Today, down jackets built for K2 are worn on the school run and premium waterproofs pop up in pubs. In their photo book, Max Leonard and Henry Iddon track down hard-as-nails but unheralded mountaineers and the fabric innovators who put them safely – and sometimes even stylishly – on summits to ask how we got here

The Lake District National Park, in England’s north-west, has inspired countless poets, authors and artists, hillwalkers, nature lovers and day trippers. With its rugged peaks, green valleys, seemingl

Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders Rory Stewart (Jonathan ...

Spotlight on readers’ excellent images and how they captured them

Free-range history

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