The English also do heritage amazingly well. There are first-class museums all over the country (many of them free), while what’s left of England’s green and pleasant land is protected with great passion and skill. Indeed, ask an English person to define their country in terms of what’s worth seeing and you’re most likely to have your attention drawn to the golden rural past. The classic images are found in every brochure – the village green, the duckpond, the country lane and the farmyard. And it’s true that it’s impossible to overstate the bucolic attractions of the various English regions, from Cornwall to the Lake District, or the delights they provide – from walkers’ trails and prehistoric stone circles to traditional pubs and obscure festivals. But despite celebrating their rural heritage, the modern-day English have an ambivalent attitude towards “the countryside”. Farming today forms only a tiny proportion of the national income and there’s a real dislocation between the population of the burgeoning towns and suburbs and the small, struggling rural communities.
Read more: http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/europe/england/#ixzz36NiaB1qr