Rethinking our Relationship with the Countryside with Patrick Galbraith

'Galbraith has written a book about the countryside and its vital issues with a clarity of mind and prose possessed by few, if any. Galbraith is fair-minded (now there's a rare quality), always grounded, and has a knack of collecting interesting people to talk to.' John Lewis-Stempel

Patrick Galbraith grew up in Scotland. His writing had appeared in Observer, The Spectator, The Times, The Telegraph, and The Fence. He was editor of Shooting Times for seven for seven years. He is now a columnist for Country Life and The Critic. Currently he works as a commissioning editor at the independent publisher, Unbound, where he also runs Unbound's literaray magazine, Boundless.

In Uncommon Ground, Patrick takes us on an extraordinary tour of rural Britain, from the Hebrides to Devon, and from Anglo-Saxon England to the present day. To uncover the truth and fully understand our deep connection with the land, he meets farmers, Irish Travellers, politicians, salmon poachers, and the nation's most-hated landowners, as well as activists calling for a total abolition of the right to own land.

The countryside is under increasing pressure and people, the science shows, need nature. Access to the countryside is essential for our health, our happiness and our future. But does nature need us?

In January 2023, the largest land access demonstration since the 1930s took place on a bright wintery morning on Dartmoor. The access movement demands that the countryside be thrown open. This, they argue, would help nature by giving the public the opportunity to hold farmers and wealthy landowners to account.

But would it really work for Britain's growing population to spill out across the countryside, and is access quite as restricted as we are led to believe?

In his much-celebrated style, Galbraith works hard to listen to those who often don't get listened to. This raking survey of our fast-changing country, reveals the essence of rural Britain's soul. Uncommon Ground argues that what matters is not greater access but how we engage with the land and demands that landowners give us more opportunities to do so, while also giving endangered wildlife the right to tranquility.