BBC Countryfile Magazine

Countryfile Magazine inspires you to explore forgotten corners of the great British countryside and provides knowledge of the people and wildlife that inhabit it. We want to tempt you into trying new things, seek out new places and make the most of Britain’s beautiful landscapes.

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THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

AUGUST IN THE COUNTRY • PICTURES › WILDLIFE › PEOPLE & PLACES › COUNTRY KNOW-HOW › FOOD

Three newly vamped trails to explore in 2022

On the plot • Jobs for the garden with Rekha Mistry

HEATHER IN BLOOM • In August, the heaths of lowland England and the moors of Wales, the north and Scotland become a shimmering sea of purple, created by billions of tiny heather flowers. There are three common species of heather, all tough, low-growing shrubs needing acid soils, each with subtly different features and habitat preferences.

Get involved

Tune in to the Plodcast • A Taste of the Countryside

FREE FAMILY FUN • Save some pennies this summer with these exciting events

Countryfile on TV • BBC One, 31 July

TOMATO AND CHEDDAR CHEESE COBBLER

A view from the farm Adam Henson • WE MUST STOP DOGS ATTACKING LIVESTOCK

OPINION Sara Maitland • Children need the independence and freedom to be alone in nature

DISCOVER THE COLERIDGE WAY • It’s 250 years since the birth of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the great poet and lover of nature and landscape. Ben Lerwill celebrates by exploring a spectacular hiking route named in the poet’s honour, through the lovely hills of West Somerset

LIFE OF A TROUBLED GENIUS

NOW WALK THE COLERIDGE WAY • Where to sleep, eat and drink along the route, by Ben Lerwill

Get a Vango Stone rucksack*

Pirate queens • Swashbuckling outlaws Anne Bonny and Mary Read are finally taking their rightful place in pirate history. Immortalised in sculpture, they are now looking for a shorebound home, says Rosanna Morris

Regeneration game • Under pressure to make ends meet, many farmers drive their land hard, which can take its toll on the health of the soil. But on their Lakeland hill farm, Sam and Claire Beaumont use less intensive, wildlife-friendly methods to raise livestock – and their earnings, writes Karen Lloyd

KEY WILDLIFE SPECIES AT GOWBARROW FARM

COUNTRYFILE ISSUES JOHN CRAVEN • A THRILLING, NATURE-LED RECOVERY IN THE LAKES

MONEY-SAVING TIPS FOR COUNTRYSIDE EXPLORERS • As the cost of living rises, travel writers Julie Brominicks and Dixe Wills offer their top tips on how to enjoy outdoor holidays without breaking the bank

MOVING MOUNTAINS • Unfit and suffering from depression, Sabrina Pace-Humphreys found lasting joy in running in the countryside. Now a champion of ultramarathons, she helps other black runners to enjoy Britain’s wild places

Wildflowers on wheels • Cycling botanist Leif Bersweden toured Britain’s best sites searching for wild plants, hoping to understand them, the dangers they now face, and why so many of us have become disconnected from the beauty at our feet

TINY TERRORS • Grisly horror film with a bloodthirsty plot, or just another bug-eat-bug day in the undergrowth? Gail Ashton shines a light on the brutal world of our carnivorous mini-beasts

Walk in CONQUEROR COUNTRY • Almost 1,000 years ago, on these now sleepy fields, war raged. Sam Pyrah explores the idyllic 1066 Country Walk, through countryside once plundered by invading Norman troops

HISTORY TRAILS AROUND THE UK

KEY CONQUEST SITES

Great days out

HIGHLAND EXPRESS • The rhythmic chug of a train as it bustles through the British countryside never fails to elicit a sense of times past and journeys to come. Few lines are more...