BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN For more than two thousand years, two figures have stood at the opposite ends of the human imagination, and we have never been able to look at one without seeing the ghost of the other. Krishna of the Mahabharata, blue skinned and crowned with peacock feathers, who lifts a mountain on one finger and dances in the moonlight with milkmaids whose names … Continue reading Was Krishna Christ?
BY CALUM CAMPBELL There is a particular strain of environmentalist for whom the Scottish Highlands represent nothing less than a crime scene. They gaze upon the heather-clad hills and see a “devastated countryside” — a forest felled by human wickedness, kept treeless only by the tyranny of deer and sheep. There is only one problem. They are talking rot. Dr James Fenton, a retired ecologist, … Continue reading A Very Moorish Idyll
CSM EDITORIAL We have a habit in this country of treating farmers as a utility rather than a community. We see the tractor on the lane and curse the delay; we see the price of milk and tut; we see the rolling green hills and forget the bodies that break themselves in half to keep them green. Britain does not have a mental health crisis. … Continue reading Britain Needs the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that You are well and are able to enjoy the sunshine. Today is Whit Sunday. Whit Sunday is also known as Whitsun or Whitsunday, all names that refer to what is the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. The name White Sunday, used more commonly in Britain, refers to the special white garments worn by the … Continue reading Whit Sunday Prayer
BY ALLISON LEE Osmotherley is an attractive village nestled in the North York Moors, with a population of around 700. Its streets are lined with trees and grass verges, and stone-clad houses make it the archetypal picturesque village. Narrow alleys run between the houses, and a market cross takes centre stage. One particularly interesting building in the centre of the village is the former Thompson’s … Continue reading Osmotherley
BY ANDREW MILNE One August, I swam across a lake in Bavaria with my two sons aged twelve and six respectively. Bavaria has its own treacherous weather systems. When we reached the other side – surrounded by dark cliffs and mysterious forests – a thunder storm rumbled into action. Rain jetted down pocking the mere’s surface. All of us were good swimmers but the prospect of … Continue reading The Makerfield Con
BY JACK WATSON The Arsonists is a stage adaptation of a play written by the Swiss novelist and playwright Max Frisch. Originally published in Germany in 1958, the play was translated into English by Alistair Beaton and first produced in England in 1961. It later became known as The Fire Raisers. The play serves as a dark political satire, exploring societal complacency, moral cowardice, and … Continue reading The Arsonists
BY FRANK HAVILAND Earlier this month, Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s latest political incarnation, proposed one of the sharpest political ideas of modern times: to site new migrant detention centres in areas that vote heavily for the Green Party, which famously advocates for a “world without borders”. Likely locations include the historic Green Party stronghold of Brighton, but after last week’s local election success the list could easily extend to … Continue reading Reform’s Radical Agenda
BY MARGARET ASHWORTH I have been to Florida three times. Not to Orlando or Disney (I would pay good money not to go there), but to the Florida Keys, a string of low-lying islands stretching 120 miles from the state’s southern tip. They are linked by Route 1, the longest north-south highway in the US, running 2,369 miles from the Canadian border to Key West. … Continue reading The Turtle Hospital
BY ALEX STORY The United Kingdom is no such thing. The disingenuous promises of the recent past, such as devolution, multiculturalism, and “gender” (also known as the politics of biology), have disunited the country. These have created irreparable fissures across our country’s body politic. The carefully laid mortar, built over centuries between the state’s institutional building blocks, is coming off. However, in the meaningless vacuum … Continue reading Progress Back to Naught
BY SEAN WALSH This “leadership” talk is yet another devil’s illusion. We were expecting a Jason Statham or a John Wick blockbuster. Instead of that we’re being served up one of those interminable Scandinavian things. Not noir either, like The Killing, but worthier fare. With themes. Of interest only to the critics. Actually that’s unfair to the interminable Scandinavian things. Whatever is happening in the Labour party is … Continue reading Still There
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, As the first of the summer blackberries shows a blush of purple, I find myself turning from the garden to the news pages with a heavy heart. There is a particular weariness that comes not from honest toil, but from watching those entrusted with high office fail in their charge. The vegetable patch rewards patience and care. Westminster, … Continue reading A Prayer for a General Election
BY ALLISON LEE Lastingham is one of my favourite places to visit in the North York Moors National Park. Steeped in history and set amidst breathtaking scenery, this picturesque village sits on the southern fringe of the park and has welcomed visitors for centuries, drawn by its postcard-perfect charm and warm hospitality. Two inviting options for accommodation in the village are Lastingham Grange and The … Continue reading Lastingham
BY THE EDITOR You have been told that one name may fall. That another may rise. You are encouraged to feel hope. This is a trap. Consider your current condition. You live under the apparatus of Starmer. He is not a man. He is a function. A grey suit filled with procedural dust. He speaks in paragraphs sterilised of meaning. His cruelty is administrative. His … Continue reading Labour Chaos: The Succession
BY STEPHEN PAX LEONARD It is no secret that the recent local election results were catastrophic for the Labour Party. Of course, this comes as no big surprise. Labour’s policies are bankrupting the country. Yields on UK government bonds show that the market has lost trust in Britain. More or less everything is impoverished, broken or dysfunctional. Britain has become a bloated welfare state whose … Continue reading Give Oxford, Cambridge and Camden What They Voted For
BY BEN O’ROURKE Position vacant? UK wildlife cop’s job on the line after following RSPB’s persecution playbook. Steven Irvine has had ups and downs throughout his police career. But his latest mistake may just end it. Steven Irvine, one-time ‘golden boy’ at the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, has fallen from grace after manufacturing the prosecution of a falcon breeder. A couple of years ago, … Continue reading Wildlife Cop’s Job on Trial
CSM EDITORIAL Let’s not mince words. At time of publication, Sir Keir Starmer hasn’t officially left Downing Street yet, but let’s be honest — he’s been politically dead for months. The only question is how long the undertakers will keep pretending. He’s toast. Burnt toast. The kind you discover at the back of the toaster, prod with a knife, and realise it’s been there so … Continue reading Toast
BY JIM BROWNE Clagnut. It arrives from the Northern English ‘clag’ — a sticky, clinging mass, the kind of mud that coats your boots on a Lancashire farm and refuses to let go. Add ‘nut’: a small lump, something you might find in places you would rather not examine too closely. The result is a term of singular, devastating precision: a small piece of faecal … Continue reading The Clagnut Prime Minister
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust this Sunday finds you well, perhaps with the garden beginning to stir in earnest and the first of the summer roses showing hints of colour. There is a particular contentment to a Sunday in late spring, isn’t there? The hay is not yet ready to cut, the vegetable patch is planted and waiting, and there is a … Continue reading A Prayer for Those Who Bear Responsibility
BY ALLISON LEE Raby Castle, Park and Gardens is set in picturesque parkland near Staindrop in County Durham, where both red and fallow deer roam. The castle is one of the most impressive intact castles in England. Built by the powerful Neville family in the 14th century, it has been home to the Vane family for nearly 400 years. It was also the home of … Continue reading Raby in Bloom
