Maybe we should all start seeing the country side as ‘ours’, collectively; something for us all to share

I’ve seen all the filth, rubbish and lack of responsibility of collective ownership in towns and cities. No thanks 🙂

IanMunro; my point was, if people were less selfish, then they would consider the impact of leaving litter, etc, and how it would spoil it for others. Bit like, your toilet in your home; you keep it clean, be cause you want you and yours to have a more pleasant sperience, but how many people are considerate, when using a public bog? I saw a urinal t’other day, full of vomit. FFS. They cooduv used a bog, and flushed it.

And it’s not always the Townies who **** up the countryside. Plenty of rural folk can be selfish **** too; pollute streams with all sorts of agricultural chemicals, dump loads of heavy duty crap in secluded areas, rather than paying to have it removed, etc.

We need to foster the attitude of ‘if we all make a little bit of effort, then we all get to enjoy it a little bit more’.

I think they’ve got a point – The UK countryside is rubbish.

We went camping for a week in Cornwall last August and it rained. All. Week.

pants

Its not free porn – we tax payers pay for it now 🙂

I read that survey in the paper, but only the other day was talking to a friend about a “Farms For City Children” project that I went on many years ago (primary school, I was about 9-10 so it’ll have been late 80’s). Now my family always had countryside holidays but some of the kids (and a lot of the parents) had no idea about the animals and how the chicken running round the farmyard related to the chicken in plastic wrapping on a supermarket shelf. Not a clue.

<selfish mode> still, at least it measn fewer people cluttering up the countryside! </selfish mode>

I reckon a canny sheep could roll across…

When I was at secondary school (in London) we went away for a week to an Outward Bound place at Grizedale Forest, my Mum saw me onto the coach, waved goodbye and then heard one of the parents say “Oh they’ll be there in an hour or so.” My Mum then explained that the Lake District was about 6hrs drive from London, the other parent was astonished to learn that England went on for that long, he had NO idea of anything outside the M25.

🙁

I spent some time with a charity for school leavers in Hammersmith who are helped to become employable. These kids are from the council estate and live in a completely different world to what most of us could imagine; by this I mean that we were taught about how they lived their lives in order to be able to relate to them. Mant things surprised me and the main one is relevant here – they never left their local area. I don’t mean London I mean Hammersmith and not much more – never even been to central London! So not only did they have no idea about the countryside but pretty much nothing outside of their daily existance – which was pretty unappealing.

I’m sure, as well as the extreme cases of ignorance of rural matters mentioned here, that there are similarly folk in rural areas, who’ve seldom ventured beyond the next village, who would have bugger-all knowledge of dealing with many aspects of urban life. Many people develop knowledge of things that are important in their every day lives. Being able to identify species of flora and fauna my not be particularly useful, if you live on an inner-city housing estate. Or indeed, in an affluent suburb.

IME, one of the key areas of ignorance I have experienced, in some rural folk, is of the diversity of ethnicity and culture, within our vast and varied society. The language skills of some I’ve met, have been woeful. People in cities do, on the whole, tend to be a little more world-wise than ‘yokels’ in Oddmorden or wherever.

IMO, city-dwellers are praps more adaptable to new things. IE, it woon’t be long, before the average city-dweller to adapt to rural life, whereas the ‘yokel’ may struggle somewhat more, with aspects of everyday urban living.

Me, I may not be able to identify particular species of tree, or plant, but I can identify different languages, customs and cultural signifiers. This is far more useful, than plant recognition, in my daily life.

Another issue with holidaying in the country; it’s so bloody spensive. A few years ago, two couples I know went on separate holidays, around the same time. One lot went to stay for a week in a little family run hotel in Scotland somewhere; the other couple had 2 weeks in Egypt.

Guess which holiday was cheaper, overall?

Why do you all look down on people who don’t want to visit the countryside.

TBH going for a walk in some rural locations holds about as much appeal as a week in Toremolenos for me. Only when you add a mountain and a bike am I intrested

Smacks of “Ethical dwarves posturing from the moral high ground” to me

dont worry boys and girls.
you dont think they bothered to leave the greater london area to do that poll do you?

That’s londoners for you… I know one that couldn’t even guide a car to southampton…
Honest 😉

Well I am not too pride to admit that I had to check google to know what a oka tree was or a hare.

I would recognise both of them, but I had no idea about what the english word was… Time for some courses me think.

Its not the fact that they cant identify sheep or leave their local area, its the lack of desire to question life or their surroundings and try for a better life. This apathy and lack of drive has serious knockon effects for the rest of society, not just their offspring.

Honestly, I am unsure about this.

I’m not very convinced that ability to identify a sheep is a basic criterion of social functioning. Ability to recognise an otter is a seriously esoteric piece of knowledge, and as for stoat/weasel differentiation.

🙂

Ability to recognise an otter

Once I’ve had a few Otters, my ability to recognise anything is seriously diminished.

(Devon/Somerset types will recognise this fine ale)

🙂

Rudeboy reread your post and think of a “yokel” as an ethinic minority. It comes across a bit thoughless.

Remember the countryside was we call it is a place of work for a lot of people. A good portion of them are pretty poor with less facilities than most inner cities. Only older people are now trapped in the same village mostly because villages and small towns no longer have the services expected in cities (doctors, shops, school etc). Without a car in these places you are stuffed. The rural poor are one of the biggest ignored minorities in the uk.

Living (& working) on the edge of both worlds I find the rural people are the same as those in the cities. Open minded and interested in others as long as they feel respect in return. Yokel of Odmorden would tie your goolies to a tup and show it ewe half mile away.

No. ‘Cultural’ minority, maybe. And notice the quotation marks…

An important point. Which helps to explain some of the narrow-mindedness one might find, in certain rural areas. Some people in rural areas don’t mix with others, nearly as much as the average city-dweller. This can lead to a very limited sperience of life outside of their immediate environment, same as the housing-estate dwellers who rarely venture beyond the Tescos down the road.

No, its miss Wales 🙂