Country Life

Published by TI Media Limited Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.

Sir David and Lady Beckham • Our guest editor Sir David and his wife, Victoria, met when he was playing football for Manchester United and she was a member of pop group the Spice Girls. Lady Beckham now heads up her own fashion label, Victoria Beckham, and cosmetics brand Victoria Beckham Beauty.

‘The countryside has brought me peace’ • From his east London childhood to discovering the joys of beekeeping and gardening, our guest editor, former England football captain Sir David Beckham, tells Paula Minchin why the countryside matters so much to him and his family

Country Life

Town & Country

Country-house treasures

Town & Country Notebook

Stuff & nonsense

Letters to the Editor

We must keep going

Athena • Cultural Crusader

Duns Tew (west) • Near Over Worton, north Oxfordshire

‘My darling project’ • A remarkable charitable endeavour to save abandoned children on the streets of London has a touching legacy, as John Goodall explains

The real universe is here • Slowing down to experience the wonder of a ‘survival’ experience in the Scottish Highlands, as our guest editor did to mark his 50th birthday, Patrick Galbraith heeds the calming call of the wild

My favourite painting

The champions league • From a milliner inspired by topiary to a model-turned-ecological gardener and a couple who swapped jobs in telecommunications for growing vegetables, Sir David Beckham’s rural heroes tell Julie Harding why craft and the countryside are key

Firmly planted in the Cotswolds • On an open and windswept tract of land in Oxfordshire, where once stood some derelict barns and a lone maple tree, our guest editor has created a haven for his family and his honeybees, discovers Alan Titchmarsh

A kiss from a daughter’s rose • When Harper Beckham wanted to commission a rose for her father’s birthday, there was only one man for the job, says Charles Quest-Ritson, as he takes a closer look at the science behind creating a new David Austin bloom

Striking it Ritchie • He might be best known for directing action-packed films–from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to Sherlock Holmes–but, as Guy Ritchie tells Paula Minchin, he’s still chasing a boyhood dream of a life in the countryside

The legacy • England and the 1966 World Cup

‘My football made me, my countryside saved me’ • From the rough and tumble of the football pitch to the sanctuary of his West Sussex estate, a return to the land has been a redemptive journey for the gamekeeper’s son and former tough midfielder Vinnie Jones, finds Mary Skipwith

Liver little • From Sunday roasts to Spanish delicacies, good food is one of the pillars of Sir David Beckham’s life, as Tom Parker Bowles discovers when the pair cook up a comfort-food storm of calf’s liver and bacon at Claridge’s

Sweet potatoes

Take a bough • For instant impact in a newly landscaped garden, there’s nothing quite like planting mature trees or native hedgerow plants for transformative and long-lasting results, believes Steven Desmond

Sod’s law

A gentleman’s seat • Elegant heritage fabrics fit autumn perfectly, with their rich seasonal hues and comfortable cuts. Enduringly stylish...