Throw in the towelling

Making the best use of fabric scraps, rag rugs may have been born of exigency, but the creativity behind their intricately woven designs knows no bounds, discovers Matthew Dennison

Knotted, woven, tufted or felted, designs for carpets and rugs have developed in a wide variety of styles and fibres around the world to add comfort and sophistication underfoot

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

DISPLAYS of historic fashion are always a popular draw with visitors to historic places, providing an insight into changing tastes and fashions and often shedding unique light on their original wearer

YOU WILL NEED ■ Kitchen tea towel: white ■ Stranded cotton: 1 skein of dark grey ■ Machine thread: 1 spool each of blue, pink ■ Embroidery hoop: 18cm diameter ■ Masking/Painter’s tape: 2.5cm wide ■ Se

Your interesting feature about the role of medieval warhorses in shaping British history (August) reminded me of a subsequent occasion in which horsepower became a critical factor. In April 1660, with