From his east London childhood to discovering the joys of beekeeping and gardening, our guest editor, former England football captain Sir David Beckham, tells Paula Minchin why the countryside matters so much to him and his family

On an open and windswept tract of land in Oxfordshire, where once stood some derelict barns and a lone maple tree, our guest editor has created a haven for his family and his honeybees, discovers Alan Titchmarsh

David Beckham looks every inch the dashing country gent as he poses in his finest tweeds for an outdoor photoshoot. The football legend, appearing in the latest issue of Country Life magazine which he

Green-fingered Wakefield lad Jamie Butterworth is one of the country’s leading plant experts, a gardening broadcaster and author. Jamie’s book, What Grows Together , was published in September. His passion for horticulture can be seen on Gardeners’ World , and he also delivered Monty Don’s RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show this year. Jamie spends as much time as he can in Yorkshire where his family all still live

Reader Caroline Crocker celebrates her chance to reclaim the family garden to create a plant lover’s paradise with a focus on climate resilience.

THINGS ARE very quiet here at the moment. It’s weird - I am used to a life overfull of things to do. For the first time in 20 years I have no building project on the go, and general maintenance, fenci