Bougie or Budget is a side-by-side comparison of country fashion and lifestyle buys. We put luxury brands like Fairfax & Favor, Dubarry and Le Chameau next to affordable high street alternatives to see which delivers the best value, style and quality for countryside living.

There’s nothing quite like tying up your boat and heading straight into a pub. The River Thames from Oxford to Teddington is a dream for boaters, offering meandering countryside, picture-postcard villages – and a string of riverside pubs with proper moorings, great food and an easy-going atmosphere. Here’s our handpicked guide to the best boat-accessible pubs along this stretch – from historic inns to riverside boathouses where you can drift up and drop in.

Heading to The Game Fair 2025 at Blenheim Palace? From gundog trials and clay shooting to artisan shopping, country fashion, and food fit for a field day, here’s everything you need to know to make the most of Britain’s ultimate countryside celebration.

Discover why 2025 is the perfect time to embrace country living. From affordable rural homes to improved wellbeing and flexible remote work, explore the many benefits of moving to the British countryside this year.

A few months back, I came across an article that, quite honestly, has haunted me ever since. It was the story of a Welsh farmer—anonymous, quiet, stoic in the way so many country folk are—who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But what shook me wasn’t just the diagnosis. It was his decision to decline all treatment, simply so he could pass away before April 2026. Why? Because of the upcoming changes to Inheritance Tax that would threaten the future of his family farm