Cotswold Life: A letter from the editor, December 2024

If this month’s cover doesn’t get you in the mood for some old-fashioned seasonal celebrations, then my name’s Father Christmas.

In September, I went out to meet with artist Araminta Fogden – whose work I’ve admired for some time – to discuss commissioning a piece for our December cover. I knew the richness of her oil paintings – with sumptuous jewel-like colours, accented with gold leaf – would be exactly what was needed to make us all keen to start burning the Yule log, feeling the urge to throw a few chestnuts on the fire, and to put the hot end of a poker in a mug of spiced cider. The brief was to create something in her distinctive style, possibly featuring a leaping hare, an owl and seasonal foliage… and, boy, did she rise to the occasion!

Araminta Fogden in her Cotswold studio (Image: Candia McKormack) As a child, I loved the Radio Times Christmas covers – often painted by commissioned artists, such as Gloucestershire’s own Tony Meeuwissen – and I wanted to be able to give readers of Cotswold Life the same sense of it being a magical time of year. That pure, unadulterated joy of joining together with friends and family, sharing food and drink and exchanging gifts, surrounded by greenery brought in to adorn the house on those cold, winter days. It was also important that we supported and celebrated local talent… and, if you turn to page 18 in the December issue, you’ll find we continue to do that, with our feature on gifts crafted by local makers and artists.

The Cotswolds has always been a hotbed of creativity, of course, and so we could easily have filled the whole issue with beautiful things made locally, but there was so much more we wanted to bring you. And so, you’ll find a behind-the-scenes feature with Stroud photographer Steve Hurrell on the making of Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas (page 38); seven pages on the city of dreaming spires (118); and a new book coming out in 2025 that shows well-known Cotswold landmarks populated by ghosts and other supernatural creatures (page 162). You’ll also find nine pages of our recent Food & Drink Awards (224); some mouthwatering chocolate recipes from Kate Humble (214); a round-up of some of the Cotswolds’ finest drinks producers (page 156); and a competition to win a very special hamper (220).

Thank you, as ever, for being part of the Cotswold – and Cotswold Life – community, and I hope you have a very happy and peaceful season.

Merry Yuletide!

Candia McKormack
Editor, Cotswold Life
candia.mckormack@cotswoldlife.co.uk
X: @cotslifeeditor
Bluesky: @candiamckormack

Radio Times, Christmas 1970 - illustrated by Tony Meeuwissen (Image: Radio Times) THREE THINGS YOU'LL LEARN FROM READING THIS MONTH'S COTSWOLD LIFE…