Rural by Rebecca Smith
This is a brilliant and shocking exploration of rural working class life that reflects on our British culture and history in a way that is as important today as it was at the peak of the industrial revolution.
Rebecca’s father was a woodsman, as is her brother now. They have been tied by housing contracts and work as well as a passion for the landscapes in which they have lived and worked. This generational pattern is to be seen all across the industries that have defined our countryside.
Each chapter explores a different industry: mining, farming, mill working, tourism, to name a few. In Rebecca’s research, she is brutally honest about the injustice of serfdom, working conditions, housing, pay disputes and class discrimination. It is highlighted that these issues have transformed rather than disappeared. Rebecca visits many of the locations of these, some of which are only to be remembered in place names and memorials. Pregnant, worried for her loved ones and considering her family’s working history, the book is a personal story.
The social and personal history is perfectly balanced. Rebecca is fondly nostalgic for her own rural childhood and her love for the countryside is integral to her family in a way she wouldn’t be without.
This month’s location: Forest of Dean