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Going out for a good old fashioned droveDriving cattle on foot across Scotland, echoing the practices of our forefathers and gaining intimate insight into the animals’ habits, Patrick Laurie discovers that sometimes it really is about the journey as much as the destination.
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'We're not looking to make two dodos. We're looking to make thousands': Bringing the world's most famous bird back to lifeEmma Hughes separates fact from fiction in the tale of the dodo.
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Don’t old towns need saving?Out with the old and in with the new isn't always a good thing, this week's Athena argues.
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The evergreen appeal of winter tree plantingNo decision matters more in a garden than where to plant a tree, and winter is the season in which to do so, argues this week's Leader.
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Small but mighty: How can you not love the little owl?What the little owl lacks in stature, it makes up for in fierce character and mythical cachet.
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From woodland to Westminster: Can the felling of ancient oak trees be an act of cultural service?Timber from the Whiligh estate in the Sussex Weald was used to build the vast hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall — and its custodian still fells trees for very special commissions.
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Hamnet won the top film award at the 2026 Golden Globes — but where in the British countryside was it filmed?Herefordshire is the very picture of what England is in the collective mind’s eye.
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Endangered bumblebees, sifting spoonbills and trespassing tortoises: Britain's railway network is a wildlife havenThe nation's flora and fauna have found peace in the thousands of miles of tracks that cross the country.
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The lynx effect: It's about time to reintroduce this shy predatorBeavers and red kites may be flourishing in Britain, but the reintroduction of apex predators here is a trickier issue. Could there be practical and philosophical benefits and would a trial release of lynx be a worthwhile experiment?
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Two turtle doves: Why the endearing bird is an animal for all seasons, not just ChristmasThe beautiful, soft-voiced turtle dove is a symbol of courtship and love and must be saved, urges Mark Cocker.
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Is December the best month for bird watching? Exploring the underrated avian delights of a British winterAs starlings, woodcock and all manner of birds on the wing make their way south, Britain becomes something of a bird-watching heaven.
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'A teaspoon of living soil contains more creatures than there are people in existence': Unearthing the dirt's vital role in our future on World Soil DaySarah Langford argues that it is high time soil become fashionable.
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Farmers of Britain, go forth and grow prawnsA new study has proposed that farmers could start growing king prawns to diversify income streams.
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I was Jeremy Hunt’s main political adviser and helped put together multiple Autumn Statements and Budgets. This is what I think Rachel Reeves’s Budget means for the countrysideAdam Smith, former chief of staff to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, reflects on what last week's Budget means for the countryside and how we ensure the rural voice is heard loudly inside Budget preparations.
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The Budget: What do we need to fix a broken countryside, and what will we get?With the Autumn Budget looming, countryside and heritage organisations reveal what they are hoping to hear to fix the turmoil — and what they are dreading
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Aristotle believed they emerged spontaneously from mud, Sigmund Freud dissected thousands of them and they can dive lower than a nuclear submarine — but what is the truth about the eel?It would seem the European eel has a long way to go to win hearts, Laura Parker says of the slippery animal with an unfortunate image problem.
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'I’m going to be the first in more than 100 years to sell anything off': How the upcoming budget uncertainty is impacting young farmersChanges to inheritance tax, property relief and Defra budgets will likely change Britian's rural landscape. We ask the next generation of farmers what they think their future will look like.
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How good of a bird watcher are you? Country Life Quiz of the Day, November 19, 2025Test your general knowledge in today's Country Life quiz.
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An unfenced existence: Philip Larkin's love of the countrysideRichard Barnett pokes at Larkin’s protective carapace of soot-stained gloom and finds a writer with an unillusioned yet tenderly perceptive sense of Nature, in all its beauty and indifference
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Baby, it’s cold outside (even if you have a natural fur coat): How our animals brave the winter chillWhen the temperature drops, how do Britain’s birds, beasts and plants keep the cold at bay? John Lewis-Stempel reveals Nature’s own thermals.
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How many insects are there for every person on Earth (give or take a million) and other questions. It's the Country Life Quiz of the Day, November 12, 2025Test your general knowledge in today's Country Life quiz.
