7 October

In world terms, the UK was very late to introduce national parks, only in the second half of the 20th century. The reason why is very interesting. There was no untouched land left in the UK, its landscape is entirely man-made. And unlike other countries, which introduced national parks to protect wilderness, in the UK the motivation was very different. Because much of the land was owned by historically privileged landowners, the push for national parks was much more about access to these lands. More a class struggle thing. The idea of national parks reflects our ideas about nature. In many ways the UK model is much healthier, the landscape and humans coexist. It’s why it’s so stunningly beautiful. In much of the rest of the world the landscape is trashed, and national parks are a desperate attempt to save what’s left.