From great wen to toad hall: Aspects of the urban-rural divide in inter-war Britain

Rural History

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 105-124

  Moore Colyer, R J ^a,b  

^a ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY; RURAL AREA; RURAL-URBAN COMPARISON; SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS; TWENTIETH CENTURY;

UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 0033017652     PISSN: 09567933     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0956793300001710     Document Type: Article

References (111)

1. E. Waugh, Vile Bodies (Harmondsworth, 1920).
2. J. Betjeman, Collected Poems (London, 1983).
3. C. E. G. Masterman, The Condition of England (London, 1909).
4. J. B. Priestley, English Journey (London, 1934), p. 1.
5. Ibid, p. 125.
6. Country Life, (26th November, 1927); Horder in C. Williams-Ellis (ed), Britain and the Beast (London, 1937), p. 180.
7. Country Life, (26th November, 1927); Horder in C. Williams-Ellis (ed), Britain and the Beast (London, 1937), p. 180.
8. Country Life (1st June, 1935).
9. See, for example, A. D. Hall, Reconstruction and the Land (London, 1947).
10. M. Muggeridge, The Thirties (London 1940), p. 198.
11. J. Saville, Rural Depopulation in England and Wales (London, 1957), p. 36. The absence of piped water, electricity and other basic amenities in country areas caused severe problems for urban children evacuated to the countryside during the blitz. (For fascinating details see S. Ward, War in the Countryside, 1939-45 (London, 1988).
12. J. Saville, Rural Depopulation in England and Wales (London, 1957), p. 36. The absence of piped water, electricity and other basic amenities in country areas caused severe problems for urban children evacuated to the countryside during the blitz. (For fascinating details see S. Ward, War in the Countryside, 1939-45 (London, 1988).
13. Country Life (19th February, 1938). A White Paper published in 1944 estimated that up to 30 per cent of the rural population in England and Wales had no mains water, relying instead on standpipes and water carts. Moreover, earth, bucket and chemical toilets abounded so that the White Paper recommended the expenditure of £21 million over 5 years to bring piped water and decent sanitation to rural Britain.
14. R. B. Cattell, The Fight for our National Intelligence (London, 1937), p. 15.
15. A. W. Ashby, 'The Effect of Urban Growth on the Countryside', Sociological Review, XXXI(4), 1939, p. 17.
16. A.G. Street, Farmers Glory (London, 1932) and The Endless Furrow (London, 1934).
17. A.G. Street, Farmers Glory (London, 1932) and The Endless Furrow (London, 1934).
18. In Joad, Britain and the Beast , p. 130.
19. A.G. Street, Farming England (London, 1937), p. 4.
20. Farmers Glory , p. 223. Street regularly spoke and wrote of the farming hierarchy of which the despised 'cowkeeper' was towards the bottom of the pile. A man whose income derived from the dairy cow would rarely dare enter the same railway carriage as the arable farmer.
21. Peter Mandler has argued that the continued persistence of an imagined rural idyll is in part responsible for the economic decline, cultural stagnation and social divisions apparent in later twentieth-century Britain (P Mandler, 'Against "Englishness" : English Culture and the Limits to Rural Nostalgia, 1860-1940', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 7:7 (1997), pp 165-175).
22. Stanley Baldwin, On England (1926).
23. S. Miller, 'Urban Dreams and Rural Reality: Land and Landscape in English Culture, 1920-1945', Rural History, Economy, Society and Culture, 6:1 (1995), 90; A. C. Bermingham, Landscape and Ideology: The English Rural Tradition, 1740-1860 , (London, 1987), pp. 54-69; N. Everett, The Tory View of Landscape (New Haven, 1994), pp. 1-12; J. Hayes, Gainsborough (London, 1975).
24. S. Miller, 'Urban Dreams and Rural Reality: Land and Landscape in English Culture, 1920-1945', Rural History, Economy, Society and Culture, 6:1 (1995), 90; A. C. Bermingham, Landscape and Ideology: The English Rural Tradition, 1740-1860 , (London, 1987), pp. 54-69; N. Everett, The Tory View of Landscape (New Haven, 1994), pp. 1-12; J. Hayes, Gainsborough (London, 1975).
