The Race of the Swift
BY JOHN MUSGRAVE The race is on to save our country. And it starts in the stables of possibility this Christmas. Boxing Day 2025 looks like becoming a mass demonstration. Families plan to mobilise in support of farming and hunting on the Feast of Stephen. Up and down the land Boxing Day meets are set to attract record crowds. It’s a picture to gladden the … Continue reading The Race of the Swift
Happy Christmas
Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year! As we reflect on the past year, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your continued interest, which has made our magazine a thriving community. In particular I thank Deputy Editor James Bembridge and associate editor Sean Walsh for their steadfast support and constructive criticism. … Continue reading Happy Christmas
Grandfather Christmas
BY JOHN DREWRY The vampire, the werewolf and the witch were the primary facilitators of an annual December conference of monsters, devils and demons. The aim of their organisation had always been very clear – to inflict fear, pain and death upon humankind. But they faced an eternal conundrum – did they really exist? Each year they addressed this perennial problem. “Through many ages they … Continue reading Grandfather Christmas
On Aquinas and Puberty Blockers
BY SEAN WALSH Why are “puberty blockers” morally obscene? Aquinas would have the answer. We need to remind ourselves that the potential is as real as the actual. I’m not going to waste much time defending the self-evident truth that it is obscene to perform medical experiments on children. I mean no disrespect to the eugenicists who think otherwise, but these people are in need … Continue reading On Aquinas and Puberty Blockers
Strawberries to Canvases
Last month the Editor enjoyed a coffee with Lisa Pingale, founder of Monalisa Kalagram in Koregaon Park, Pune, India. The Monalisa Kalagram is an art centre/gallery that aims to promote art and create a community of artists, painters, poets, writers, creative thinkers. Here is the interview, below: Editor: Lisa, thank you for speaking with Country Squire Magazine. Monalisa Kalagram is described as an ‘oasis’ in Koregaon Park. … Continue reading Strawberries to Canvases
The War on White, Working Class Boys
BY FRANK HAVILAND I have a confession to make: I’m a misogynist. At least, I certainly hope I am in the eyes of those who pontificate on such things, and clearly have no idea what the word actually means. I know that women don’t have cocks; that they are distinct from men; and that they are unlikely to best men in almost any endeavour, unless the men … Continue reading The War on White, Working Class Boys
A Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
VICAR This Sunday, Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, the final purple candle of the Advent wreath is lit. Often called the ‘Angel’s Candle’, it symbolises Love. The readings shift our gaze from the cosmic promise of a Saviour to the intimate, personal ‘yes’ that made the incarnation possible. We meet Mary, the young woman of Nazareth, visited by the archangel Gabriel. The focus is on … Continue reading A Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Meeting Grace Olson
BY ALLISON LEE I came across Grace Olson for the first time when I watched The Yorkshire Vet, Channel 5’s documentary series that follows the lives and work of veterinary teams in Yorkshire, as they treat a wide variety of animals in both rural and urban settings, and I was immediately interested in her work as a sheep therapist. Grace is trained in deep tissue massage … Continue reading Meeting Grace Olson
After the Hunt
BY ROGER WATSON Attracted to this film by the fact that Julia Roberts was playing the lead role, my wife and I snuggled down for two hours and eighteen minutes of entertainment. In the end all we got were two hours and eighteen minutes of our lives that we will never get back. Even if we did get them back, we would not relive them … Continue reading After the Hunt
Australia’s Social Media Ban is Only Half the Solution
BY SAM CHANDLER Last week, Australia became the first country in the world to ban under-16s from using most of the major social media platforms – a landmark moment in global tech regulation. Under the new law, all “age-restricted social media platforms” will be under a legal obligation to prevent underage users from creating or maintaining accounts through tools like age verification checks, AI age estimation software, … Continue reading Australia’s Social Media Ban is Only Half the Solution
The Grey Belt Mirage: A Greenfield Free-For-All
