The Sunday Times 1000 Days Out in Great Britain and Ireland [antikvár]

introduction A day out in the countryside is Britain's most popular form of recreation.* A close second is a day out at the seaside. Both experiences feature in this book and within each of these two broad categories the variety seems at times infinite. This diversity reflects the distinctive splendour of the British Isles as much as the individual preferences of their 59 million inhabitants. In few other countries are areas of natural beauty so easily accessible; in no others of comparable size are the contrasts so dramatic. The popularity of the countryside has scarcely faltered since, ironically, people left the land to seek a new life in the towns of Victorian England. Before then the countryside as a place for mass recreation did not exist; it was, as it remains for farmers and foresters, simply the place where most people worked and lived. The advent of the railways first turned the countryside into an urban playground, but the motor car, increased affluence and more time for leisure have transformed rural pleasures into a growth industry. Think back 10 or 15 years, if you can, let alone 30. There were no designated Country Parks, no farm museums or farm trails, few waymarked forest or nature trails. Even the Pennine Way, the first long-distance footpath, was not officially established until 1965 and the growth of visitor or information centres within national parks is largely a phenomenon of the 1970s. In some places the explosion of interest has proved a dubious blessing. Who of the pioneers who staked out the route of the Pennine Way - often risking arrest or abuse from outraged landowners - would have imagined that it would become so popular that rubber matting would have to be laid to protect the soil from erosion? Hilltops as diverse as Box Hill, in Surrey, and Snowdon, in North Wales, are also being worn away by the tramp of visitors' feet. Traffic jams clog country lanes at summer and holiday weekends - driving around to admire the view or have a picnic emerged from the survey referred to earlier as the most popular 'day out' of all. But problems are only one side of the coin. Of course, it is regrettable that litter or garish caravan sites should mar beauty spots. Of course it is worrying if crowds shatter the tranquillity -and, worse, displace the wildlife - that draws so many to the countryside. However there are other manifestations of public interest which will help to conserve and even enhance the countryside. Amenity and wildlife societies have all grown to record numbers; the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds *National Opinion Polls survey of more than 5000 people aged 16-70 in England and Wales commissioned by the Countryside Commission in 1977. 'II'.r.)' 'I i Vi