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The urban guide to the countryside -

Select County

Well, hello!

I'm Hero, founder of Muddy Stilettos, here to bring you the quirky, cool and downright unmissable across the counties.

Gotta Have It

We can't stretch to new Isabel Marant boots or bags right now but it's a big "OUI!" from us to her super-chic new lipsticks.

Fun Finder

Making plans? Find your perfect Pub, Inn, Hotel, Café, Restaurant or Bar across the Muddy counties.

Spotlight

Eat OutView more

The Curlew, Bodiam reviewed

Beautiful food in an unstuffy atmosphere – Muddy visits one of Sussex’s best restaurants, perfect for a special occasion or romantic treat
- Dorset Arms, Withyham review
  
  Find Winnie the Pooh connections on the doorstep and great home-reared food on your plate at this Ashdown Forest pub
- The Old Coastguard, Mousehole
  
  A year-round star of the local food scene. Retreat to this west Cornwall bolthole for a leisurely lunch or cosy supper and a sleepover.
- More scones, madam?
  
  Holy scones! We're ready to be served the most indulgent, stylish cucumber sandwiches and macaroons. Do we know anywhere nice? Of course we do!
- The Longstore, Charlestown
  
  You had us at steaks and seafood! This Cornish harbour-side eatery was named ‘Best Restaurant’ in this year’s Muddy Awards. Here's why...

TravelView more

Insider Guide: Deal

Voted one of best places to live earlier this year by The Sunday Times, complete with beach, fine food and shopping, Deal is proving to be a worthy contender as one of the coolest beach towns in Kent
- Five star freebies
  
  No charge for kids to eat or stay at superluxe Stoke Park this month. Book up and chill out!
- Gourmet Getaway, The Belfry Hotel & Resort
  
  Dine and snooze at this 4* top golf, leisure and spa resort in the North Warwickshire countryside. Like we did...

FashionView more

New season, new shoes

Do you need any encouragement to buy new shoes? Does anyone?! Clear some space on the shoe rack – I’ve rounded up my Top 15 footwear favourites for autumn, from elegant ankle boots to the super-cool sneakers.
- Temperley Bridal all the way
  
  The stunning designer trunk show comes exclusively to Wallingford's Black Swan Bridal Studio from next week (*dreamy sighs*).
- Best foot forward
  
  15 ways to rock your footwear this month, from garden parties and weddings to the ultimate girls' night out.

BeautyView more

- Spa bliss
  
  Need a cheeky spa break? Me too! And if there's a Diamond Life Infusion Facial thrown in, all the better – my face needs it!
- Cult beauty brand alert!
  
  We've got our Muddy fingers in a LOT of Beauty Pie's luxe products this week, and we're going back in for seconds.

Arts & CultureView more

Muddy’s 23 best autumn culture picks

It’s all going on! Behold, your cheat-sheet to the season’s best art, theatre, music and film, as curated by Muddy’s deeply cultural Kerry Potter.
- More sex please, we’re British!
  
  There's a lot of rumpy-pumpy on TV right now. And cheeringly not everyone involved resembles a 20something supermodel. It's a yes, yes, YES! from us.
- Hot ticket! The first review *anywhere* of the new Ashmolean exhibition
  
  There's a brand new major exhibition in town and it's all about magic. Muddy hopped on a broomstick and headed down for an exclusive tour and it's a corker. Here's why you should conjure up some tickets pronto.
- Tamburlaine, Swan Theatre, Stratford
  
  Jude Owusu is chillingly charismatic as the tyrannous warlord in Michael Boyd’s stylish take on Marlowe's epic Elizabethan gore-fest.
- An Elizabethan/TOWIE mash-up?
  
  We meet Fiona Laird for a chinwag about her RSC directorial debut, The Merry Wives of Windsor, fame and seeing Daniel Craig naked…

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HomeView more

- One reason to live in Somerset…
  
  ...the amazing houses! Like this vast Victorian vicarage with glorious grounds in a Somerset village not far from England's smallest city of Wells.
- Speedy Supper
  
  Exec chef at Stoke Park, Chris Wheeler, has launched a cookbook and this Speedy Supper pan-fried sea trout recipe. Ready, Steady, COOK!
Wellbeing
- Muddy visits Ragdale Hall
  
  An open air Rooftop Infinity Pool, a Thermal Spa, 50 treatment rooms and more. Muddy checks...
- Study among the spires
  
  Kerry Potter brushed up on her holiday French with a course at Oxford's Continued Education arm. If you want to upskill, or learn something new, book for Sept

WorkView more

- Flexible working – a personal view
  
  It's a contentious issue, that's for sure! Wanna know what I think?
- Help! Career MOT needed
  
  Job driving you mental? We put your work dilemmas to our clever new careers coach. Here's what she had to say.
Kids
- Ashfold School, Dorton, Mid Bucks
  
  This bucolic co-ed prep school for day pupils and boarders in the rolling hills of Buckinghamshire is family-oriented with a deserved reputation for its all-rounder offering.
- Beachborough School, near Brackley
  
  Muddy says: Hard to find fault with this lovely co-ed prep school on the Bucks/Northants borders - a family vibe, pretty rural setting and great results.

People View more

Horrible Histories talks to Muddy

The family favourite is back in Sussex. Muddy spoke to co-director Neal Foster about what grisly goings-on are in store
- An Elizabethan/TOWIE mash-up?
  
  We meet Fiona Laird for a chinwag about her RSC directorial debut, The Merry Wives of Windsor, fame and seeing Daniel Craig naked…
- The weird world of Craig David
  
  What do Kestrel Kes, Louboutins and Willy Wonka have in common? Here are 10 things you didn't know about comeback king, Craig.

The Urban Guide to the Countryside