A calendar is one of those Christmas presents that earns its place long after the wrapping paper has been cleared away. Hung beside the kitchen kettle, above an office desk or in a busy tack room, it becomes a small part of everyday life.
Choosing one feels more personal when you match it to the person. Would they enjoy a familiar pony predicament, a joke from the shooting field or an atmospheric countryside photograph? Or would an undated anniversary calendar, ready to use year after year, be just the thing?
Our countryside calendar collection brings together different styles for horse lovers, dog owners, shooting friends and anyone who enjoys rural life. Here is a guide to choosing one they will love.
For the horse lover who knows ponies have their own ideas
Anyone who has spent time around ponies knows that the best-laid plans do not always survive first contact with the pony.
Norman Thelwell captured that relationship beautifully: determined young riders, wonderfully opinionated ponies and the affectionate chaos that brings them together.
The 2027 Thelwell Pony Calendar features twelve classic illustrations, with a different scene to enjoy each month and space for appointments and reminders.
It makes a thoughtful choice for a pony-owning family, a riding instructor or a friend who still remembers their first riding lessons with a mixture of fondness and disbelief.
You do not need to know their preferred discipline or their horse’s rug size. A shared appreciation of pony humour is quite enough.
For the shooting friend who enjoys the funny side
Some gifts work because the recipient immediately recognises their own world in them.
The Bryn Parry Shooting Calendar 2027 brings together twelve humorous shooting illustrations, celebrating the characters and situations that make sporting life so memorable.
It is a natural choice for a shooting friend, gamekeeper, beater or gundog owner who enjoys countryside cartoons.
The slim hanging format measures 15.5cm by 42cm, making it an option for a kitchen, office, boot room or gun room. Its month-to-view layout includes UK and Ireland holiday dates, giving the humour a practical purpose too.
For someone who prefers photography to cartoons
Not everyone wants a joke beside the January appointments. For some people, the pleasure is in a photograph that captures the atmosphere of a place or a way of life they love.
The Charles Sainsbury-Plaice Country Sports Calendar 2027 features twelve black-and-white photographs of British country sporting life, including gundogs, shooting and fishing.
Its monochrome photography offers a different feel from the cartoon calendars. It is a thoughtful choice for someone who enjoys rural photography, country sports or the quieter details of countryside life.
Like the Bryn Parry calendar, it has a slim 15.5cm by 42cm hanging format, a month-to-view layout and UK and Ireland holiday dates.
Which 2027 calendar should you choose?
Think about what the recipient would most enjoy seeing on an ordinary Tuesday morning.
For the friend whose conversations usually come back to horses, choose Thelwell’s pony humour. For someone who enjoys a sporting joke, Bryn Parry is a fitting choice. For the countryside enthusiast who prefers photographs, look to Charles Sainsbury-Plaice.
Each of these three 2027 calendars is £19.99 at the time of writing. The choice is less about finding the most elaborate present and more about noticing what makes someone smile.
You can explore these designs in our calendar collection.
Anniversary calendars: a gift they can keep using
Some dates belong on every year’s calendar. Family birthdays, wedding anniversaries and those occasions you always mean to remember before the day itself arrives.
An anniversary calendar keeps those dates together without needing to copy them into a new calendar each January. Unlike a dated 2027 calendar, these undated designs can be used year after year.
Our Bryn Parry perpetual anniversary calendars combine that practical purpose with his distinctive countryside humour. Each of the six designs below features twelve illustrations, with themes to suit different interests and personalities.
For the friend whose life revolves around dogs
The Dog Days Anniversary Calendar features working-dog caricatures, including Springer Spaniels, Golden Retrievers and the much-loved mongrel. It is a lovely choice for someone who appreciates a dog’s character as much as its pedigree.
For a friend who spends their time training a gundog, choose the Dog Training Anniversary Calendar. With cartoons from Dog Training with Mr Perks, it finds the funny side of the training process, particularly welcome on the days when the dog has other ideas.
For riders and equestrian friends
The Horses for Courses Anniversary Calendar brings together twelve cartoons exploring the quirks of equestrian life.
It offers an alternative to the dated Thelwell calendar for a rider, eventer or horse-loving friend who would enjoy keeping their favourite countryside humour on the wall beyond a single year.
For someone who recognises every character on a shoot
The Shooting Types Anniversary Calendar introduces a cast of familiar shooting personalities through Bryn Parry’s cartoons. It is a fitting choice for someone who enjoys the characters and camaraderie of a day in the field.
For a recipient who appreciates a distinctly cheekier joke, the Shooting Cartoons Anniversary Calendar features twelve saucy sporting cartoons from Sex in the Country. This is the one to choose when you know their sense of humour well.
For a friend who enjoys classic hunting cartoons
The Hunting Anniversary Calendar features twelve of Bryn Parry’s hunting cartoons, with familiar characters from the master of hounds to the whippers-in.
For someone who enjoys this side of his work, it pairs a favourite theme with a useful place to keep those recurring family dates.
A thoughtful touch before you wrap it
Each of these six anniversary calendars is £16.99 at the time of writing. To make the present more personal, you could add a few shared birthdays and anniversaries before wrapping it, leaving plenty of room for the recipient’s own important dates.
It is a small gesture, but one that turns a useful calendar into a gift with a little family history already inside.
Explore the designs in our perpetual anniversary calendar collection.
Dated or undated: which is right for them?
A dated 2027 calendar is the choice for someone who wants to plan appointments, riding lessons, days out and the everyday business of the year ahead.
An anniversary calendar does a different job. It keeps birthdays, anniversaries and other recurring occasions together, ready to refer to year after year. The two can work happily side by side: one for this year’s plans, the other for dates worth remembering every year.
A little countryside company for the year ahead
The best everyday gifts are often the ones that quietly become part of someone’s routine.
Whether you choose a mischievous Thelwell pony, a Bryn Parry sporting cartoon or a countryside photograph by Charles Sainsbury-Plaice, matching the calendar to the person makes it feel thoughtful.
A calendar for their plans, their favourite countryside characters or the family dates they never want to forget can say something very simple: “I saw this and thought of you.”
Browse our full countryside calendar collection to find a gift for 2027 and beyond.