From George Stubbs’s golden vision of the labourer’s place in society to Ford Madox Brown’s heroically monumental celebration of manual labour, artists gave individual interpretations of work, as Michael Hall reveals

For artist Nellie Shepherd, the landscape outside her painstakingly renovated farmhouse is just as important as the colourful scene inside it

Train Landscape , 1940, watercolour on paper, 17¼in ...

Your indispensable guide to the capital

After visiting Ireland on a painting holiday, Sue and Mark Gilkey decided to take the plunge and buy a traditional cottage there with an inspiring coastal setting, and sweeping views of the sea

A twist of fate led André and Lisanne Hedger to realise their dream of owning a chocolate-box thatched cottage in the heart of the countryside – the perfect place to create happy memories with their young family