The harmonious marriage of people with nature has long been Britain's special gift to civilisation. The most densely populated big country in Europe retains an astonishing expanse of what we call countryside, upland and lowland landscapes undisturbed by urban or suburban development. Much is of intense beauty, the Scottish and Welsh uplands, the Lake District, the Pennines and Peak District, the Cotswolds, Exmoor and Dartmoor. Also guarded are river valleys and rolling farmlands, even quite close to big cities. Towns and villages remain as settlements distinct from their surrounding country.
None of this just happened. It arose from a work of lasting political genius, post-Second World War town and country planning. Whenever the British are asked what they most treasure about their country-the Royal Family, Shakespeare, the NHS-its rural landscape never fails to be mentioned. Although it is ever-changing, its appeal is the same. Yet it has never been so threatened or so sorely in need of defenders. It is Britain's National Gallery of nature.
* Subscribe to Country Life and save
* Follow Country Life magazine on Twitter
* Read more from our Best of Britain issue
Image: The Yorkshire Dales, Alamy
-
'The very best North Yorkshire has to offer': The £25 million Kirkham EstateWith 1,103 acres and on the market for the first time in a century, we've got a new frontrunner for the sale of the year.
-
New vision for old Dartmoor: Prince of Wales leads ambitious plans for nature recovery in CornwallThe Vision outlines a set of guiding principles to inform the future environmental management of the Duchy’s Dartmoor estate.