25. S. Miller, 'Urban Dreams and Rural Reality: Land and Landscape in English Culture, 1920-1945', Rural History, Economy, Society and Culture, 6:1 (1995), 90; A. C. Bermingham, Landscape and Ideology: The English Rural Tradition, 1740-1860 , (London, 1987), pp. 54-69; N. Everett, The Tory View of Landscape (New Haven, 1994), pp. 1-12; J. Hayes, Gainsborough (London, 1975).
26. S. Miller, 'Urban Dreams and Rural Reality: Land and Landscape in English Culture, 1920-1945', Rural History, Economy, Society and Culture, 6:1 (1995), 90; A. C. Bermingham, Landscape and Ideology: The English Rural Tradition, 1740-1860 , (London, 1987), pp. 54-69; N. Everett, The Tory View of Landscape (New Haven, 1994), pp. 1-12; J. Hayes, Gainsborough (London, 1975).
27. D. Matless, 'One Man's England: W. G. Hoskins and the English Culture of Landscape', Rural History, 4:2 (1993), 190-192.
28. D. N. Jeans, 'Planning and the Myth of the English Countryside in the Inter-War Period', Rural History, 1:2 (1990), passim .
29. In 1986 producer's notes to writers instructed the latter to 'give urban listeners 15 minutes of the countryside' (S. Laing, 'Images of the Rural in Popular Culture 1750-1980', in B. Short (ed.), The English Rural Community : Image and Analysis (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 150, 151.
30. A. W. Ashby, The English Countryside and the Psychology of Scenic Change ; typescript evidence to Scott Committee, 1942.
31. A. Bell in E. Blunden (ed), The Legacy of England (London, 1928), p. 47.
32. S. Hussey, 'Low Pay, Underemployment and Multiple Occupation: Men's Work in the Inter-War Countryside', Rural History, 8:2 (1997), p. 219
33. R.G. Stapledon, The Hills and Uplands of Britain: Development or Decay? (London, 1937), pp. 105-7.
34. R.G. Stapledon, The Land, Now and Tomorrow (London, 1935), p. 231.
35. P. Gruffudd, 'Back to the Land: Historiography, Rurality and the Nation in Inter-War Wales', Institute of British Geographers Transactions, ns 19 (1994), 66.
36. D. Matless, 'Nature, the Modern and the Mystic: Tales from Early Twentieth Century Geography', Institute of British Geographers Transactions, ns 16 (1991), 274-276.
37. P. Conford and J. Walsingham, 'History of the Organic Farming Movement in Britain', Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England (1997), p. 159; E. Abelson (ed), A Mirror of England: An Anthology of the Writings of H.J. Massingham 1888-1952 (Bideford, 1988), pp. x-xi.
38. P. Conford and J. Walsingham, 'History of the Organic Farming Movement in Britain', Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England (1997), p. 159; E. Abelson (ed), A Mirror of England: An Anthology of the Writings of H.J. Massingham 1888-1952 (Bideford, 1988), pp. x-xi.
39. H.J. Massingham, The Heritage of Man (London, 1929); Through the Wilderness (London 1935); A Countryman's Journal (London, 1939); The English Countryman: A Study of the English Tradition (London, 1942); Where Man Belongs (London, 1946).
40. H.J. Massingham, The Heritage of Man (London, 1929); Through the Wilderness (London 1935); A Countryman's Journal (London, 1939); The English Countryman: A Study of the English Tradition (London, 1942); Where Man Belongs (London, 1946).
41. H.J. Massingham, The Heritage of Man (London, 1929); Through the Wilderness (London 1935); A Countryman's Journal (London, 1939); The English Countryman: A Study of the English Tradition (London, 1942); Where Man Belongs (London, 1946).
42. H.J. Massingham, The Heritage of Man (London, 1929); Through the Wilderness (London 1935); A Countryman's Journal (London, 1939); The English Countryman: A Study of the English Tradition (London, 1942); Where Man Belongs (London, 1946).
43. H.J. Massingham, The Heritage of Man (London, 1929); Through the Wilderness (London 1935); A Countryman's Journal (London, 1939); The English Countryman: A Study of the English Tradition (London, 1942); Where Man Belongs (London, 1946).
