THE COUNTRYSIDE ECONOMY

Despite what the purveyors of Disney animal cartoons and BBC documentaries would have us believe, the countryside is not self-made. It is the result of careful management, in place since estate owners of yore saw fit to remove the mediaeval UK’s top predators, such as the wolf and lynx.

Notwithstanding the odd wildlife charity’s bid to restore these species (and despite all the ‘rewilding’ cred it might give you, would you really want a lynx in your back garden?) the resulting burden lies with humankind. Left unchecked, pigeon populations will feast on crops, squirrels will spread disease and push out native species, and roe deer will fray their antlers on trees, decimating young plantations. Without our intervention, the predator at the top of the pile is Mr Fox (sorry, there’s that Disney cartoon tendency emerging) – and given his tendency to break into chicken coops and destroy farmers’ livelihoods, we’re not getting much help there. Luckily, there is an army of people doing the job. Estate managers, gamekeepers, ghillies and stalkers have turned wildlife management into a profession, but just as notable are the enthusiastic amateurs. The leisure sector in the countryside is worth £27bn. Those visiting rural areas to hunt, shoot, fish or walk have created an economy, boosting goods and services in areas few other job-creators can reach.

Take the traditional game shoot as an example. A ‘gun’ on a shoot stays in a hotel the night before; he buys cartridges and clothing from a bricksand-mortar retailer. His peg subscription funds a small army of keepers, beaters, pickers-up and dogs. He shoots over managed land, with knockon conservation benefits (shooting provides 3.9 million days of volunteer conservation a year), and reaps the benefits of game rearing, a farming operation of its own. It’s the same for fishing, archery – you get the idea.

The countryside economy is vast, and not as isolated as it appears. So why is it so overlooked, whether by Westminster policy-makers or media storytellers? After all, Telegraph readers know how the countryside really works. So why not everyone else? But we can’t just blame the urban elite – existing country-dwellers have a tendency to reinforce the misconceptions too. “I never go out at weekends,” my erstwhile neighbour in the tourist-ridden Lake District said. “You can’t move for that lot, bringing noise pollution when they arrive and leaving empty crisp packets when they go…” He didn’t consider that ‘that lot’ were pumping money into the area that kept its key industries going. We mentally pit ‘true’ rural folk against the downsizers and urban invaders, but we should be the ones dispelling prejudices.

Experience Countryside celebrates the confluence of all walks of rural life; from tweeds to Hunter boots, mud-splattered shoots to pristine country homes, rural hospitality to the ultimate in selfsufficiency. Created by a team with 15 years’ experience in country sports publications, it’s a portrayal of the real countryside sans mass-media gloss. You don’t need a Piers Morgan polemic or a heartstring-tugging tale to get people reading about rural issues; we know the real countryside is much more interesting than that. CF

PUBLISHER

Wes Stanton

EDITOR

Colin Fallon

SUB-EDITORS

Jacob Barlow, Huw Hopkins, Nick Robbins, Alex Shaw

ART DIRECTOR

Chris Sweeney DESIGN

Matt Smith, Jess Riley

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR

Josie Millar

In partnership with:

6017

MANAGING DIRECTOR

James Hurst

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

James Smith, Dave Edmondson, Jim Ellis, Joseph Turner

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