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Welcome to our latest issue which celebrates the long awaited arrival of spring after what has seemed an endless winter!

If you and your home feel the need to shake off the winter blues, don’t miss our special seasonal supplement from Downtown featuring colourful pages of inspirational ideas to help renew and reimagine your interiors, while also refreshing your wardrobe for sunnier days.

Matt Limb OBE also takes a look at how to choose the right outdoor clothing to keep warm and dry so you can fully enjoy your time in the countryside (see page 116).

Matt suggests that light layering is the key to all-day comfort in all weathers: “While not all modern innovations are greeted with open arms, most of us now own at least one fleece and a breathable waterproof jacket. The real secret however lies not in owning such garments, but in understanding how to use them and how to combine them sensibly, without unnecessary bulk or weight.”

If the new series of BBC TV’s MasterChef: The Professionals has inspired you to discover your inner Marcus Wareing or Monica Galetti, last year’s finalist Claire Syrenne chats to Kate Chapman about her culinary journey (p.108).

Claire’s new podcast Cook and Nourish honours heroic home cooks and she hopes it will help others celebrate their own culinary achievements.
“I want this podcast to help people be the best cook that they can be – and to be proud of that. If I can make a difference for one listener, I’ll be really happy.”

Kate Chapman also caught up with Lynne McEwan, a former national newspaper photographer turned crime author, whose novels draw on real-life experiences covering major events, blending them with fictional crimes (p.26).

Claire, who lives near Lincoln, says she would love to set one of her books in Lincolnshire:

“It’s a fantastic county, with lots of history and great landscapes.

“You’ve got the Wolds, the coastline, the marshes, as well as Lincoln itself with its Gothic infrastructure – I definitely think I can come up with some dirty deeds going on there!”

Wherever you’re planning to visit or spend your time, have a wonderful month!