Inspirations & Connections | X. Country Ways
The old country ways offer us a rich treasure trove of memories, but also infinite reassurance. This is how it once was, and in our own generation, it can be once again.
Welcome to Rediscover · Reconnect · Re-Emerge. If you find the fleeting changes of modern life wearisome, maybe even overwhelming, join me on a journey, a path well-trodden, as I share heartfelt and often nostalgic reflections on living slowly, simply, and in tune with the seasons.
Community, and creating a sense of community, is so important to me, and to the world. In this series, taking a particular theme, I want to share with you some of the inspirations, connections and other communities which have enriched my life, in the hope that they may do the same for you too.
The countryside. Such a simple thing, yet deeply evocative for many of us throughout the generations. Perhaps it’s something inherent in the English peoples, but few of us can escape the gnawing pull of the countryside. Despite the changes all around us, there’s something about being out in the countryside which grounds us in something much deeper and wider. We can lose ourselves, our cares and worries melt away, and we can look out on scenes which remain unchanged for centuries.
I have spent my whole life living in cities, albeit small ones, in Winchester, Gloucester and now, Lichfield. I wasn’t born into the countryside and the country ways of life, yet they are infallibly in my blood. For many of us, there are certain benefits to living in towns and cities, but few of us can escape that desire for the country village and a slower pace of life. We crave it with an almost achingly strong desire.
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Of course, there are many parts of the countryside which are no longer as they once were. Even around our beautiful cathedral city of Lichfield, we see more and more open fields being eaten up by housing which few of us can ever hope to afford. In this march towards larger and larger housing settlements, our desire for a slower and gentler pace of life in the country grows ever stronger. However much we try, we can’t deny that ceaseless hankering after the beautiful views, open fields, woodland, lakes, forests and moors.
In reality, as much as we crave the little cottage in an English country village, few of us will ever attain it. For many, it remains a Constable-steeped picture of halcyon days. But I have to admit, Constable remains one of my favourite artists, and I will never tire of standing before his iconic The Hay Wain in London’s National Gallery. This is the English countryside we all long for, those scenes which offer us an immense sense of continuity. Things have changed, but much remains the same.
In many respects, I was incredibly lucky to have spent the first few years of my life in Hampshire, the epitome of the English countryside. The little villages, each with its own character and stories to tell, run through my veins, and nothing will ever change that. How lucky we were that so much of this, and indeed, so much of the south and south-east of England, was captured in the beautiful series, Country Ways. Presented by Jill Cochrane and Jim Flegg, and made first by TVS and then Meridian, the series ran for 25 years from 1982. Each short 30-minute programme focussed on a village or place in Hampshire, Dorset, Sussex, Kent or Berkshire; a gentle tale of the people who lived there and who often made their living from the land.
The series came at a time of great change, when many of the old country ways were being lost and forgotten. The programmes offer us a rich treasure trove of memories, but also infinite reassurance. This is how it once was, and in our own generation, it can be once again. I’ve said many times before, we cannot recreate the past, but its influence lies deep in our psyche. The old ways are found in the deepest souls of our very beings, the country ways, the ways of our ancestors, and there is a growing desire to reconnect with those.
In many respects, this is what this publication is all about, to encourage and inspire people just like you, to rediscover and reconnect, not only with the past, but with the natural world around you. I believe that by reconnecting with the past, we can re-emerge feeling more grounded in the present. I firmly believe that by understanding our past, we build ourselves a solid foundation on which we can make a little more sense of the present. At the start of a new calendar year, and in an ever-turbulent world, I believe we crave this more than ever before.
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Such wise words David. I think as we get older, we do crave more of the simplicity of the older ways. Mu husband has recently done a bush craft course, to learn some of the skills of years gone by. Skills that are sadly disappearing.
Your words about increased housing developments struck a cord with me. I've been lucky to live in a village for nearly 20 years now, but we are now being plagued by developers, like yourself in Lichfield. Our road, once a cul-de-sac with lovely country views, is now access to a new housing estate. There are also other new developments recently approved around the village. More fields disappearing.
Community is one of my values too. I have the feeling the people of the past took community as a vital part of their lives. I still believe it is much needed in our modern day times ✨