Sporting & Country Pursuits

A countryside dweller's guide to the 2019 General Election: Who will do what, and where, and when?

With the general election fast-approaching, discover what each of the main parties plans for the countryside, farming and the environment.

David Profumo's Fantasy League of angling fishing guests

David Profumo imagines who might attend his own dream angling dinner party.

Country Life Top 10: Wellies - The best boots you can buy

Walking St Cuthbert's Way in late summer: Heather in late-summer emperor’s purple, lit up by the last burst of warmth

The Cheviots and St Cuthbert’s Way are the right setting for reflection and remembrance, as Fiona Reynolds finds on her latest walk.

An absolute beginner's guide to clay pigeon shooting, part 3: New techniques, old friends and how to buy your own gun

If you're looking to get into shooting, a series of lessons is the place to start —as Octavia Pollock has been finding out at the Cowdray Estate's Hownhall shooting school.

An absolute beginner's guide to clay pigeon shooting, part two: Relax, breathe, trust... and avoid the temptation to squeak in triumph

Absolute beginner Octavia Pollock is learning clay pigeon shooting at Hownhall, part of the Cowdray Estate — in part one she was distracted by dogs and coffee before getting the hang of things; this is what happened when she went back for lesson two.

Love in the Countryside's rocky road to rural romance: Sheep-herding tests, awkward cider farm dates and being dumped by a Shetland pony

Forget Tinder, BBC Two's Love in the Countryside is the farmer's answer to cupid. Rachael Turner reports.

An absolute beginner's guide to clay pigeon shooting: 'Coffee drunk and dogs cuddled, it was time to begin'

Octavia Pollock had never so much as held a gun before she decided to try clay pigeon shooting — she headed down to the Cowdray Estate's Hownhall Shooting School to give it a go.

What's the perfect time to teach your children how to fish?

Walking the 79-mile Dales Way: 'The Wharfe is full and raging; we’re getting worried messages as people hear about the mayhem'

Torrential rain swells the River Wharfe as Fiona Reynolds embarks on a 79-mile walk along the Dales Way, just one step ahead of the floods.

'You’re alive, make the most of it': The 77-year-old British woman who has just become the oldest person to sail around the world

Jeanne Socrates was met by a flotilla of 30 boats when she completed her circumnavigation at the port of Victoria in British Columbia.

How a pony in the Highlands always beats a quad bike: 'Unlike a vehicle, ponies will avoid bogs that swallow the unwary'

On estates such as Balmoral, The Queen’s home in Aberdeenshire, tough and shaggy Highland ponies are vital members of the stalking team when it comes to bringing deer off the hill. Octavia Pollock found out more.

The A–Z of Burghley: All you need to know for this weekend's Horse Trials

Kate Green charts all you need to know about this weekend’s Burghley Horse Trials, from Princess Anne to Zara Tindall.

Alastair Cook on cricket and farming: 'Nature, like international sport, can be simultaneously cruel and wonderful'

Walking Derby and the Derwent Valley, on a morning with 'dappled light on the river reflecting the monumental 18th-century mills'

Fiona Reynolds walks the Derwent Valley Heritage Way in Derbyshire, and is struck by the contrast between Man and Nature.

The Glorious 12th: 12 facts about the first day of the grouse shooting season

The start of the shooting season - the Glorious 12th August - is nearly here. Charlotte Peters of Shooting UK explains everything you need to know.

Michael Vaughan on the Ashes: 'You end careers in Ashes cricket'

Cricket, whether at Lord's or on the village green, is the essence of the English summer — but it needs our help

The World Cup has passed in glory and now the Ashes between England and Australia takes centre stage, but all is not well in the world of cricket.

Jousting gallops into the 21st century with cutting-edge VAR technology

The ancient sport of jousting is being brought into the 21st century this summer as VAR technology is being used to score competitions at English Heritage venues

A walk through the Forest of Bowland: 'I feel the immensity of the history of this place and am deeply moved by it'

A solitary dawn walk through the Forest of Bowland is a magical experience, says Fiona Reynolds.