BY ALEXIA JAMES A revolution is unfolding across England’s cherished Green Belt, but not the one ministers promised. When the government introduced the concept of ‘grey belt’ land in late 2024, the public was assured it would target the unsightly and unused: disused petrol stations, abandoned car parks, and ‘poor-quality scrubland’ on town fringes. The reality, as stark new research from the countryside charity CPRE … Continue reading The Grey Belt Mirage: A Greenfield Free-For-All
Conversation with a Seagull
BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN I found him on the third of December, on the jagged slate below the harbour wall. W12 – so-called for the zinc marked ring some do-gooding knave in sandals had clamped to his leg, turning a sovereign into a specimen. The tide had receded, leaving him arranged there with terrible finality: a crumpled monograph of salt and hunger, one wing extended in … Continue reading Conversation with a Seagull
Red, White & Blue
BY NICHOLAS ENGERT Many years ago I arrived early one morning in St Mark’s Square, Venice, before the crowds had started to gather. The air was fresh and cool and the sky a clear blue. And there, in front of the cathedral facade, an Italian flag fluttered high on one of the flagpoles. It was a glorious sight. The green, white and red vertical stripes … Continue reading Red, White & Blue
The Carbon Credit Con and Scotland’s New Mega-Lairds
BY BERT BURNETT A spectre is haunting the Highlands—and it is not the ghost of rebellions past. It is the sleek, corporate spectre of the ‘mega-laird’, armed not with claymores but with spreadsheets, investment portfolios, and a publicly-stated aim to “save the world”. As highlighted in a recent opinion piece by Dr. Josh Doble, these entities—billionaires, asset managers, and firms like Exeter-based Oxygen Conservation—are acquiring … Continue reading The Carbon Credit Con and Scotland’s New Mega-Lairds
A Prayer for Those with Flu
VICAR As the frost grips the land and the fires are banked high, our thoughts turn with particular concern to those laid low by illness. In our surgeries, hospitals, and homes, there are many wrestling with this year’s heavy bout of flu, their strength tested, their routines halted. For them, and for their worried families, the season is one of waiting and weariness, a trial … Continue reading A Prayer for Those with Flu
Millington’s Magical Barn
BY ALLISON LEE Jake Ratcliffe has always loved animals, so it is perhaps no surprise to those who know him that he now runs his own animal rescue sanctuary. Millington’s Magical Barn is an award-winning sanctuary situated in West Yorkshire, where Jake, his wife, and their small team of helpers rescue animals in need. Jake told me how his dream became a reality. He opened … Continue reading Millington’s Magical Barn
The Girl at Hamburg Airport
BY NICHOLAS ENGERT “Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”Coco Chanel I remember a time when men and women dressed well. There was a sense of decorum and manners – almost a sense of duty – that lead people to make an effort to look smart in public. This was not about money although of course money helped. … Continue reading The Girl at Hamburg Airport
Teach Teenagers to Be Creative, Not Just Take Tests
BY CHARLES ALDOUS I was thirteen when the entrepreneur Phoebe Gormley (photographed) visited my prep school to discuss her career. Fresh from dropping out of university to focus on building her Savile Row tailoring business for women, she told a room full of blazered children and parents something our teachers would never say: think beyond academics. The staff smiled politely. We were meant to be inspired. Instead, … Continue reading Teach Teenagers to Be Creative, Not Just Take Tests
What Next for the Woke Nanny State?
BY STEPHEN PAX LEONARD Reggie pranced around the sitting room in old Uncle Teddy’s peignoir. ‘Now, where is that dash rifle of mine?’, he muttered angrily. ‘Enough of this absurd woke nanny-state nonsense trying to consign our innocent school-boy japes to history’, he huffed. The front door clunk shut. It was the housekeeper. ‘Good morning, Mr Reggie’, offered Mrs Daddywood cheerily. She opened the door … Continue reading What Next for the Woke Nanny State?
Hunting, Humanity & the Circus at CITES
BY JOHN NASH COP20 — the latest Conference of the Parties to CITES — has just drawn to a close in Uzbekistan, and once again, what ought to be a sober gathering of grown-ups discussing wildlife trade was overrun by the usual swarm of parasitic NGOs and tin-shakers clutching fluffy toy elephants like infants’ emotional support animals. Instead of encouraging the tried-and-tested systems that actually … Continue reading Hunting, Humanity & the Circus at CITES