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Country Life 1 January 2025Here's a look at what you'll find inside, including Country Life's Wildlife Awards, and a final column from long-standing contributor Carla Carlisle.
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Jason Goodwin: 'When I was 18, I tried playing it cool. I believed next to nothing. I rolled my eyes at solemnity and ceremony. The business of shedding my cool has been years in the making'Jason Goodwin on how seeing the world through the eyes of others makes him wonder why he spent years pretending not to be impressed.
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Athena: It shouldn't take a blazing fire for us to see the value in our places of worshipIf major catastrophes have any advantages, it is that, by shocking us, they can focus attention and resources.
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Minette Batters: 'I don’t believe this Government set out to wipe out the family farm. Yet it will be the consequence'Minette Batters — a farmer, former NFU President and a Baroness sitting in the House of Lords — has a harsh warning for Keir Starmer's government.
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A spot of Bovaer: The dairy cow additive that's set tongues wagging isn't bad for anyone — and it's just what we need if we want both milk and clean airCountry Life's rural columnist Agromenes looks at the huge improvements being made to the air that we breathe, through the unlikeliest of ways.
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Dawn Chorus: Symbiosis in actionA wonderful picture from Richmond Park and a look inside Country Life's biggest issue of the year.
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Jonathan Self: November used to be a month of bleak fields and naked trees; this year we had summer flowers in bloom and ate lunch on the terraceJonathan Self discovers a name for his sense of unease caused by life being out of balance.
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Kelvin Fletcher: From Strictly Come Dancing to the sheep dipThis week's guest on the Country Life Podcast is Kelvin Fletcher, star of Fletchers' Family Farm, who talks to James Fisher about why he decided to move to the Peak District and dive head first into the rural way of life.
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100 years of the Shipping Forecast, winning the war on antibiotics and the world's best young cheesemongerPlus a sublime Scottish castle, how to address people correctly and the quiz of the day.
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In pictures: Farmers march against inheritance tax in LondonAfter it was announced that Agricultural Property Relief is going to be scrapped, farmers, landowners and others took to the streets of London in protest.
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Where have all the salmon gone, and what can we do about it?Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish.
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Zebras, lobsters, lions and Ronald Reagan's baby elephant: The strangest pets in historyThese days nobody would dream of keeping a wild animal as a pet, but there was a time, not so long ago, when a gentleman could stroll into Harrods and buy an elephant or an alligator. Jonathan Self explores the era of the exotic menagerie.
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The science behind how Nature can heal us, and how it's easier than you think, with Professor Miles RichardsonProfessor Miles Richardson joins James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast.
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Patrick Galbraith: 'What struck me is that English vineyards represent a rare example of farmland being re-peopled'Going grape picking gives a glimpse of what the rural past would have looked like.
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'Only the richest estates will be asked to pay': Labour's DEFRA Secretary hits back after backlash over inheritance tax plans for farmsSteve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, has explained the government's position on inheritance tax and farming.
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Do leopards hunt in packs, and other frequently asked travel questions, with Rosie PatersonAs the nights close in, Country Life's travel editor Rosie Paterson joins the podcast to talk about all things travel.
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Opinion: The doom-laden terminology of conservation campaigners is dragging us down — it's time we embraced some optimismWe’re not perfect, says Kate Green, but nor are we bottom of the class — and it's time we embraced that.
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Alexander Darwall: Dartmoor camping case is about conservation and preservation, not denial of accessThe landowner at the centre of the legal battle over wild camping on Dartmoor explains why he has chosen to go to the Supreme Court about the issue.
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Dawn Chorus: The wild creatures back in the West Country for the first time since the reign of Queen VictoriaPine Martens are back on Dartmoor — but why?
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Jason Goodwin: 'Ahead of the Japanese invasion of Borneo, I was told, she had memorised all the top-secret embassy codes to prevent them falling into enemy hands'The cooing of wood pigeons in autumn reminds our columnist of his grandmother and her sisters, one of which was in a secret service in the Second World War.
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Charity issues stark warning to the Government: Restore nature now or risk losing our butterfliesResults from the most recent Big Butterfly Count show an ecosystem in serious decline, according to nature charity Butterfly Conservation.
