So we thought it would be a nice idea to share some of the most beautiful with you.
We've gone through month-by-month to pick out the best — most on the basis of the number of 'likes' they received, but also with a few favourites of the editorial team here at Country Life.
We hope you enjoy what follows — and if you don't already, then please follow us on Instagram @countrylife.
January
A snowy hair helped us see in the New Year, while we also shared some of the wonderful work being done on rescuing and restoring the images in the Country Life Picture Archive. We also saw a huge response to the 'Crooked House' in Lavenham, Suffolk, which featured on the front cover on January 12 — and an equally wonderful response to the glorious wintry picture of St Thomas a Becket Church on Romney Marsh, Kent.
February
Proof that black squirrels can be just as intriguing as their red cousins, a breathtakingly beautiful cloister made famous by the Harry Potter film adaptations, the joy of the West Country summed up in one image — and an unashamedly sentimental image we shared on Valentine's Day.
March
A picture of the Isle of Purbeck graced the magazine's cover at the beginning of March, becoming both one of our favourite covers of the year and one of our best posts. But close behind were the adorable wire-haired dachshund puppies in a record-breaking litter of 12. You have no idea how long it took the photographer to get them all in a row...
April
Country Life always sits at the apex of nature and human endeavour, and the prettily-framed doorway and picture of Corfe Castle show this beautifully. Yet the Easter bunny (one of a 'fluffle') and the waterfowl catching a ride with their mother were even better.
May
More inquisitive animals — including the border terriers who were up for one of the biggest awards in magazine publishing — sat alongside 'wisteria hysteria' in May. But it's the incredible picture of the custom-made bus created to pass through a medieval arch which probably raised the greatest number of eyebrows.
June
When we started the month with Jubilee celebrations for The Queen, little did we know that before long we'd be commemorating Her Majesty in a very different way. Yet looking back now you can still feel the warmth and joy of the celebrations that kicked off the summer.
July
Our single most-liked post of the year was the portrait of HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as she was back then — the image which graced the issue of the magazine guest-edited by the Queen Consort. And the photographer? None other than the Princess of Wales. Other images from the guest-edit were also popular, not least the look at the house where a young Camilla used to play while visiting her grandparents.
August
A blaze of wisteria in the blazing heat of the last summer proved a hit in August, as did an image that is surely one of the prettiest houses we've featured all year Admington Hall, in Warwickshire.
September
The insouciant face of a Sealyham Terrier began the month, but within days the world changed, and to a great extent was put on pause, as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away. We can only hope that images we shared — of the events as they happened, the reaction, the funeral, and the memories of Her Majesty — conveyed some of what people around Britain and the world were feeling at the death of so great a figure in our history.
October
The heat of summer and wetness of the start of Autumn made for a memorable blast of orange, yellow, red and brown in the leaves of our trees as the season turned. We also found time to share an extraordinary real-life 'ghost' story which a pair of Country Life photographers found themselves at the centre of a century or so ago.
November
Anyone expecting sympathy for their hard work in trimming a hedge will need to think again after seeing our second-best post of November. Only The King on the occasion of his 74th birthday proved more popular.
December
We'd never suggest putting together a Country Life bucket list — we can't help but feel they're the sort of things that tempt Fate — but if we were, then owning a beautiful puppy and equally delightful library would both be on there.
-
Brockfield Hall, the great Yorkshire house that's gone from Regency mansion to modern family homeBrockfield Hall in North Yorkshire is the family home of Charlie Wood and Hatta Byng, editor of House & Garden, who have transformed it since they came here in 2020, winning multiple awards in the process. John Martin Robinson reports on the restoration project that revived this compact Regency house as a modern family home. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
-
Barbour’s heritage jackets get a floral makeover courtesy of ErdemUtilitarian outwear has taken the fashion world by storm and now Britain's world-famous wax jackets are getting in on the act, inspired by some of our greatest countryside icons.
-
The truth about rewilding, by seven of Britain's most influential farmers, landowners and conservationistsAlthough the term 'rewilding' is contentious, most agree that our countryside could be better managed for wildlife. Yet what should we actually be doing to improve it?
-
Six of the most beautiful waterfalls in Britain, from Devon to the Isle of SkyeSurging, foaming, trickling, crashing, cascading or flowing, waterfalls paint the landscape with rainbow-scattered spray and misty plumes. Here, we celebrate these streaks of molten silver, from wild moor to woodland dell, as picked out by our picture editor Lucy Ford.
-
10 truly breathtaking images from Country Life to celebrate the landscapes and seasons of BritainTake a look at some of the great depictions of the seasons and landscapes of Britain, as celebrated in the new book 'Country Life: 125 Years of Countryside Living in Great Britain'.
-
The 25 stunning images shortlisted for Wildlife Photographer of the Year's People's Choice awardVoting is now open for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year's People's Choice award — take a look at all 25 shortlisted images.
-
15 of the most incredible pictures from the 2023 British Wildlife Photography AwardsNature’s fierce beauty emerges forcefully from the 2023 British Wildlife Photography Awards. Our Picture Editor Lucy Ford has the pick of the best shots, from a somnolent fox to a hungry buzzard.
-
Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022: The best pictures, as chosen by our picture editorCountry Life picture editor Lucy Ford chooses her very favourites from the astonishing images of nature in the 2022 Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.
-
12 of the world's most extraordinary and beautiful weather phenomena — and what makes them happenWe can all identify bolts of lightning, rainbows and stormy skies, but what of some of the earth’s more unusual and most spectacular weather phenomena? Here, photographers explain the science behind their astounding images in an extract from ‘Royal Meteorological Society: Weather A–Z’.
-
Country Life's 10 best nature stories of 2021We look back at our most popular nature stories of the last 12 months.
