View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Publishers
  2. Magazines
June 6, 2017updated 07 Jun 2017 10:22am

Country Life celebrates 120th anniversary with bumper issue as editor says ‘we won’t be bossed by modernisers’

By James Walker

Country Life has marked its 120th anniversary with a bumper 264-page issue as the magazine’s editor insists the title is still “fresh as a daisy”.

The special issue includes the “most poignant, quirky and historically defining stories and photographs” to have appeared in the countryside magazine since its first issue on 9 January, 1897.

Highlights include the Prince of Wales’ role as guest editor in 2013 and a “world exclusive” revealing of the face of Shakespeare.

Country Life is also staging a Beautiful Rooms & Blushing Brides exhibition at the Linley Belgravia showroom until Saturday 17 June to celebrate the milestone. The exhibition will feature portraits from the magazine’s frontispiece page and interiors photography.

Editor Mark Hedges said: “Here we are, 120 years old and fresh as a daisy. Country Life is regarded as a national institution and a magazine of record, celebrating the British way of life.

“Our ever-growing number of readers proves that we are thriving, not surviving. We won’t be bossed by the modernisers who say the world we report on week by week is out-of-date.

“We stand up for what we believe in: the beauty of the countryside and the riches of British cultural life. Traditional? We are proud to admit it – but bursting with fresh ideas. That’s what, at 120, keeps us young.”

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Country Life revamped its website last month with a “modern design” and a “more user-friendly navigation”.

The weekly magazine has a circulation of 39,361, according to ABC figures to the end of December 2016.

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network