The Lost Village: In Search of a Forgotten Rural England

by Richard Askwith

The idea of the unspoilt and unchanging village is one of the most potent in the English imagination. Yet the English village is plainly dying. The unaltered rhythms of village life have all but vanished. But not without a trace...they exist in the voices of men and women for whom the old ways were life-shaping realities. Richard Askwith describes a journey in search of the true country dwellers. He captures the voices of poachers and gamekeepers, farmers and huntsmen, thatchers and blacksmiths, and demonstrates that, while the landscape is more changed than we thought, the past is never so simple as we imagine.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, British Literature

453 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A journalist wanders England picking up stories from the countryside documenting a life that is vanishing and being replaced by modernity. A great read.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

"The idea of the village -- unspoilt, unchanging and growing almost organically out of the landscape -- is one of the most potent in the English imagination. We have waxed lyrical on the theme for centuries, while tens of thousands now leave the city each yest in search of the rural idyll.

"Yet the English village is plainly dying. The unaltered rhythms of village life, as experienced with little variation by generations past, have all but vanished. But not without a trace . . . they exist in living memory, in the voices of men and women for whom the old ways were life-shaping realities.

"Award-winning writer and journalist Richard Arkwith describes a journey in search of the true country dwellers, through dales and suburbs, down ancient lanes and estates. He captures the voices of poachers and gamekeepers, farmers and huntsmen, publicans and clergymen, thatchers and blacksmiths, and demonstrates that, while the landscape is more changed than we thought, the past is never so simple as we imagine."
~~front flap

I was disappointed in this book, but --as usual -- it's because the book was about something different that my expectations. I'd hoped it would be about little villages tucked away in forgotten corners, that had at least a semblance of what we fondly think of as English village life. Alas, it was not to be. Instead the book is a sort of an ethnography, a visiting and recording of the memories of a past life that's now gone forever. I stuck it out for 8 chapters -- 73 pages -- but then realized I just wasn't interested in this treatment of the subject.

[Adeptus Fringilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about the concept of the lost village and the disappearance of the old ways of rural life in England. As expected, it is quality writing by the author.

[Frances Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Feet in the Clouds, and the premise of this book seemed interesting, exploring English village life, character, history and the juxtaposition of the old ways of life with the new. The prose is lovely and some of the stories are charming, I read to the end hoping it would develop into something but it never quite got there.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Audiobook version]

An even-handed look at the way our rural communities have changed over the last century. I particularly enjoyed the narration -- lulling, ponderous, like ambling down a country lane with no particular destination in mind. Every now and then there would be a line that made me smile, like when the author talked to a farmer about the possibility of wind farms on his land: "Graham made no mention of this issue -- perhaps because it was a delicate subject; perhaps because a wayward ewe had broken his train of thought."

[Debbie Robson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I would have only read approximately 50 pages of this book I can confidently recommend it to anyone interested in the changing world we live in. Today in Australia a lot of us are moving away from the larger cities to smaller cities or even out bush to find a more pleasant,authentic and less rushed lifestyle. It would seem, from Askwith's obversations on 21st century life in Britain, that we have nothing on them! City dwellers with money are seeking out the "green and pleasant land" in droves and in the process the English village of the last century is unrecognisable today, not so much (thankfully) in appearance but in who lives there and who works there (most don't work they commute). No farmers with scythes anymore but casual labourers on enormous harvesters.
My favourite chapter was Ghosts where Askwith sums up beautifully: "The life of the 1950s farmhand was defined by the same boundaries as that of the feudal churl...a few square miles of fields and woods, with this particular thatched village growing (complete with villagers) out of its centre and on its edges a circle of neighbouring settlements. Modern lives are lived on a stage without boundaries..where most of us consider the whole planet to be the backdrop against which the drama of our lives is played."

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very interesting and the points that are made are valid for any change in social organisation. I thought that it was a bit repetitive - most of the villages had the same issues.
The problems with British agriculture that were discussed were pretty disturbing. I can't help but agree with the conclusion that there are Western countries which going to have to relearn how to grow food because important techniques of land use have been forgotten and countries will not be able to continue to import basic food. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with that. I would not suggest that we desire to return to the country life styles of 50 - 60 years ago because they sounded pretty grim in some cases - but perhaps we could all be satisfied with fewer material possessions.

[Erica Fairs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I'd written this book. An elegiac hymn to the 'lost' English way of country life and the villages that supported it. By no means a 'rose-tinted' view of the past, Richard Askwith journeyed to villages throughout England, interviewed the people who lived there and set down how these villagers saw the future of the places where they lived. Nor is it a miserable work - humour laces the pages but there is no doubt that, should you read this, you will be shocked by what the countryside has lost over the past 50-100 years. Hugely enjoyable - if you love the countryside, you will want to read this.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c2008: I read this as a result of a recommendation/write up in the Sunday Times - "A quest, both funny and sad, for the remnants of English country life" (Culture, The Sunday Times). It was a fast quick read but sadly I don't think, particularly memorable. Are we not all looking for "immature yearning for the unthreatening adventures of my youth"?

[Steve Chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Askwith's best work, but an interesting variations to his running books. He travels about in a random fashion exploring and mourning the old villages and the lifestyle that is assumed to have existed in them. That life and those places are now no more. He does meet some interesting people and comes back with some good stories, but lacks the humorous touch of, say, Bill Bryson.