Country Life's best Instagram posts of 2022
Our Instagram feed @countrylifemagazine has proven enormously popular over the years, and it's a real joy finding the best images to share with you.

So we thought it would be a nice idea to share some of the most beautiful with you.
We've gone through month-by-month to pick out the best — most on the basis of the number of 'likes' they received, but also with a few favourites of the editorial team here at Country Life.
We hope you enjoy what follows — and if you don't already, then please follow us on Instagram @countrylife.
January
A snowy hair helped us see in the New Year, while we also shared some of the wonderful work being done on rescuing and restoring the images in the Country Life Picture Archive. We also saw a huge response to the 'Crooked House' in Lavenham, Suffolk, which featured on the front cover on January 12 — and an equally wonderful response to the glorious wintry picture of St Thomas a Becket Church on Romney Marsh, Kent.
February
Proof that black squirrels can be just as intriguing as their red cousins, a breathtakingly beautiful cloister made famous by the Harry Potter film adaptations, the joy of the West Country summed up in one image — and an unashamedly sentimental image we shared on Valentine's Day.
March
A picture of the Isle of Purbeck graced the magazine's cover at the beginning of March, becoming both one of our favourite covers of the year and one of our best posts. But close behind were the adorable wire-haired dachshund puppies in a record-breaking litter of 12. You have no idea how long it took the photographer to get them all in a row...
April
Country Life always sits at the apex of nature and human endeavour, and the prettily-framed doorway and picture of Corfe Castle show this beautifully. Yet the Easter bunny (one of a 'fluffle') and the waterfowl catching a ride with their mother were even better.
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May
More inquisitive animals — including the border terriers who were up for one of the biggest awards in magazine publishing — sat alongside 'wisteria hysteria' in May. But it's the incredible picture of the custom-made bus created to pass through a medieval arch which probably raised the greatest number of eyebrows.
June
When we started the month with Jubilee celebrations for The Queen, little did we know that before long we'd be commemorating Her Majesty in a very different way. Yet looking back now you can still feel the warmth and joy of the celebrations that kicked off the summer.
July
Our single most-liked post of the year was the portrait of HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as she was back then — the image which graced the issue of the magazine guest-edited by the Queen Consort. And the photographer? None other than the Princess of Wales. Other images from the guest-edit were also popular, not least the look at the house where a young Camilla used to play while visiting her grandparents.
August
A blaze of wisteria in the blazing heat of the last summer proved a hit in August, as did an image that is surely one of the prettiest houses we've featured all year Admington Hall, in Warwickshire.
September
The insouciant face of a Sealyham Terrier began the month, but within days the world changed, and to a great extent was put on pause, as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away. We can only hope that images we shared — of the events as they happened, the reaction, the funeral, and the memories of Her Majesty — conveyed some of what people around Britain and the world were feeling at the death of so great a figure in our history.
October
The heat of summer and wetness of the start of Autumn made for a memorable blast of orange, yellow, red and brown in the leaves of our trees as the season turned. We also found time to share an extraordinary real-life 'ghost' story which a pair of Country Life photographers found themselves at the centre of a century or so ago.
November
Anyone expecting sympathy for their hard work in trimming a hedge will need to think again after seeing our second-best post of November. Only The King on the occasion of his 74th birthday proved more popular.
December
We'd never suggest putting together a Country Life bucket list — we can't help but feel they're the sort of things that tempt Fate — but if we were, then owning a beautiful puppy and equally delightful library would both be on there.
Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.
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Merlins: Britain's smallest bird of prey is a 'swerving, zigzagging, 240mph weighted missile' that's gutsy enough to chase off a golden eagle
Size doesn’t matter when it comes to the fighting spirit of the tiny merlin, a fierce parent and favoured hunting accessory of Mary, Queen of Scots.
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The greatest moment in the life of Jessie Owens: Country Life Quiz of the Day, June 13, 2025
Breathtaking athleticism and Shakespeare's birthday are among the questions in the final quiz of the week.
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New vision for old Dartmoor: Prince of Wales leads ambitious plans for nature recovery in Cornwall
The Vision outlines a set of guiding principles to inform the future environmental management of the Duchy’s Dartmoor estate.
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Wakehurst: 500 years of history, 2.4 billion seeds, 500 acres of planting, and scientists who might just save us all
Charles Quest-Ritson takes a look at the amazing work that's been done to update Wakehurst, Kew's trailblazing outpost in Sussex.
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Hannah Bourne-Taylor: Saving swifts, naked protests and the bird that nested in my hair
The campaigner and writer Hannah Bourne-Taylor joins the Country Life Podcast.
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'I spent 84 years living in the countryside, and have just moved to a city. Here's what I've discovered.'
Charles Moseley has lived in a small village in Cambridgeshire for decades, but now he’s made the leap with his wife to the cathedral city of Ely, the subject of his latest book.
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Goshawks: The birds of prey that came back from extinction
By the late 19th century, the goshawk was indisputably extinct, but their recent restoration to the British isles makes it worth exploring their history. Expert naturalist Mark Cocker tells more about this fascinating bird of prey.
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'The biggest cavities are in the hearts and skulls of politicians': What hope for the swift?
Ahead of World Swift Day and Swift Awareness Week, Octavia Pollock ponders the decision not to mandate the use of swift bricks
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'We need to make a case for more resources': What next for wild camping on Dartmoor
Jane Wheatley takes the temperature of the land after years of debate over public access to private spaces.
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From Scotland to Greenland, Earth Photo 2025's shortlisted works showcase our amazing planet
The 203 photographs and films will tour more than 20 Forestry England sites, National Trust properties and other historic houses from next month until spring 2026.