A historic title has closed after 96 years following a “steep decline” in advertising revenue.

HTFP reported last month that The Countryman, run by Skipton-based Dalesman Publishing, was set to cease publication with editor Lorraine Connolly also leaving the business.

Now it has been confirmed the November issue of the magazine, due out on Wednesday, will be its last.

In a statement, Dalesman also cited an increase in print, paper and postage costs for the decision.

The publisher said: “Because of the unprecedented economic pressures, we have regrettably taken the very tough decision to cease publication of The Countryman.

“As a result, the November edition of the magazine will be the final one.

“This is something that has not been done lightly, or easily, but with heavy hearts after much analysis and anguish.

“Following the Covid lockdowns, print and paper costs have soared by 70pc and postage has leapt by 26pc, and there has been a steep decline in advertising revenue – combined, these factors have made the future of the magazine unviable.”

The Countryman was founded by John W Robertson Scott with £500 in 1927 and was often referred to as the Little Green Book because of its format and cover colour.

G.K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw were counted among its contributors, while famous readers included Ramsay MacDonald, Winston Churchill, H.G. Wells, Sir Hugh Walpole, and J.B. Priestley.

Initially based in Idbury and then Burford, both in Oxfordshire, the magazine’s headquarters moved to London following its acquisition by IPC magazines in 1998.

Dalesman bought the title four years later and it subsequently moved north to be based at the group’s headquarters in Skipton.