walls covering the construction cloaked so many of its finest squares and palaces for so long.’

• Travel: Europe/ Africa

Spear’s 500 Top recommended photography and creative services

Spear’s | 12 Jan 2022

• Culture

The best treatments to kick-start the new year

Country & Town House | 5 Jan 2022

Here’s to new beginnings. Some people go on a diet after Christmas. Others cut down on their spending after the festive splurge. Still more take to the gym. Whatever your resolutions, these are a few of our favourite things — treatments that you won’t want to do without as you start the new year. The best of both new and long-loved approaches.

• Health, Beauty & Spa

Málaga, take two

Country & Town House | 17 Aug 2021

Children dressed as clowns and adults wearing fairy wings – all enjoying a fiesta – stroll past the remains of a Roman amphitheatre. The sun is setting as we sit, al fresco, in an old bodega nibbling local almonds, anchovy olives and drinking fresh Seville orange juice. Above us, an 11th-century Moorish hilltop fortress, Alcazaba, dominates the city. This is the Andalusian coastal city of Málaga, a provincial capital that seems to enjoy a permanent party.

• Travel: Europe/ Africa

Best beauty supplements to know now

Country & Town House | 7 Jul 2021

We all know that when it comes to our health and beauty, it is never as simple as popping a pill. But taking an inside-out approach to beauty is a great idea, with your diet and water intake being the first thing to address. If you want to take it one step further, how about checking out one of the growing array of supplements on the market? From collagen powders to beauty patches, we round up the best hair and beauty supplements on the market. 

• Health, Beauty & Spa

The best treatment cleansers for all skin types

Country & Town House | 7 Jul 2021

The most important step in your daily skincare regime? Cleanse, cleanse, cleanse. To make life easier, we’ve tried and tested the best luxury treatment cleansers on the market, to help you get the most from your daily purifying regime.

• Health, Beauty & Spa

The Father’s Day Gift Guide 2021

Country & Town House | 10 Jun 2021

As the third Sunday of the month, June 20 draws nigh—heed this date if you’re reading this in the UK, USA, Europe or Canada—it’s time to think of Father’s Day presents. In the USA, Father’s Day has been celebrated since 1910, so they’re used to it. Father’s Day in the United Kingdom and other countries was inspired by the American custom, so we’re not quite so good at it yet. If you haven’t already been celebrating it for 111 years, read on and be inspired.

• Shopping & Fashion

Great Scot!

Daily Mail | 9 Jun 2021

Captivating wildlife, waterfalls, castles galore – you’ll be mighty impressed by deepest Perthshire

• Travel: Europe/ Africa