44. R. G. Stapledon, The Land, Now and Tomorrow , p. 181.
45. D. H. Davies, The Welsh Nationalist Party, 1925-1945: A Call to Nationhood (Cardiff, 1988), p. 97.
46. P. Gruffudd, Land of my Fathers? The Council for the Preservation of Rural Wales and Contested Conservation , Rural History Centre Discussion Paper No 2, University of Reading, 1996.
47. Prior to 1932, protection of the countryside depended essentially upon the committed efforts of enthusiastic volunteers involved with such bodies as the Women's Institute, the Royal Institution of British Architects, The Commons, Open Spaces and Footpath Preservation Society (f. 1865), The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (f. 1877), The Society for Checking the Abuses of Public Advertising (f. 1893), The National Trust (f. 1894) and many others besides.
48. National Library of Wales (N.L.W.), C.P.R.W. Minutes, 7th September, 1928; M. S. Roberts to T. E. Morris, 20th May, 1928 (C.P.R.W. 41).
49. N.L.W. C.P.R.W. 41.
50. N.L.W. C.P.R.W. 41.
51. Herald of Wales (8th March, 1930).
52. N.L.W. C.P.R.W. Minutes, 5th July, 1929.
53. N.L.W.C. P.R.W. Minutes 10th May, and 17th October, 1934.
54. N.L.W. C.P.R.W. Minutes 13th July, 1931; 7th January, 1932.
55. N.L.W. C.P.R.W. Minutes, 8th March, 1935.
56. Rambler's Monthly Bulletin, 61, November, 1935.
57. Liverpool Daily Post (13th June, 1938).
58. J. Sheail, Rural Conservation in Inter-war Britain (Oxford, 1981), p. 196.
59. rd Ed), p. 96; W. F. Rawnsley, Highways and Byways in Lincolnshire (London, 1914), p. 1.
60. rd Ed), p. 96; W. F. Rawnsley, Highways and Byways in Lincolnshire (London, 1914), p. 1.
61. rd Ed), p. 96; W. F. Rawnsley, Highways and Byways in Lincolnshire (London, 1914), p. 1.
62. Joad, Untutored Townsman, p. 140.
63. Masterman, Condition of England, p. 161.
64. Street, Farmers Glory, pp. 235-6.
65. In Joad, Britain and the Beast, p. 117.
66. Country Life (April 19, 1924).
67. C.P.R.E. Files, Rural History Centre, University of Reading, 56/1.
68. Joad, Untutored Towsnman, p. 18.
69. Joad,Britain and the Beast, pp. 41-44.
70. H. Miller, 'Urban Renewal and Citizenship: The Quality of Life in British Cities, 1880-1990', Urban History 22:1 (1995), 72-5.
71. F. M. L. Thompson, The Rise of Suburbia (Leicester, 1982), p. 15.
72. S. Laing, 'Images of the Rural in Popular Culture', p. 147.
73. The 1932 Act gave local authorities the power to restrict ribbon development, but by 1935 only 62 out of 417 Rural District Councils had formulated the necessary bye-laws.
