The Long Man may be Anglo-Saxon in origin; the shape is similar to the design on a buckle discovered in Kent in 1964 by the archaeologist Sonia Chadwick Hawkes, which probably represents the god Odin (or Woden).
It's not a house of outstanding art, being a self-taught carver whose skills evidently advanced over the years, as you can see the evolution from fairly rough carving on the stairs to the very skilled work in the living room. He also created the paintings on the walls - talented chap - but never finished the carving in the living room, as his time finally ran out.
A new campaign is aiming to collect 50 objects that sum up Englishness in an effort to move the conversation away from reductive arguments over whether to hang a St George's flag or not. Supported by the Green party politician Caroline Lucas, the musician and campaigner Billy Bragg, and Kojo Koram, a law professor, the A Very English Chat campaign hopes to tackle England's growing social divisions and political polarisation.
The most arresting is a dramatic circular void carved into the ceiling, a spatial echo of St Paul's dome, translated from the sacred to the everyday. Below it, a monolithic espresso counter holds the room together, its weight and material language borrowed from Tate Modern's industrial character and the infrastructural logic of the riverbanks themselves.
It is a cold, damp day in January, but the buzz at Goodwood is electric. On a 75-acre woodland encircled by flint walls, about a thousand new trees and 100,000 bulbs are taking root. Work is at full pelt on the refurbishment of two flat-roofed pavilions, originally designed for the Cass Sculpture Foundation by architect Craig Downie, and the construction of a new café, created by his studio.
Not many chefs working in small, family-run restaurants expect global megastars to turn up for dinner and to design them a menu from scratch. But that's what happened to Simona Di Dio last weekend, when she cooked dishes inspired by her Italian grandmother's recipes for Madonna, who sat on the single wooden dining table in their cosy, candlelit Italian restaurant in Margate's old town.
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We're always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service - as well as serious sustainability credentials.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD) produces its whiskey, gin, vodka and liqueur from heritage wheat and rye varieties rediscovered in the thatch of medieval roofs. It's an example of the extraordinary lengths the distillers go here to create their unique flavours while building a regenerative farming system along the way. Tour the distillery to find out all about the processes involved,
The Big Brine, co-founded by Emma and Clarice, who have backgrounds in events and event catering, will bring together the worlds of food, wellness and sustainability by showcasing the craft and culture behind brining and fermenting.
A tipoff to try the Tin Roof Cafe in Maldon came with prior warning: I wouldn't get a table easily as this all-day spot serving brunch, lunches and sweet stuff from the in-house bakery is constant, scone-fuelled bedlam. Red brick walls, greenery throughout, alfresco spaces, allotments growing fresh veg and herbs. Capacious, family-run, dog-welcoming, pocket-friendly. There's bubble and squeak with hand-cut ham, Korean-style chicken burgers and a vegan burger called, rather brilliantly, Peter Egan.
This part of London sits just outside the historic City walls, so it attracted traders who wanted to avoid the strict rules binding City merchants. The land was later acquired by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland, who developed it, hence the main road being named Wentworth Street. If you're wondering about Ann's Place, that was probably after his wife, Anne Hopton.
Its origins lie in the county's mining past, where it was devised as a complete, portable meal. The crimp acted as a handle, and some pasties were even made with different fillings at each end, offering both savoury and sweet in a single bake. Debate over the perfect pasty remains lively, but the classic combination of beef, potato, onion and swede is still the benchmark, and for many, still the one to beat.
For most of its life, the alley's main feature was the church of St Martin Orgar, possibly named after Ordgarus, a Dane who donated the church to the canons of St Paul's. Sadly, most of the church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London. The badly damaged remains were restored and used by French Protestants right up to 1820.
The pavement along Barking Road in Plaistow is a blur through the front windows and deserted, and there are only two customers in the shop. Another sign this one on the counter says CASH ONLY. Card machine companies often tell proprietor Nathan Jacobi that he's missing out by not catering to customers who favour cashless transactions. They're the ones missing out, he says. Cos they ain't getting pie and mash.
