It’s been a long mile, trudging uphill in the rain, across uninspiring fields, past rickety ruins of long-abandoned farm buildings, mud slowly working its way up my waterproof trousers. Sometimes walk

MY old art teacher used to say there are no straight lines in nature. At the same time, one of the French teacher’s pet phrases was, “There are always the exceptions”. And when it comes to straight li

Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders Rory Stewart (Jonathan ...

Capturing the immediacy of fighting and the writhing bodies of soldiers, as well as keeping narrative clarity, proved enormously difficult for painters depicting battles before the advent of photography. Michael Hall reveals how they rose to the challenge

Cultural Crusader

Ringed by lofty beech trees and standing alongside the ancient Ridgeway National Trail above the Vale of White Horse near the village of Ashbury, this impressive stone-chambered long barrow is over 5,