Countryman Profile

Countryman is one of the oldest, most respected countryside magazines in the world. It appears every month and is read by over 80,000 people throughout Britain and overseas, who share its concerns for the countryside, the people who live and work in it, and its wildlife.

Countryman focuses on the rural issues of today, and tomorrow, as well as including features on the people, places, history and wildlife that make the British countryside so special.

Please have a look through our new website and find out what is featured in this month's magazine. You can take out (and renew) subscriptions, check out where the major countryside events are happening, take advantage of our special offers and browse the latest book reviews.

History

Countryman was launched in 1927 by J W Robertson Scott, a respected journalist and writer on rural affairs in Britain and abroad. He was concerned about the changes mechanisation was bringing to farming and the life of the countryside and wanted a forum in which ideas about "rural improvement" could be discussed.

The magazine was an immediate success and attracted articles from some of the best writers of the day, including G K Chesterton, Hugh Walpole and George Bernard Shaw, and from top politicians, including several prime ministers.

Robertson Scott, whose work was recognised by his being made a Companion of Honour, produced Countryman from his Manor House in Idbury on the edge of the Cotswolds. When he retired in 1949, it moved to Sheep Street, Burford in Oxfordshire where it remained - except for a short spell being produced in London - until spring 2003, when it moved to the Country Publications offices at Broughton Hall, near Skipton, North Yorkshire.

Much has changed in 75 years but today's magazine still upholds the standards that its founder established. Contemporary writers in recent issues have included Bill Oddie, David Bellamy, Julian Pettifer, Ronald Blythe and RSPB chief executive Graham Wynne.