Countryfile: The Year in the Countryside

A month-by-month celebration of the best of Countryfile as well as an illustrated overview of the beauty and the drama of a year in the countryside.

Countryfile brings nature into millions of homes. The Year in the Countryside is the very best of Countryfile collected together and beautifully illustrated in a unique month-by-month guide to the British countryside. Look up at the crystal clear starry skies of a January night and learn the constellations. Watch the March hares go mad for each other and find out why they have long been considered good luck. Wait for the sound of wings as the swallows return to us in May, explore the twists and turns of the Thames, slow and stately in August, harvest the fruits of the hedgerows in September and haunt Dorset’s deserted villages in October. Britain’s fields, forests and farms are ever-changing and offer a wealth of experiences to the curious explorer.

John Craven introduces this treasury of information from BBC Countryfile Magazine, adding his personal favourites. Illustrated with glorious colour photographs throughout, Countryfile: The Year in the Countryside offers a whirlwind tour of how our countryside changes around us through the year and how we can best appreciate it.

JOHN CRAVEN was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire and started his journalistic career as a junior reporter on the Harrogate Advertiser before becoming one of the stars of BBC children’s television. In 1989, he made the move away from children’s TV and began to present Countryfile, tackling rural and farming stories from foot-and-mouth disease to the ban on fox hunting. Still reporting from the countryside after 50 years in television, John has been awarded an OBE for services to rural and children’s broadcasting. He is also the bestselling author of Countryfile: A Picture of Britain.

FERGUS COLLINS is a writer and editor who grew up in rural Somerset. Since 2004 he has combined his passion for the natural world with working first for BBC Wildlife Magazine and then, from 2009–2023, as editor of BBC Countryfile Magazine. This latter role in particular has given Fergus a rare insight into the workings of the modern British countryside.