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Category: A Country Living

An outdoor life for me

Paul King has swapped modern landscaping for an extraordinary, extravagant Victorian pleasure garden dating back to 1880. Tracie Beardsley reports. It’s seven in the morning....

The call of the charcoal

Jim Bettle of Dorset Charcoal makes his living from an ancient craft, fuelling his passion for a more sustainable country. Tracie Beardsley reports Jim Bettle’s...

Muck at first sight

Meet a Dorset woman working to preserve a British breed of pig which is rarer than the Giant Panda. Tracie Beardsley reports Gloucester Old Spot...

Logging on to horse power

It may be 10,000 years old, but Toby Hoad believes the ancient skill of horse logging is vital in shaping and saving our woodlands....

Meet the master hut-maker shepherding success

Tracie Beardsley meets Richard Lee, Dorset craftsman, founder of Plankbridge and pioneer of a global revival of shepherd’s huts In a moment of quiet reverie,...

The happy hippophile

Take a look at the life of Dorset farrier Sam Wilkes and you will believe horseshoes really are lucky. Tracie Beardsley reports I think I’m...

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Grief and gratitude

As the eventing community reels from the death of one of their own, Jess Rimmer reflects on the special solidarity found in the sport As...

Angela Rebecca Teasdale

5th October 1976 – 14th December 2025 Angie passed away suddenly at home on Sunday 14th December, aged 49 years. Devoted wife to Roger, proud...

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