Saving our Rural Phone Boxes - Council Vetos BT Plans to Scrap "Icons of England"

Saving our Rural Phone Boxes - Council Vetos BT Plans to Scrap "Icons of England"

BT may be on a mission to scrap all their uneconomic public phone boxes but thankfully local councils have a right of veto and are using it.

So I say well done to Winchester City Council which, according to this week's Hampshire Chroncicle, has just used its veto to preserve 37 of the 44 boxes threatened by BT. The reasons are mainly the poor level of mobile phone covereage or that they are in a key location for emergency calls.

This also follows a previous campaign in 2008 when residents convinced Winchester City Council to save 41 out of 43 blacklisted boxes.

Many of these boxes are our beloved red kiosks that are a part of our national heritage and promoted by Bill Bryon in the Campaign to Protect Rural England's fantastic and heart-warming book Icons of England ... so I have to say the romantic in me wants these to be preserved for posterity even if they are uneconomic.

BT does allow council's to "Adopt a Kiosk" (for £1 I think) with the wordings removed if they still want to save a kiosk for aesthetic or historic reasons butcannot justify the veto. Hopefully this will save even more and keep this dramatic element of our rural landscapes.

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Pub Signs Voted Top Icon of England

Pub Signs voted Top Icon of England

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has recently been asking us all to vote for our favourite English icons from their top 25.

Now the results are out and the worthy winner of the top slot is very deservedly our traditional Pub Signs. It is great to see our pub heritage recognised in this way, reminding us all of what an integral part of our culture our English pubs are.

To find out more click Pub Signs voted Top Icon of England.

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Promoting our Countryside as Part of our National Identity

Promoting our Countryside as Part of our National Identity

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has come up with a list of what defines our National Identity and it is interesting that many of these represent traditional values that will lie close to the hearts of most pub walkers.

The charity has created its "National List of Shared Treasures" as it wants to lobby Gordon Brown to promote them in his environmental policies. The list comprises:

• Classic countryside
• High quality food production
• Our finest landscapes
• A rich historic heritage
• World renowned cities towns and villages
• Access to local shops

For each one, the CPRE has defined the factors that make each item important to the nation, as well as key tests that will help us all to judge whether Mr Brown is serious in any stated intent to promote environmental policies. For example it cites the long-awaited formal confirmation of National Park status for the South Downs as a key test for "Our Finest Landscapes".

To read more about each of these "national icons", visit Countryside as part of our National Identity.

Today's pub walk: The King & Queen in Hamble, Hampshire.

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South Downs Wind Turbine a Monstrous 230 ft High

There simply has to be a better way of generating alternative energy than by destroying the views over one of our few remaining wilderness areas in England. With the South Downs already designated the UK's 15th National Park, who can possibly justify building a monstrous 230 feet high wind turbine in its midst?

Apparently a company called Glyndebourne Productions Ltd can. However, they have a battle ahead of them as some of the strongest countryside campaigners have lined up to take them on: the Ramblers' Association, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Council for National Parks and the South Downs Society.

Although wind turbines are sited on National Parks elsewhere, it is the shear scale of this one that is causing immense concern. Expected to be visible over an area of hundreds of square miles, it's 230 foot height dwarfs the 40-50 foot ones previously used.

So let's support renewable energy sources but not at any price. We need to protect our natural environment as well as the planet for enjoyment today as well as in the future.
See update...

Today's pub walk: The Green Dragon in Cambridge.

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Bill Bryson Protects The English Countryside

One of our favourite travel writers takes up the mantle of President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). Although born American, Bill Bryson has developed such a strong love of England that we happily adopt him as our own. I am sure he will be a great ambassador for the CPRE and during his presidency will no doubt help to raise the profile of its valuable work.

Today's pub walk: The Green Man, in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire.
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Fair Price for a Pint

There is a campaign underway to promote a fair price being paid to farmers for a pint of milk. This is a joint initiative by Waitrose, Farmers Guardian and Country Living. With an average of 78 producers in England giving up on dairy farming each month over the past 4 years, there are serious concerns over the future of our home milk production and some fear we may need to import our milk in the future (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England).

So, why should we care? Our rural landscape owes so much of its "natural" beauty to the grazing of livestock that we have to be prepared to see that landscape change if we allow this decline to continue. It is not just about the views we enjoy on our pub walks but also the knock-on effects of more intensive grazing by fewer, larger herds - leading to potentially more chemical use, deterioration in soil and water quality, not to mention loss of some habitats key to biodiversity.

If you want to help you can sign the Farmers Guardian's online petition and Register support for Fairtrade for Farming.

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Tranquility Maps

At a car boot sale on Sunday I came across a stall being run by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). The lady behind the table was enthusiastically proclaiming that they were about much more than protecting rural areas and this prompted me to check out their website.

Here I discovered their fascinating collection of "tranquility maps" which show the "likelihood that someone will experience tranquility in any locality". A nationwide survey to find what tranquility actually meant to people produced a top 10 list of what it is (e.g. seeing natural landscape and the stars at night, hearing natural sounds and running water) and also a top 10 list of what it most definitely is not (e.g. seeing urban development and light pollution, hearing constant noise of traffic and people).

I think it's facinating to take a look at these, starting with the national level map and then drilling down to county level ones. In some respects their results are not surprising but are graphically showing something that has never been presented this way on this scale before. CPRE wil use this to help protect tranquility and measure threats to it in the future. Something we would all support I am sure.

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