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.
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‘David Hockney 25’ at the Fondation Louis Vuitton: Britain’s most influential contemporary artist pops up in Paris to remind us all of the joys of springThe biggest-ever David Hockney show has opened inside the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris — in time for the season that the artist has become synonymous with.
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High Wardington House: A warm, characterful home that shows just what can be achieved with thought, invention and humourAt High Wardington House in Oxfordshire — the home of Mr and Mrs Norman Hudson — a pre-eminent country house adviser has created a home from a 300-year-old farmhouse and farmyard. Jeremy Musson explains; photography by Will Pryce for Country Life.
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The birds of urban paradise: How to get twitching without leaving the cityYou don't need to leave the concrete jungle to spot some rare and interesting birds. Here's a handy guide to birdspotting in Britain's towns and cities.
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Food with a pinch of salt: The crops we can harvest from the seaFilling, rewarding and nutritious, vegetables and plants grown in saline environments — whether by accident or design — have plenty of potential. Illustration by Alan Baker.
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White-tailed eagles could soon soar free in southern EnglandNatural England is considering licensing the release of the raptors in Exmoor National Park — and the threat to pets and livestock is considered to be low.
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Britain's whale boom and and the predator that's far scarier than a great white shark, with wildlife cinematographer Dan AbbottThe wildlife cinematographer Dan Abbott joins us on the Country Life Podcast.
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'They are inclined to bite and spray acid to protect territory': Meet the feisty red wood ant -
The King wants YOU: His Majesty's call-to-arms for under-35s across BritainThe King’s Foundation has launched its ‘35 under 35’ initiative — a UK-wide search for ‘the next generation of exceptional makers and changemakers’ who want to work holistically with Nature.
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'A big opportunity for a small, crowded and beautiful country': Fiona Reynolds on how the Land Use Framework can make Britain betterThe Government’s Land Use Framework should be viewed as an opportunity to be smarter with our land, but conflicts need to be resolved along the way says Fiona Reynolds, chair of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission.
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Dawn Chorus: A river comes to life, more mews is good mews, and the new 400-mile electric VolvoRivers now have the legal right to flow, and to not be full of pollution. It's about time.
