The English Countryside

Fun facts about rural England, including lost villages, where to find orchids and fossils, the lives of shepherds, and the truth behind crop circles. Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: The English Countryside explores the flora and fauna, customs and traditions that give the English countryside its unique charm and special identity. From the standing stones and carvings of our ancestors to the modern farming methods and woodland management of today, discover hundreds of fascinating facts about rural England. Brief, accessible, and entertaining pieces on a wide variety of subjects makes it the perfect book to dip in to. The amazing and extraordinary facts series presents interesting, surprising and little-known facts and stories about a wide range of topics which are guaranteed to inform, absorb and entertain in equal measure.

Even quaint and cozy English villages have a dark side . . . Location scout and Jane Austen aficionado, Kate Sharp, is thrilled when the company she works for lands the job of finding locations for a new film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but then her boss fails to return from a scouting trip to England. Kate travels to England to salvage the company’s reputation. Things go from bad to worse when Kate arrives in Nether Woodsmoor, a quaint village of golden stone cottages and rolling green hills, only to find no trace of her boss. Even the rumpled, easygoing local scout they consulted, Alex, doesn’t know where he might be. Increasingly worried about her boss and with an antsy director waiting for updates about the preproduction details, Kate embarks on a search that includes a pub-crawl and cozy cottages as well as stately country manors. But with no sign of her boss, she begins to suspect that the picturesque village and beautiful countryside may not be as idyllic as they seem. Death in the English Countryside is the first installment of the popular Murder on Location cozy mystery series from USA Today bestseller Sara Rosett. MURDER ON LOCATION SERIES: Book One - Death in the English Countryside Book Two - Death in an English Cottage Book Three - Death in a Stately Home Book Four - Death in an Elegant City Book Five - Menace at the Christmas Market (Novella) Book Six - Death in an English Garden Book Seven - Death at an English Wedding Have you read Sara Rosett’s other mystery series? If you like historical mysteries with lady detectives, check out the HIGH SOCIETY LADY DETECTIVE mystery series. If you like travel with your mystery, check out the ON THE RUN INTERNATIONAL MYSTERIES.

This collection of essays examines representations of the English countryside and its mutations, and what they reveal about a nation’s, communities’ or individuals’ search for identity – and fear of losing it. Based on a pluridisciplinary approach and a variety of media, this book challenges the view that the English countryside is an apolitical space characterised by permanence and lack of conflict. It analyses how the pastoral motif is actually subverted to explore liminal spaces and temporalities. The authors deconstruct the “rural idyll” myth to show how it plays a distinctive and yet ambiguous part in defining Englishness/Britishness. A must read for both scholars and students interested in British rural and cultural history, media and literature.

An intimate celebration of British country life with all the hallmarks of how design and dogs are as intertwined as roses and Wellingtons. This dreamy look into some of the most beautiful country homes and gardens in England, lived in by many of Britain's brightest design stars and their dogs, is brimming with inspirations. At Home in the English Countryside showcases a mix of glamorously bohemian and casually aristocratic country homes captured in original photography and lively text. Presented are the striking and chic houses of several of Great Britain's top international designers, from Paolo Moschino and Kit Kemp to Anouska Hempel and Veere Grenney. Beloved canines of several sizes and breeds, among them whippets, Labrador Retrievers, lurchers, Cavalier Kin Charles spaniels, and Jack Russell terriers, are shown in their picturesque homes and gardens of fragrant flowers. The designers offer ideas on how to live stylishly with their dogs. Seen are dog collars (one of custom leather and green malachite), dog bowls of antique Spode porcelain, and chic and comfy napping spots. Anglophiles will be inspired by the lives of these designers, who are devoted to their canine companions.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is one of the world's longest running environmental groups, marshalling the conservation movement in England since 1926. This book celebrates the achievements of the CPRE and associated groups in bequeathing to the present generation a countryside that is still a repository of beauty and tranquillity, despite 300 years of sustained development and population growth. 22 Ideas That Saved the English Countryside re-asserts the vision and durability of the CPRE's key arguments and those of historic partners including The National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Ramblers' Association. public. This book contains contributions from leading thinkers, campaigners and high-profile supporters, including Julia Bradbury, Tony Robinson, John le Carre, Andrew Motion and Simon Jenkins, as well as archive images and beautiful colour photography of present day landscapes, which show what has been saved, what has been protected for ever, and, on occasion, what has been lost - often the most poignant images of all. The ideas include: Controlling Ribbon Development One of CPRE's earliest campaigns was to curtail urban sprawl alongside arterial roads. Through the coordination of public and political support, the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act of 1935 protected views of the countryside from the encroachments of suburbia. National Parks Wordsworth's 1810 description of the Lakes as a 'sort of national property' culminated in CPRE's long campaign for National Parks, which in turn was inspired by the world's first National Parks like Yellowstone in 1874. The Green and Pleasant Land According to historian David Cannadine, 'the English countryside was . . . the very embodiment of decency, Englishness, national character and national identity'. This theme has been expressed by authors from Shakespeare and Spencer through to Kenneth Grahame and George Orwell. As more of us live in cities, the English obsession with escaping to the countryside has grown. Urban Regeneration Every home built on a previously developed 'brownfield' site saves a piece of green field. The efficient renovation of derelict buildings and and land offer a new opportunity to create new urban housing to be set against unspoiled countryside. The creation of new public spaces and pedestrianised zones since the 1960s have made cities more pleasant places to live.

Ranging from Kentchurch Court, a former fortified medieval manor house that has been the seat of the Scudamore family for nearly 1,000 years, to a delightful Strawberry Hill-style Gothic house in rural Cornwall and car-crazed Goodwood House, this beautifully illustrated book showcases ten outstanding British country houses, all still in the hands of the original families. James Peill recounts the ups and downs of such deep-rooted clans as the Cracrofts, landowners in Lincolnshire since the 12th century, whose late 18th-century Hackthorn Hall is a perfect example of the kind of house Jane Austen describes in her novels (indeed, she appears on their family tree), as well as the relatively newly arrived Biddulphs, who constructed Rodmarton, an Arts & Crafts masterpiece, in the first decades of the last century. James Fennell has once again provided superb photographs of a wealth of gardens, charming interiors, bygone sporting trophies, fine art collections and fanciful family memorabilia, making The English Country House a delicious treat for Anglophiles and lovers of old houses.

Traces the rise and fall of rural England from the Middle Ages to the Second World War and the nature of the changes which have occurred.

This book explores the significance and meaning of the countryside within mid-twentieth century youth movements. It examines the ways in which the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Woodcraft Folk and Young Farmers’ Club organisations employed the countryside as a space within which ‘good citizenship’ – in leisure, work, the home and the community – could be developed. Mid-century youth movements identified the ‘problem’ of modern youth as a predominantly urban and working class issue. They held that the countryside offered an effective antidote to these problems: being a ‘good citizen’ within this context necessitated a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with the rural sphere. Avenues to good citizenship could be found through an enthusiasm for outdoor recreation, the stewardship of the countryside and work on the land. However, models of good citizenship were intrinsically gendered.