Comment & Opinion

Curious Questions: When does summer actually start?

You'd think it would be simple. It's anything but, as Martin Fone discovers.

Curious Question: Do goldfish really have a three-second memory?

Martin Fone wonders whether everyone's favourite pet fish has greater cognitive abilities than we give it credit for.

Why it’s time for the Royal Family to turn Buckingham Palace Gardens into a public park

Curious questions: How do you swat a fly?

Houseflies are a health hazard, but attempts to swat them have to contend with the insect's exceptional defense mechanism, finds Martin Fone.

Mary Colwell: Britain's reputation for being a green and pleasant land is under threat as we bulldoze countless little Edens

Losing small patches of scrubby land to new houses might not seem significant, but these little Edens are vital for Nature, says environmentalist and author Mary Colwell.

Curious Question: Where is the world’s shortest street?

Feargal Sharkey: From Top of the Pops to crusading for Britain's rivers

Feargal Sharkey, one of the most recognisable pop voices of the 1970s and 1980s, talks to Country Life about his life, his passion for fishing, and how campaigning for clean rivers has become an obsession.

Jonathan Self: The collections that made me, from pressed flowers to my 416 'do not disturb' signs stolen from hotels

Who knew that pressing flowers could be thrilling and skilful? Jonathan Self, a self-confessed 'obsessive collector', tells all.

Curious Questions: How do you pronounce Belvoir, Featherstonhaugh and Bagehot?

Even simple-looking names like Powell and Coke can trip up the unwary, while Belvoir and Featherstonhaugh are positive linguistic land mines. Eleanor Doughty (Dowty? Dockerty? Dotty?) investigates.

Jason Goodwin on why we all need 'a breath of fresh air'

Victorian received wisdom that fresh air is good for you turned out to be true, says Jason Goodwin.

Carla Carlisle: 'Something happened: instead of celebrating the solitude and bounty, I became haunted by the inescapable inevitability of dinner'

Carla Carlisle took enthusiastically to the first lockdown, but found herself languishing during the second one.

39 steps to modern manners for the post-Covid world, from Zoom etiquette to thank-you notes

Debora Robertson and Kay Plunkett-Hodge set out to write a book on modern manners just before the pandemic — and ended up creating a new guide for the times we now live in. Debora picks up the story and shares 39 tips.

'Getting your portrait painted isn't much more than a vainglorious act of self-love; here's why I'm doing it anyway'

Our columnist Joe Gibbs has been sitting for a portrait, despite a few misgivings. Here's what he's learned.

Curious Questions: When was the world’s first motor show held?

May 9 marks the anniversary of what many have regarded to be the first motor trade show; but was it really the first motorcar show, wonders Martin Fone?

Jason Goodwin: The portrait of my mother I never knew existed, and how it came to me 62 years after it was painted

A chance encounter united our columnist Jason Goodwin with a portrait of his mother that he never knew existed.

Curious Questions: How does a bumblebee fly?

Scientists only discovered the humble pollinator's secret in 2005, says Martin Fone.

Why we're all suckers for the the irresistible allure of a crumbling country house

Our columnist Jonathan Self writes about the crumbling beauty of character houses and the joy of saving them for posterity.

Curious Questions: Is the chocolate side really the top of a Jaffa Cake?

Martin Fone discovers nothing is quite as it seems in the world of Jaffa Cakes — including whether they are a biscuit or a cake or whether chocolate sits at the top.

Joe Gibbs: An African Grey can place an order with Alexa — but Glaswegians aren't quite so lucky

Our columnist Joe Gibbs on his struggles to get his smart speaker to do what he wants it to.