The way we were photographs from the country life archive

When COUNTRY LIFE’s Henry Avray Tipping spotted a 17th-century four poster languishing in a Herefordshire attic in 1911, he set off a chain of events that saw the bed leave its ancestral home and land at The Met in New York

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JANICE TALKINGTON AND PAUL BATES FELL IN LOVE WITH A COMPACT COTTAGE OVERLOOKING THE VILLAGE GREEN

A CHANCE CONVERSATION PROMPTED ANNE AND JOHN TO EMBRACE A RURAL LIFESTYLE AND TRANSFORM A FORMER VICARAGE

TUCKED AWAY ON THE KENT COAST, THIS FADED BOATMAN’S COTTAGE HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED BY BELINDA BENTON INTO THE PRETTIEST HOUSE ON THE STREET

RENOVATING AND EXTENDING A COMPACT FLINT COTTAGE MEANT A BIGGER HOME FOR PAUL AND LUCI STADEN, WITH THE ADDED JOY OF THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH DOWNS ON THEIR DOORSTEP