Providing public access should be embraced - and paid for

摘要

The farm I grew up on had a deserted village, where the good land runs out into rough grazing and moorland -well, if you call a few ruined walls a village. But 200 years ago it had a name and people were born, lived and died there.They mostly made a living from weaving, supplemented by access to common land for grazing. But mechanical looms came in, the common was enclosed, and the records tell a pitiful tale of poverty, infant mortality and dwindling numbers.The lost village story emphasises that, in this country, industrialisation and people leaving the countryside for towns and cities began long ago. The descendants of those villagers may now live in Leeds or Bradford, and the countryside may be an alien place for them, as it is for many.