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.

Love it, protect it

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

Four fantastic facts about… SCOTLAND’S PATRON SAINT

ID GUIDE: NINE BRITISH SPIDERS • It’s spider season in houses, gardens and woodlands, so get to know these eight-legged hunters and weavers as they ambush their insect prey

ON THIS DAY: 10 NOVEMBER 1946

How to… MAKE CRYSTALLISED CITRUS PEEL SWEETS • These tasty treats can be used to decorate autumn bakes or taken out on the trail for a welcome burst of energy in the colder months.

FROM THE BOOKSHELF: WALKS WITH A DIFFERENCE • Four books to inspire you to follow new paths this autumn

THE SEASONAL TABLE: A TASTE OF NOVEMBER • Join Kathy Bishop and Tom Crowford on their West Country smallholding

On the farm with Adam Henson • CHRISTMAS FOOD SUPPLIES UNDER THREAT

Sara Maitland • Welcoming the season of mists, flaming fruitfulness and migrant seabirds

THE CUMBRIA WAY • The 70-mile Cumbria Way is an epic walk through England’s most picturesque landscape. Provided you take your time, this spectacular, mostly lowland route is less testing than it might sound, writes Peter Elia

NOW GO THERE • Where to stay, eat and drink along the Cumbria Way, by Peter Elia

FUNGI FASCINATION • The mushrooms in our autumn woodlands are not only strange and intriguing, they and other fungi are vital to life on Earth. James Fair finds out more from biologist and author Merlin Sheldrake

NEW NATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR 2021 RUNNER-UP • Thoughts of a Cornish beach inspire a powerful poem by our second runner-up, Natalie Robins

GOTHIC WHITBY • Yorkshire’s pretty fishing port is popular with tourists – but the town has a dark side. Explore misty ruins, whispers of witches, strange tragedies and a legendary vampire with Karen Ruffles

COUNTRYFILE ISSUES JOHN CRAVEN • THE LABOUR SHORTAGE BREAKING BRITAIN’S FARMERS

SOLVING THE UK’S PLASTIC PROBLEM • Britain has a problem with plastic – at the coast, in the countryside, near motorway service stations. The searing image of a whale calf dying from plastic pollution on Blue Planet in 2018 was supposed to galvanise us into action. Mark Rowe asks, what’s happened since then?

“The countryside made me” • In his first book, Matt Baker celebrates his rural roots and chronicles a year spent transforming the family farm. He chats to Margaret Bartlett about sheep, sketching and new beginnings

POW UK • During the Second World War, British camps across the country housed as many as 400,000 captured foreign soldiers. Dixe Wills visits Eden Camp in North Yorkshire, a restored camp that recreates the wartime experience of enemy prisoners

Love, hope and ruin • In her new book, Nicola Chester chronicles a lifetime of joy in nature alongside unbearable losses to our wild world that she has witnessed, and that we must all fight harder to prevent

Plant Britain BULBS FOR BEES AND BUTTERFLIES • Autumn is the ideal time to plant bulbs for an uplifting display of colour next spring and summer. But how do you choose the best flowers to benefit insect pollinators? Wild gardener and insect ecology expert Dave Goulson reveals his favourites

Great days out

BEAUTY BY THE BECK • Debbie North delves into the calming effects of being beside water in autumn, before recounting one of her favourite riverside trails in the Yorkshire Dales

GLEN FOR A QUEEN • Silver birch and...