Christmas stamps, as featured on this year’s COUNTRY LIFE Advent calendar cover, are a cherished annual event– but how did they become one? Emma Hughes investigates

“All government leaders know what to do. They just don’t know how to get re-elected if they do it.” Jean-Claude Juncker, the former president of the European Commission, said little of note in his pol

Our columnist fondly recalls her childhood Christmases – apart from the time the milk ran out!

HELLO, little one!” Penny Dauntless greeted a robin-redbreast, who cocked his head as she pushed along her trolley of post on the daily round. “How often is there such a perfect mid-December morning?”

Our round-up of the funny, fascinating and unusual stories this fortnight

Silverware, with its glistering surface and ornate designs, dresses the table like no other material and has an unmatched capacity for turning a meal into an occasion, as Matthew Dennison discovers