Old England

[SuperGoose75]

Now this will  no doubt divide opinion, but all are welcome none the less. 

Now firstly I am a proud Irish man, and don't claim to be anything other. However there is something in me that has a deep fascination with Old England.  It is hard to be precise about what I mean by that.

Although Irish, like many other Irish, I grew up watching all the English television  programmes as a kid. Worzel Gummidge,Black Beauty, Grange Hill ect...!

And also watched old films like, The Black Knight, Robin Hood, and many John Mills movies, also Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, and of course the Carry On films ect..! I also loved  watching the Hammer Horror films. And one of my favourite movies is Great Expectations.

As an avid Wildfowler I have read many books on the subject that has taken me all around the British coast. I was very lucky  and will be forever thankful to a certain member on here, to have spent some time in Norfolk. I certainly experienced what I am was after in that trip, and hopefully one day will return.

I have been putting some money past, and have saving for a holiday with the intention of going to somewhere in England. I follow a certain youtube channel with a lady who moved from London to the English countryside and she seems to appreciate the same values in life as I do. I think she lives in the Devon countryside . 

So my question is, where am I likely to find the ''Old England''..? Will it be the Cotswolds, Northumberland, Suffolk..? 

Two places I would like to go, is to visit the grave of my favourite countryside author, and possibly the Ten Acre Field of Scatterbrook farm.

Any suggestions greatly welcomed

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by SuperGoose75

[amateur]

Isle of Wight.

 

[Yellow Bear]

Of the 3 you mentioned only Northumberland, but perhaps North Yorkshire

[Kalahari]

North Yorkshire? Surely you mean the North Riding! 😁

 

David

Edited October 6, 2023 by Kalahari

[JohnfromUK]

I can only really comment on the Cotswolds.  It has the 'look' of Old England if you are a bit careful where you look, but sadly now much of the culture is overwhelmed by this being the area where many of London's wealthy have their weekend retreats (even known locally and now more widely as "The Chipping Norton Set").

Yes, it's a lovely area, and the landscape and old buildings are still there - but much of the local atmosphere is now centered around it being the escape from London for the weekend, the 'Soho Farmhouse' set, and loads of 'names' (Clarkson, Beckham, Cameron, and a few examples here https://www.cotswolds.info/famouspeople/celebrities-cotswold-homes.shtml )

Yes, there are still backwaters, but not so easy to find now.

As an aside, if you are coming to the area, next year's Game Fair is in the Cotswold area at Blenheim Palace .........

Edited October 6, 2023 by JohnfromUK

[DUNKS]

Cotswolds is beautiful but just too commercial now.

[johnphilip]

Teesdale  Co Durham 

[oldypigeonpopper]

1 hour ago, SuperGoose75 said:

Now this will  no doubt divide opinion, but all are welcome none the less. 

Now firstly I am a proud Irish man, and don't claim to be anything other. However there is something in me that has a deep fascination with Old England.  It is hard to be precise about what I mean by that.

Although Irish, like many other Irish, I grew up watching all the English television  programmes as a kid. Worzel Gummidge,Black Beauty, Grange Hill ect...!

And also watched old films like, The Black Knight, Robin Hood, and many John Mills movies, also Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, and of course the Carry On films ect..! I also loved  watching the Hammer Horror films. And one of my favourite movies is Great Expectations.

As an avid Wildfowler I have read many books on the subject that has taken me all around the British coast. I was very lucky  and will be forever thankful to a certain member on here, to have spent some time in Norfolk. I certainly experienced what I am was after in that trip, and hopefully one day will return.

I have been putting some money past, and have saving for a holiday with the intention of going to somewhere in England. I follow a certain youtube channel with a lady who moved from London to the English countryside and she seems to appreciate the same values in life as I do. I think she lives in the Devon countryside . 

So my question is, where am I likely to find the ''Old England''..? Will it be the Cotswolds, Northumberland, Suffolk..? 

Two places I would like to go, is to visit the grave of my favourite countryside author, and possibly the Ten Acre Field of Scatterbrook farm.

Any suggestions greatly welcomed

 

nice post 👍 what county is the author buried a where is scatterbrook farm? 

[Penelope]

Herefordshire along the Wye Valley.

[Centrepin]

Many of the Derbyshire villages are as yet unspoilt however parking on a weekend is horrendous. If you like Robin Hood still, Little John's grave is untouched behind the church in Hathersage. The plague village of Eyam is also worth a visit. The Wells dressings are well worth seeing.

There are also some beautiful places still unspoilt in Norfolk including a couple of 10th century churches.

[Scully]

Sadly I’m not so sure it exists anymore in the sense you describe. 
There are some wonderful villages in N. Yorkshire with the traditional cottages around the village green, and one or two in Cumbria, but nothing is untouched nowadays.
It can’t be if people want to live in a modern world. 
There are many places where it’s possible to see what it once was, but even Staines has caught up nowadays so I’m told. 🙂

[ditchman]

i think you have missed the boat..........its past.....gone....just a few scraps here and there and a few people who hold memories...........

perversly....when we want a quiet hloiday of the past with old values............we go to Ireland 

[pigeon controller]

3 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

I can only really comment on the Cotswolds.  It has the 'look' of Old England if you are a bit careful where you look, but sadly now much of the culture is overwhelmed by this being the area where many of London's wealthy have their weekend retreats (even known locally and now more widely as "The Chipping Norton Set").