74. In Joad, Britain and the Beast , p. 126.
75. G. M. Boumphrey in Britain and the Beast, pp. 105-11.
76. George Birmingham, in Blunden (ed.), Legacy of England, pp. 188-9.
77. Typescript evidence to Scott Committee, 1942.
78. A. G. Street, Strawberry Roan (London, 1932), pp. 307-8.
79. Joad, Untutored Townsman, p. 37.
80. Country Life (28th April, 1928).
81. Country Life (22nd February, 1930).
82. Country Life (28th April, 1928).
83. C.P.R.E. Files, Rural History Centre, University of Reading, 237/3.
84. C.P.R.W. 'A Letter to Landowners'.
85. Times (10th May, 1938).
86. Country Life (5th December, 1936). Full planning control would eventually be implemented under the Labour Government's Town and Country Planning Act which, in effect, nationalised development rights. From now onwards all development would require planning permission, although, of course, agricultural development and afforestation were exempt. The completion of the magisterial Land Utilisation Survey of 1933, which had been undertaken under the direction of Sir Dudley Stamp, had prompted much talk in both official and lay circles of the need to enshrine rural development within an orderly framework of planning. This was given further impetus by the deliberations of Lord Justice Scott's Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas (HMSO 1943, Cmnd. 6378). The Committee's Report, wide-ranging in its coverage, was in essence a compiled résumé of the many concerns over the future of the countryside and of the profound problems of the urban/rural divide. In particular it emphasised the need for rural development to be consistent with the compelling needs of agriculture, rural communities and countryside amenities. The Report, along with the Land Utilisation Survey, provided a context for the seminal Town and Country Planning and Agriculture Acts of 1947, which, in turn, informed subsequent environmental legislation in the early post war years - for example, The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949); The Mineral Workings Act , (1951); The Clean Air Act (1956); and The Opencast Coal Act (1958).
87. Country Life (5th December, 1936). Full planning control would eventually be implemented under the Labour Government's Town and Country Planning Act which, in effect, nationalised development rights. From now onwards all development would require planning permission, although, of course, agricultural development and afforestation were exempt. The completion of the magisterial Land Utilisation Survey of 1933, which had been undertaken under the direction of Sir Dudley Stamp, had prompted much talk in both official and lay circles of the need to enshrine rural development within an orderly framework of planning. This was given further impetus by the deliberations of Lord Justice Scott's Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas (HMSO 1943, Cmnd. 6378). The Committee's Report, wide-ranging in its coverage, was in essence a compiled résumé of the many concerns over the future of the countryside and of the profound problems of the urban/rural divide. In particular it emphasised the need for rural development to be consistent with the compelling needs of agriculture, rural communities and countryside amenities. The Report, along with the Land Utilisation Survey, provided a context for the seminal Town and Country Planning and Agriculture Acts of 1947, which, in turn, informed subsequent environmental legislation in the early post war years - for example, The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949); The Mineral Workings Act , (1951); The Clean Air Act (1956); and The Opencast Coal Act (1958).
88. Country Life (5th December, 1936). Full planning control would eventually be implemented under the Labour Government's Town and Country Planning Act which, in effect, nationalised development rights. From now onwards all development would require planning permission, although, of course, agricultural development and afforestation were exempt. The completion of the magisterial Land Utilisation Survey of 1933, which had been undertaken under the direction of Sir Dudley Stamp, had prompted much talk in both official and lay circles of the need to enshrine rural development within an orderly framework of planning. This was given further impetus by the deliberations of Lord Justice Scott's Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas (HMSO 1943, Cmnd. 6378). The Committee's Report, wide-ranging in its coverage, was in essence a compiled résumé of the many concerns over the future of the countryside and of the profound problems of the urban/rural divide. In particular it emphasised the need for rural development to be consistent with the compelling needs of agriculture, rural communities and countryside amenities. The Report, along with the Land Utilisation Survey, provided a context for the seminal Town and Country Planning and Agriculture Acts of 1947, which, in turn, informed subsequent environmental legislation in the early post war years - for example, The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949); The Mineral Workings Act , (1951); The Clean Air Act (1956); and The Opencast Coal Act (1958).
89. Country Life (5th December, 1936). Full planning control would eventually be implemented under the Labour Government's Town and Country Planning Act which, in effect, nationalised development rights. From now onwards all development would require planning permission, although, of course, agricultural development and afforestation were exempt. The completion of the magisterial Land Utilisation Survey of 1933, which had been undertaken under the direction of Sir Dudley Stamp, had prompted much talk in both official and lay circles of the need to enshrine rural development within an orderly framework of planning. This was given further impetus by the deliberations of Lord Justice Scott's Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas (HMSO 1943, Cmnd. 6378). The Committee's Report, wide-ranging in its coverage, was in essence a compiled résumé of the many concerns over the future of the countryside and of the profound problems of the urban/rural divide. In particular it emphasised the need for rural development to be consistent with the compelling needs of agriculture, rural communities and countryside amenities. The Report, along with the Land Utilisation Survey, provided a context for the seminal Town and Country Planning and Agriculture Acts of 1947, which, in turn, informed subsequent environmental legislation in the early post war years - for example, The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949); The Mineral Workings Act , (1951); The Clean Air Act (1956); and The Opencast Coal Act (1958).
