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.

Autumn treasure

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

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

TREETOP TRAILS • Gazing up at the fiery canopies of our forests and woodlands is one of autumn’s greatest pleasures. So imagine being in them, eye-level with the golden leaves and curious treetop creatures that dwell within…

FROM THE BOOKSHELF: NOTES OF AUTUMN • Four books to savour the sights, scents and sounds of the mellow season

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

Storm petrels spread their wings

TURN ACORNS INTO SPINNING TOPS • Use autumn acorns and twigs gathered from your garden or local park to make a simple but fun toy. You will need: • acorns • twigs (dead willow works well) • knife • drill • wood glue

ID GUIDE: NINE EXTRAORDINARY FUNGI • Autumn is a season of great change in our woodlands, when trees lose their leaves and arboreal creatures prepare themselves for a winter of slumber. But amid this quiet and decay there is growing life: fungi. Remarkable in colour and form, and mostly poisonous, here are nine fungi to spot

OCTOBER DATES FOR THE DIARY

Adam Henson • HOW READY ARE WE FOR LAB GROWN MEAT?

Sara Maitland • Does a return to ‘normal’ have to mean the loss of our peaceful soundscape?

THE WILD SIDE OF SURREY • A few miles south of the capital lies England’s most densely wooded county, the green hinterland of Surrey. Kush Patel seeks out its hills, rivers, heaths and woodlands, where nature still thrives in leafy seclusion – if you know where to look

NOW GO THERE • Where to stay, eat and walk in Surrey

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THE OAK FARMER • Tens of thousands of new oak trees germinate each spring, thanks to an exotic-looking bird also known as the woodland crow. Mark Hillsdon profiles nature’s most prolific tree planter, the jay

ALL ABOUT THE JAY

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH…

WALKING OLD WAYS • For centuries, farmers drove their livestock to market along ancient routes scored into the landscape. Steph Wetherell traces the remnants of one drovers’ road in Wales

THE LIFE OF A DROVER

GREAT DROVERS’ ROADS

JOHN CRAVEN • PRECIOUS LANDSCAPES WORN DOWN BY A HECTIC SUMMER

NEW BEAUTY FOR ENGLAND • For the first time in 26 years, more of England’s spectacular landscapes may soon gain legal protection, with Natural England’s proposal for two brand-new Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) – in the Yorkshire Wolds and Cheshire Sandstone Ridge – plus additions to two existing AONBs. But what does the designation mean? Helen Moat reports

The art of LARKING • Every walk and adventure in the outdoors can yield extraordinary lost treasures, each with their own story. The key is knowing how to look for them, as ‘mudlark’ Lara Maiklem explains

GO LARKING! • Here are some tips to get you started on your own larking adventures:

A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE FINDS • Lara presents some of the treasures found on the foreshore of the Thames and beyond…

NEW NATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR 2021 RUNNER-UP • Last month we announced the winner of our new nature-writing competition. Now enjoy runner-up Mike Gibson’s spellbinding tale of a Cumbrian childhood

Autumn in the orchard • As fruit hangs heavy on the trees and apples are transformed...