Rural Rides

William Cobbett, part farmer, part Journalist wrote Rural Rides during the early 19th Century as a method of documenting and taking note of agricultural conditions across England. He rode a horse across the land and noted down any of his findings. 

As a child, Cobbett grew up in rural surroundings so being in the countryside was something he was very familiar with and naturally, a topic that was very dear to him. And as you would expect, he was very opinionated on what a countryside should be, therefore any changes in this, Cobbett did not approve of. To some people, Cobbett was also thought of as a campaigner, and Rural Rides confirmed this, although far from being extreme, Cobbett does attack the industrial revolution for the 'damage' it caused to the countryside.

Throughout Rural Rides, Cobbett upholds a very negative attitude towards the changes he has witnessed in the countryside and complains on some occasions that it will never go back to 'the good old days' or the days in which he remembers it to be better than what he was experiencing at the time. Although somewhat of a cliche, that phrase reminds me of my grandad telling me about the 'good old days' when he was in the army. I always appreciated his stories and enjoyed them but I always found it difficult to appreciate what was meant by 'the good old days' as obviously I was not there, and the current time is probably what will become 'the good old days' for me in the distant future. I think that can be applied to this text, as although we can understand what is meant by the phrase, it is difficult for us to relate or make a connection with the text as obviously we were not there to experience it with him. He uses extremely negative adjectives to describe the countryside including 'dull' and 'ugly'. 

Now, whenever I travel through a countryside, I never find it ugly, I find it quite tranquil and peaceful and pretty. Clearly Cobbett would have something to say about this! It is quite saddening as a reader, to think that he felt the countryside had changed so negatively that it would cause him to say it was ugly. 

Cobbett also has concerns about farmers and the people of the market who benefit from farmed produce, by saying that due to new laws, the divide between rich and poor people will grow, meaning that those poorer people and farmers using the old system will eventually become bankrupted whilst the rich people who can afford the new systems will be engulfed in wealth. The laws Cobbett was referring too included the Corn Laws, which meant that British Corn was cheaper as exported corn would be taxed, all in all strengthening the power of land owners.

Cobbett felt that working class people were being exploited by the new systems and as a result, tried to make a link to Charles Dickens who was also writing at that time. However, on the contrary, Dickens was writing about the growth in poverty and crime in the towns due to a larger population and people coming from the countryside seeking employment. Well known books such as 'Oliver Twist' demonstrate this. 

Cobbett never really gained anything out of Rural Rides and he certainly didn't make much of a difference despite his efforts. I did enjoy reading it, and I can see how passionate he was about the changes that had happened in the countryside, and if we are honest he was correct. However, Rural Rides has never really been seen as a famous or well known piece of writing.