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Stage 1: Before you start

Stage 1: Background information | Questions to investigate | Choosing a fieldwork location

Background information

In the UK 20% of population live in rural areas (here defined as administrative units that are not urban), but only 2% of workforce have jobs in farming. 75% of rural dwellers live in settlements with a population of under 500.

Cloke's 1979 model of the structure of the urban-rural continuum shows how land-use might change with distance from the city. In this model, there is no single typical rural settlement, but rather a spectrum between declining villages in the deep countryside to suburbanised villages and overspill towns in the urban fringe.

Several zones can be identified.

Urban fringe

This may include a Green Belt. Land-use is heavily influenced by the easy access of urban residents to the countryside. Farmland may be used for market gardening, 'pick your own' farms, horsiculture and garden centres. Extensive land uses (e.g. golf courses, Country Parks) and undesirable land uses (e.g. sewage farms) are found. Settlements are dominated by incomers who do not work in agriculture.

Farming and commuter zone

Settlements are increasingly modified by commuter families. Farming remains productive, but considerable leisure pressure from urban populations has led to some diversification, with golf courses, paint ball facilities and 'working farms' for school visits. There are strong development pressures, which have led to barn conversions and expensive land and property prices.

Deep countryside

Beyond significant commuting distance to the city (perhaps over 1 hour's drive), property prices are lower, but settlements are still influenced by holiday home purchases and retirement incomers. Farming is little affected by urban influences, but some young families may have migrated from the city to seek a more rural lifestyle. Other young people will have migrated away to find jobs in the city.

Remote rural environments

At a greater distance from the city, social and economic problems associated with remoteness will be most serious. Marginal (i.e. low profit) farming , limited service availability and steady outmigration of young people are all typical. Tourism is increasingly important to sustain local communities and economies. Incomers buy up properties as holiday and retirement homes. Conservation policies and regional development schemes are sometimes introduced to support these areas (e.g. Environmentally Sensitive Area payments).

Questions to investigate

Not all villages are the same. But is there any pattern to the differences between villages? Are places closer to large cities less 'rural' in character than more remote settlements?

Possible questions to investigate in the field...

• How and why do villages change with distance from city X?
• What factors make village X preferential to development compared to village Y?
• How has accessibility affected village development?
• How is the rural-urban fringe around city X affected by development?

Choosing a fieldwork location

This enquiry is really only practical if you have access to a vehicle.

You will need to investigate 10-15 rural settlements along a rough transect from an urban area into the countryside. A transect from a city towards and into a National Park is useful.

The transect also needs to be long enough for the effect of commuting to change. You might decide, for example, that a drive of 20-30 miles is the maximum length for comfortable commuting, and therefore decide to investigate rural settlements on a transect of 20 miles outwards from the edge of the city.

Make sure that there is not another city at the 'rural' end of the transect - there is little point, for example, in a transect leading from the edge of Birmingham to the edge of Coventry.

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