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Why national parks are our national prideAs the Peak District, which was the first national park in the UK to be designated, celebrates its 75th anniversary, Country Life celebrates our national parks.
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The ancient stretch of the Yorkshire Dales being revitalised by the Woodland TrustSponsor Content Created With The Woodland Trust
In the space of a few years, the Woodland Trust have already begun to transform Snaizeholme. Now they urgently need your help to take this wonderful project on to the next stage.
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Is this the new Bruton? How Nottinghamshire's grandest estate reinvented itselfWelbeck Abbey has been in the Portland family for nearly 300 years. The new generation has turned its once sleepy reputation around.
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Waddle I do without you? The joys of sharing your home with gaggles of geeseKeeping a gaggle of geese promises to bring oodles of charm and character to the yard, says Mary Skipwith, as she takes a gander at why these stately birds become the heart and soul of family life.
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'The ache for English orchards and hedgerows is rooted in a landscape that generations of poets have studied as scripture': Jacqui Ritchie, poet and wife of Guy, on the magic of springWith this week’s equinox marking spring’s long-awaited calendar arrival here in Britain, Jacqui Ritchie investigates the spell it has always cast over the nation’s poets.
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It's not all birdsong and blossom: The gardener’s spring-time battlesThis month saw the launch of Hortistry, a horticulture scheme championed by some of the finest gardeners in the country — and the timing could not be better.
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A world with a toad hiding in your garage is richer than one withoutThe common toad has always enjoyed a special place in our national imagination, but its numbers have been declining alarmingly in recent decades. What can be done? Sarah Langford investigate.
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What is it, therefore, that makes a good walking stick?As it turns out, quite a lot. Gabriel Stone investigates.
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Power struggles: The countryside should not be viewed as an empty canvas on which to achieve everyone’s aimsRural Britain is being squeezed from all sides.
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What is everyone talking about this week: Longevity? I think farmers invented that...The longevity-industrial complex is making trillions recasting time-old ideas as radical breakthroughs. Wait till its enlightened advocates hear about the countryside
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Nature’s symbiotic relationships are as multifarious as they are marvellousJohn Lewis-Stempel considers how working in partnership is a key pillar of success in the animal kingdom.
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The winter Olympians of the natural worldMeet the penguins that like to luge and their animals friends that could give any Olympic athlete a run for their money.
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Feathers: Nature’s most exquisite miracle was fashioned for flight, fortitude and fantasyAvian plumage doesn’t simply enable flight–this miracle of Nature provides birds with protection, shape and colour and remains a highly desirable fashion accoutrement for us, too.
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Britain's most widespread bird is also the most elusive — spotting it is one of ornithology’s great joysThe long-eared owl breeds from Kent to northern Scotland, but is highly nocturnal.
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What is everyone talking about this week: How to make the most of wetter wintersWith constant storms throughout January and February, 2026 has confirmed climate science's view that British winters are becoming rainier. The least we can do is embrace this
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Love is all around us, just ask the natural worldAhead of Valentine's Day, the World Wildlife Fund wants us to celebrate the wild hearts that surround us.
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The short-eared owl is a breed apartFluid in flight and perplexingly wide-ranging, the short-eared owl is a singular figure in the family — and a figure of particular terror to the vole
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Who is your Wildlife Photographer of the Year? Cast your vote nowFrom a flock of flamingos to a couple of play-fighting bear cubs, there truly are some stunning photographs in the shortlist for this year's People's Choice award.
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'To my unspeakable disgust and pain, the little inconsiderate beast squirted his acid down my throat': The army of animals weaponising chemistry in the fight for survivalClouds of noxious gas, stink bombs and purple smokescreens may sound like schoolboy pranks, but the animal world is just as capable of executing arresting chemical warfare.
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The world’s heaviest flying bird flaps on to pastures new but remains endangered, says expertYou might think it a great time for the great bustards, who have been found breeding in a new location, but there is a wider problem facing the UK’s ‘big bird’, an expert says.
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'It turns out that coconut charcoal is the best substance on Earth for nullifying astronauts breaking wind': The secret uses of plantsFrom ice cream to underwear and explosives, plants are remarkably integral to much of the manmade world, a new book shows.
