From a milliner inspired by topiary to a model-turned-ecological gardener and a couple who swapped jobs in telecommunications for growing vegetables, Sir David Beckham’s rural heroes tell Julie Harding why craft and the countryside are key

For three generations, the Sheffield family have raised turkeys on their off-grid farm in Sussex. Today, their award-winning birds grace Christmas tables countrywide

Fred de Fossard

Bob Cooper of Macclesfield, Cheshire remembers: From an early age, I have always loved reading and writing. My best subject at school was English to the detriment of maths, and I managed to become top

T he year was 2013 and George Lamb had decided his life could amount to more. “I had a kind of Damascene moment in my early 30s, realised my star hadn’t been called out of the ether to be a gameshow h

In winter the bones of the formal garden at Owlpen Manor come to life. Highlighted with frost, the dark greens and greys of hedges and topiary take on the patina of an engraving. The manicured parterr