FEBRUARY IN THE COUNTRY
CASTLE OF STORIES
“There’s a secret as old As the stones to unlock: There’s a riddle, a mystery Trapped in the rock.” Thus wrote Katrina Porteous in her poem Dunstanburgh. This castle on the Northumberland coast was built in the early 1300s by Thomas of Lancaster. He led a colourful life before being tried and executed for treason by Edward II in 1322.
PEAKING DUCK
The gloriously exotic-looking mandarin duck seems far too ostentatious to include among the UK’s native avifauna. Introduced from China,
