Britain has an increasingly unique position among the world’s most powerful countries: a love for the countryside. In France, Italy and Spain, rural areas are being depopulated by the locals, only to have their houses bought by Britons seeking to live the rural dream. In Japan, the problem is reaching crisis levels, as I learnt when summoned to the Japanese Embassy to suggest solutions. How much, the first secretary wanted to know, did the British Government pay people to move to the countryside? He barely believed me when I said that the problem was rather the reverse: our concern was one of affordable housing for the young who already lived there and wanted to continue doing so.
It may not help that the Emperor of Japan rarely leaves Tokyo, when our Royal Family have been champions of the countryside for generations, but, I begin to realise, a love of the countryside is almost a birthright of being born British. Our passions are walking, dogs, gardening and, increasingly, local food. These are part of our national characteristic. If you can live in the countryside, you do. Our countryside is abuzz with field sports, operas, wonderful buildings and a matchless landscape. What I hadn’t considered was how unique this love is. It’s called being British.
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You can’t always rely on the Great British summer — but you can rely on its watchesBritish watchmakers have excelled themselves in recent months — releasing bright and beautiful timepieces that you'll want on your wrist through summer, and beyond.
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Simon Jenkins: 50 years of saving Britain's buildings, from triumphs and disasters to the great country house we bought for £1In 1975, a new organisation was set up with the express aim of saving Britain's most beautiful and historic buildings from the wrecking ball. How has SAVE fared in the 50 years since then far? Simon Jenkins — who was involved as a trustee right from the very start — looks back on half a century of successes... and one or two painful failures.
