In these troubled times we could do with more reminders of what makes Britain great.
Here, courtesy of Sam Knight in the New Yorker is one of them:
“Between them, England and Wales have around a hundred and forty thousand miles of footpaths…”
The country’s footpath network, including bridleways and other rights of way, is an underrated wonder of the world.
The British countryside as well being beautiful is also accessible. That’s not just because of Britain’s manageable size or the gentleness of its climate and terrain, but because there aren’t many square miles of it that aren’t served by one or more footpaths.
When I visited Scandinavia, I was proudly told that the land “belongs to the people”. And indeed it does – except that, over vast tracts, there’s no practical way for the people access it.
The British paradox is that in a nation of jealously guarded private property rights and more than a few cries of “get-orf-my-land!”, our countryside is joyously permeable.
It wasn’t always that way. Centuries, indeed, millennia of human activity are engraved on our landscapes, but that history is also one in which the rich and powerful have moved to obstruct ancient rights of way, enclose the commons, and herd the people into towns and cities once their labour on the land was no longer required.
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