At the risk of upsetting a few people, I raise the subject of the latest theory put forward by the charity umbrella group Wildlife and Countryside Link which has submitted a report to MPs which claimed that the British countryside was seen as a “racist colonial” white space.
The Fitzwilliam Museum has suggested that paintings of the British countryside evoke dark “nationalist feelings”. Owned by Cambridge University it has embarked upon an overhaul of its displays. In a gallery displaying a pastoral work by Constable, visitors are informed that “there is a darker side” to the “nationalist feeling” evoked by images of the British countryside.
As reported last week in The Daily Telegraph, Luke Syson said that this national sentiment comes with “the implication that only those with a historical tie to the land have a right to belong”.
So, according to these sentiments and others which go on to take aim at portraits of wealthy benefactors and imply the painter John Singer Seargent led a ‘secret’ queer life, the current custodians have taken it upon themselves to condemn talented and benevolent individuals and turn the countryside into a no-go area for anyone who is neither a farmer nor landowner. I have never heard so much rubbish.
The countryside has always been open to everyone and welcoming too. We all experienced during the Covid lockdown an influx of people of all sorts, enjoying and in some cases experiencing for the first time, the countryside.
Many continue to walk our fields even now adding to the regulars in their hundreds. No one cares from where they or those wishing to set up home in the shires come from. What we do care passionately about is how they behave when they get here.
When other headlines scream out ‘Mental health crises in children’ should these organisations be pushing out this rubbish? I suspect the National Trust had a hand in some of these barmy ideas. These kids should be prescribed a month on a farm, not counselling or brain numbing drugs.
We are told farmers will receive public money for public good. Why not pay farmers, whose farms are appropriate and looking for diversification, to open our doors and welcome groups of children who desperately need normality, nature, space, fresh air, understanding and kindness in their lives.
There are excellent examples of charities such as City Farms for City Children, and Jamies’ Farms, one of which is close by at Plumpton, which have proved how life transforming a week on a farm can be. Sadly, there is only so much these amazing charities can do, with limited resources and ‘specialist’ farms, they only survive through fundraising.
Despite turning round so many young lives, many of whom were destined for prison or a life on benefits, they get little if any government support. Surely it makes sense to invest in young lives rather than picking up the pieces when it is all too late.
The Fitzwilliam Museum has suggested that paintings of the British countryside evoke dark “nationalist feelings”. Owned by Cambridge University it has embarked upon an overhaul of its displays. In a gallery displaying a pastoral work by Constable, visitors are informed that “there is a darker side” to the “nationalist feeling” evoked by images of the British countryside.
As reported last week in The Daily Telegraph, Luke Syson said that this national sentiment comes with “the implication that only those with a historical tie to the land have a right to belong”.
So, according to these sentiments and others which go on to take aim at portraits of wealthy benefactors and imply the painter John Singer Seargent led a ‘secret’ queer life, the current custodians have taken it upon themselves to condemn talented and benevolent individuals and turn the countryside into a no-go area for anyone who is neither a farmer nor landowner. I have never heard so much rubbish.
The countryside has always been open to everyone and welcoming too. We all experienced during the Covid lockdown an influx of people of all sorts, enjoying and in some cases experiencing for the first time, the countryside.
Many continue to walk our fields even now adding to the regulars in their hundreds. No one cares from where they or those wishing to set up home in the shires come from. What we do care passionately about is how they behave when they get here.
When other headlines scream out ‘Mental health crises in children’ should these organisations be pushing out this rubbish? I suspect the National Trust had a hand in some of these barmy ideas. These kids should be prescribed a month on a farm, not counselling or brain numbing drugs.
We are told farmers will receive public money for public good. Why not pay farmers, whose farms are appropriate and looking for diversification, to open our doors and welcome groups of children who desperately need normality, nature, space, fresh air, understanding and kindness in their lives.
There are excellent examples of charities such as City Farms for City Children, and Jamies’ Farms, one of which is close by at Plumpton, which have proved how life transforming a week on a farm can be. Sadly, there is only so much these amazing charities can do, with limited resources and ‘specialist’ farms, they only survive through fundraising.
Despite turning round so many young lives, many of whom were destined for prison or a life on benefits, they get little if any government support. Surely it makes sense to invest in young lives rather than picking up the pieces when it is all too late.
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