90. Country Life (5th December, 1936). Full planning control would eventually be implemented under the Labour Government's Town and Country Planning Act which, in effect, nationalised development rights. From now onwards all development would require planning permission, although, of course, agricultural development and afforestation were exempt. The completion of the magisterial Land Utilisation Survey of 1933, which had been undertaken under the direction of Sir Dudley Stamp, had prompted much talk in both official and lay circles of the need to enshrine rural development within an orderly framework of planning. This was given further impetus by the deliberations of Lord Justice Scott's Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas (HMSO 1943, Cmnd. 6378). The Committee's Report, wide-ranging in its coverage, was in essence a compiled résumé of the many concerns over the future of the countryside and of the profound problems of the urban/rural divide. In particular it emphasised the need for rural development to be consistent with the compelling needs of agriculture, rural communities and countryside amenities. The Report, along with the Land Utilisation Survey, provided a context for the seminal Town and Country Planning and Agriculture Acts of 1947, which, in turn, informed subsequent environmental legislation in the early post war years - for example, The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949); The Mineral Workings Act , (1951); The Clean Air Act (1956); and The Opencast Coal Act (1958).
91. Country Life (5th December, 1936). Full planning control would eventually be implemented under the Labour Government's Town and Country Planning Act which, in effect, nationalised development rights. From now onwards all development would require planning permission, although, of course, agricultural development and afforestation were exempt. The completion of the magisterial Land Utilisation Survey of 1933, which had been undertaken under the direction of Sir Dudley Stamp, had prompted much talk in both official and lay circles of the need to enshrine rural development within an orderly framework of planning. This was given further impetus by the deliberations of Lord Justice Scott's Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas (HMSO 1943, Cmnd. 6378). The Committee's Report, wide-ranging in its coverage, was in essence a compiled résumé of the many concerns over the future of the countryside and of the profound problems of the urban/rural divide. In particular it emphasised the need for rural development to be consistent with the compelling needs of agriculture, rural communities and countryside amenities. The Report, along with the Land Utilisation Survey, provided a context for the seminal Town and Country Planning and Agriculture Acts of 1947, which, in turn, informed subsequent environmental legislation in the early post war years - for example, The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949); The Mineral Workings Act , (1951); The Clean Air Act (1956); and The Opencast Coal Act (1958).
92. C.P.R.E. Files, Rural History Centre, University of Reading 161/13.
93. C.P.R.E. Files, Rural History Centre, University of Reading 78/1.
94. Daily Sketch (25th May, 1933); Times (23rd May, 1933); Country Life (15th July, 1933).
95. Daily Sketch (25th May, 1933); Times (23rd May, 1933); Country Life (15th July, 1933).
96. Daily Sketch (25th May, 1933); Times (23rd May, 1933); Country Life (15th July, 1933).
97. Joad, Untutored Townsman, pp. 203-4.
98. C.P.R.E. Files, Rural History Centre, University of Reading 161/5.
99. Estates Gazette (17th September, 1932).
100. Manchester Guardian (12th October, 1932).
101. Country Life (7th August, 1937).
102. C.P.R.E. Files, Rural History Centre, University of Reading 161/5.
103. E. J. T Collins, Power Availability and Agricultural Productivity in England and Wales, 1840-1939, Rural History Centre Discussion Paper No 1, University of Reading, 1996.
104. See, for example, Country Life (24th November, 1928); (30th March, 1929); Observer (27th November, 1932).
105. See, for example, Country Life (24th November, 1928); (30th March, 1929); Observer (27th November, 1932).
106. See, for example, Country Life (24th November, 1928); (30th March, 1929); Observer (27th November, 1932).
107. Yorkshire Evening News (1st February, 1932).
108. C.P.R.E. Files, Rural History Centre, University of Reading 109/120/1.
109. th Annual Report of the Electricity Commissioners, (HMSO, 1931).
110. Times (5th September, 1933); The Builder (3rd March, 1933).
111. Times (5th September, 1933); The Builder (3rd March, 1933).