The rural idyll

• What are the factors that people use to judge whether a place is idyllic or not?

  1. Tranquillity
  2. Natural landscapes
  3. Historical and cultural associations
• Tranquillity

  • No industry
  • No anti-social behaviour
  • No noise pollution
  • No traffic
  • Isolation
  • Wildlife
  • Lack of globalisation
• Natural landscapes

  • Biodiversity
  • Rolling green hills
  • Less pollution
  • Coast
  • Lakes/Valleys/Rivers
• Historical and cultural associations

  • Fishing ports
  • Braunton Burrows training site
  • Converted train station
  • Tarka trail
  • Roman infrastructure
  • Castles
  • Churches
• What is the rural idyll?

  An idealised, romanticised construct that presents rural areas as happier, healthier and with fewer problems than urban areas
• Media representations of the rural idyll

  Cottage Core (Imagined)

  • Quiet
  • Relaxing
  • Good weather

  This Country (Real)

  • Church
  • Social solidarity
  • Tradition
• The Anti-Idyll

  The reality of rural areas is masked:

  • Average of 23.4% households in poverty
  • 25% of children in rural schools have experimented with illegal drugs
  • 115% rise in homelessness in the last 2 years
  • Higher rate of domestic violence
  • Nimbyism (not in my backyard)