The National Trust Magazine

As a member of the National Trust you'll receive three editions of our beautifully illustrated magazine a year as an exclusive benefit.

Inside the Autumn 2008 magazine

Editor, Sue Herdman, introduces the current edition:

© Andrew Montgomery / National Trust

Since the introduction of the National Trust’s Food Policy in 2006, the topic of local, seasonal food has been rising on our agenda. So when our President, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, agreed to a special birthday interview, we felt it moot to question him – as a long-time champion of organic, sustainably produced fare – on the subject of food and farming.

Having set our theme, we linger with food a little longer, which feels appropriate for the time of year, when thoughts turn to harvest, pumpkins and late fruit from the orchards. We explore the rise of the nation’s farm shops. Our Calendar pages are peppered with food events – with some surprising ingredients (anyone for a four-course chocolate dinner?).

Athlete Dame Kelly Holmes meets us at Knole to discuss, among other things, the ‘fast food’ generation. And we sign off with a new feature – our ‘Final Flavour’ page, this time with a nod to that perennial favourite, the English apple.

In between musings on menus, we’ve also dipped into a world of books and pictures, and for this we particularly want to hear from our younger readers. This is the season of The Big Draw and National Children’s Book Week, and we wonder if you’ve ever been inspired by a fascinating Trust site to put pen to paper or brush to palette?

Perhaps it was on a school trip? Or a day out with Mum and Dad? If so, we’d love you to enter our competition, which will be judged by the award-winning children’s author, Michael Morpurgo, and artist Philip Bannister. See our feature ‘Tell me a story’ to find out more. We’ll look forward to seeing the results, but, for now, from all of us on the magazine team, we wish you a splendid autumn.

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