An American Write: Bill Bryson Wants the UK Pickled

BILL Bryson says:

Mr Bryson, President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), highlighted the ‘miracle’ of the British countryside in his inaugural speech yesterday and warned that efforts to safeguard it needed to be redoubled.

He told CPRE volunteers at the organisation’s annual general meeting in London that he had often wondered why “the whole of England” was not made into a national park.

“In what way, after all, are the Yorkshire Dales superior to the Durham Dales?” Mr Bryson said.

“Why is the New Forest worthy of exalted status but glorious Dorset unworthy? “It’s all lovely,” he said.

“And there’s not much of it. On the surface area of the Earth, only a tiny fragment - 0.0174069% or so I gather - can call itself Great Britain.

“The fragment that is England is even tinier. So it’s rare and dangerously finite and every bit of it should be cherished.”

This is what happens if you spend too long on Henman Hill…

Anorak

Posted: 9th, July 2007 | In: Twitterings Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink