Understanding the British Countryside

More people than ever before now live in, visit or simply drive through the British countryside. Most have a genuine appreciation of their surroundings but few know much about how the land is managed, what is growing or the reasons for many of the features they see around them. This book offers an insight into all aspects of our rural environment. It tells how our present-day landscape has evolved and now continues to be tended by those whose livelihoods depend upon it.It describes the work that is done in the different areas throughout the year, whether on arable crops or livestock, in the lowlands or on the hills and in woods and forests. Included too are such issues as conservation, access, field sports, foodstuffs and animal welfare. The book looks at the essential implications of the Common Agricultural Policy and at new developments in the form of rural diversification and new crops and systems. Anyone who wants to know more about the working countryside and the growing pressures upon it will find this a comprehensive and well illustrated manual. The author, Peter Prag, has a distinguished career in the rural field. Having been a partner in Knight Frank & Rutley, he became Chief Agricultural Manager to the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation and is now Senior Visiting Fellow in the Department of Land Management at the University of Reading and consultant to major firms of chartered surveyors. His professional experience reflects the ever changing nature of the countryside, encompassing intensive farming and traditional estates and such diverse projects as windfarms and vineyards. He is the author also of The Valuation of Rural Property and of Rural Diversification.Prag, Peter A. B. is the author of 'Understanding the British Countryside ', published 2001 under ISBN 9780728203532 and ISBN 0728203537.