Yes, it's a lovely area, and the landscape and old buildings are still there - but much of the local atmosphere is now centered around it being the escape from London for the weekend, the 'Soho Farmhouse' set, and loads of 'names' (Clarkson, Beckham, Cameron, and a few examples here https://www.cotswolds.info/famouspeople/celebrities-cotswold-homes.shtml )

Yes, there are still backwaters, but not so easy to find now.

As an aside, if you are coming to the area, next year's Game Fair is in the Cotswold area at Blenheim Palace .........

You forgot to mention JDog!!!!!

[JohnfromUK]

6 minutes ago, pigeon controller said:

You forgot to mention JDog!!!!!

True!

I live right on the western edge of the Cotswolds, but it is easy to find tourist traps (e.g. Bourton on the Water) and hard to fine traditional 'England' now.

[Yellow Bear]

15 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

True!

I live right on the western edge of the Cotswolds, but it is easy to find tourist traps (e.g. Bourton on the Water) and hard to fine traditional 'England' now.

Could try Bampton at whit for tradition.

[discobob]

32 minutes ago, Yellow Bear said:

Could try Bampton

First posting out of training was at Bampton (rather Bampton Castle which was round the back of the village)

There was a nice pub in the center next to the Spar...

[Wymondley]

I get what you mean, I love English films from the 50s and 60s, when life seemed simple and uncomplicated.

I've traveled round most parts of England and think there's still a bit of "old England" left tucked away in most counties if you look.

If you want traditional rolling countryside unspoilt by tourists try south Leicestershire down into west Northamptonshire.

Lots of nice villages with decent pubs, it's always surprised me it's not a more popular area.

[McSpredder]

5 hours ago, Kalahari said:

North Yorkshire? Surely you mean the North Riding!

Nostalgia  -  come on holiday from the land of Ballykissangel to the land of Heartbeat.

To invert the OP’s question, where would one go to find “Old Ireland”, that paradise described in Gerald Fitzgerald’s book “Pot Luck - Rough shooting in the West of Ireland”, where snipe and duck shooting seemed to be so readily available?   Has it disappeared, like the earlier world of “The Irish RM” as portrayed by Somerville and Ross?

[shaun4860]

9 hours ago, Yellow Bear said:

Of the 3 you mentioned only Northumberland, but perhaps North Yorkshire

Nothing in Northumberland.

Weather is always rubbish.

No scenery to speak of.

No history in the whole place.

Beaches are all polluted and full of sea coal

Nothing to see here, move along now.

Down south is far better, Old England is rampant down there 😇

[Yellow Bear]

9 minutes ago, shaun4860 said:

Nothing in Northumberland.

Weather is always rubbish.

No scenery to speak of.

No history in the whole place.

Beaches are all polluted and full of sea coal

Nothing to see here, move along now.

Down south is far better, Old England is rampant down there 😇

[Duckandswing]

10 hours ago, johnphilip said:

Teesdale  Co Durham 

Many moons ago I used to stay in a teeny tiny cottage in Holwick, not far from Teesdale. It was a beautiful, beautiful place where time stood still. The nights were so dark and the stars shone like diamonds. The local pub was from a bye gone era (called the Strathmore Arms if I remember rightly). What a blessed place that was. Oh to go back 25 years.

[London Best]

You need to go back about 55 years to see Old England around here!

[johnphilip]

8 hours ago, Duckandswing said:

Many moons ago I used to stay in a teeny tiny cottage in Holwick, not far from Teesdale. It was a beautiful, beautiful place where time stood still. The nights were so dark and the stars shone like diamonds. The local pub was from a bye gone era (called the Strathmore Arms if I remember rightly). What a blessed place that was. Oh to go back 25 years.

It's the place of my birth I was born at Langdon beck a couple of miles. Above high force water fall . Lived in middleton till 1964 we then moved  to Darlington  hated the place. , 3 years ago I started a Facebook  group on teesdale now have 1400 members  . Lots of us have moved. Away but still miss it. 

[marsh man]

I would have said my county of Norfolk , but sadly we are loseing the image of thatched roof cottages with the ole fashion English gardens at an alarming rate , some of this is due to people with deep pockets buying the houses as second homes and no way can the locals afford to buy even a very small cottage , as an example if you look what the average house prices are in Burnham Market you will see on Right Move website they are now £800,929 .this is the same on a slightly smaller scale in the ole fishing villages such as Blakeney , Wells , Holkham and Cley .

Having said that we still have a way of life that is slow and carefree compared to the industrial places in the Midlands and the Broadland area is well worth a visit as the heyday with holiday boats seem to have slowed down a lot mainly due to the high cost of hiring a pleasure boat.

Suffolk have also got some nice places such as South Wold and the small villages in that area , but as London Best stated you would need to go back in time to see England at it's best and now we just clinging on to the left overs .    MM

[SuperGoose75]

Some great replies folks, much appreciated 👍 I will get a more in depth reply when I have time.