Traces the growth of outdoor recreation and reviews the nature of present demands and the resources of land and water available in both town ad country for recreational use.

Discusses a series of themes linked to the changing use of the rural environment in the modern world. Although the text emphasises issues in Great Britain it also compares the rural scene in France, North America, Northern Europe and Eastern Europe and has general relevance for other parts of the developed world. A special feature is the wide ranging and detailed bibliography. Suitable for students of geography, sociology, town and country planning.

Rural policy has presented some of the most difficult and unexpected challenges to the New Labour government. From the Foot and Mouth crisis to the rise of the Countryside Alliance, from farm protests to concerns about rural crime, rural issues have frequently seized headlines and formed the basis of organized opposition to the government. Yet, the same government, elected with a record number of rural MPs, has also proactively sought to reform rural policy. This book critically reviews and analyses the development and implementation of New Labour's rural policies since 1997. It explores the factors shaping the evolution and form of New Labour's rural agenda, and assesses the impact of specific policies. Contributions examine discursive restructuring of the rural policy agenda, the institutional reforms and effects of devolution, the key political debates and challenges around hunting, agricultural reform, Foot and Mouth, housing development and the 'right to roam', and review policy developments with respect to crime, social exclusion and employment in the countryside, rural community governance and national parks. New Labour's Countryside will be of interest to students of contemporary British politics and of rural studies, and to anyone involved in the government and politics of the countryside.

This book is about the new politics of leisure and pleasure - the values, practices, struggles and contradictions that now characterize the social worlds of rambling, drinking, tourism, sex, watching TV, gambling, using the internet, reading, comedy, sport, popular music and censorship.

This wide-ranging volume, first published in 1983, reflects the increasing scope of the field of rural geography in the second half of the twentieth century. Although traditional areas of study such as agriculture and the land-use patterns of the countryside remained important, scholars also began to consider rural transport, employment, housing and policy, as well as to develop new theories and methodologies for application to study. The chapters included here addressed the need for a review of the changes that had taken place within the field of rural geography, and as such provide an essential background to students with an interest in rural demography, planning and agriculture.

Containing over 25,000 entries, this unique volume will be absolutely indispensable for all those with an interest in Britain in the twentieth century. Accessibly arranged by theme, with helpful introductions to each chapter, a huge range of topics is covered. There is a comprehensiveindex.

This book covers all the key aspects of leisure theory, policy and practice. Coverage includes leisure concepts and the dimensions of leisure, its activity forms, participants, provision, leisure and social theory and the future of leisure. Exercises and discussion topics are included at the end of each chapter to enable the reader to apply theory to examples. Excellent guides to further reading are also included.

For at least half a century since the emergence of Country Parks and Forest Parks, countryside services have provided leisure, tourism, conservation, restoration and regeneration across Britain. Yet these services are currently being decimated as public services are sacrificed to the new era of austerity. The role and importance of countryside management have been barely documented, and the consequences and ramifications of cuts to these services are overlooked and misunderstood. This volume rigorously examines the issues surrounding countryside management in Britain. The author brings together the results of stakeholder workshops and interviews, and in-depth individual case studies, as well as a major study for the Countryside Agency which assessed and evaluated every countryside service provision in England. A full and extensive literature review traces the ideas of countryside management back to their origins, and the author considers the wider relationships and ramifications with countryside and ranger provisions around the world, including North America and Europe. The book provides a critical overview of the history and importance of countryside management, detailing the achievements of a largely forgotten sector and highlighting its pivotal yet often underappreciated role in the wellbeing of people and communities. It serves as a challenge to students, planners, politicians, conservationists, environmentalists, and land managers, in a diversity of disciplines that work with or have interests in countryside, leisure and tourism, community issues, education, and nature conservation.

Highlighting the inter-relationships between tourism, leisure and recreation, this revised edition introduces growing theoretical debates (from geography and the wider social science arena) to assess how new conceptualizations of tourism and leisure are advancing knowledge and understanding. Underpinning this book is the concept of the evolving nature of geography and social science, and their role in leading the analysis of the leisure phenomenon as a living subject, which has recently seen significant contributions from the new cultural geographies of consumption and leisure. These developments are clearly introduced, giving readers new to the subject area bite-sized introductions to key issues. Whilst this third edition retains the successful format and structure of previous editions, making it attractive and user-friendly to students without being overwhelming, it is completely revised and redeveloped to accommodate new case studies, insights, summary points and learning objectives. It is the only book to systematically compare and contrast in a spatial context, tourism and recreation in relation to leisure time, and its encyclopaedic reference section provides an excellent resource for new students. Retaining a global focus, this edition now features a greater emphasis on North America, and investigates the importance of less developed countries and the critical issues surrounding inequality, exploitation, underdevelopment and globalization as powerful forces affecting tourism and leisure.

This book not only introduces studies and recent contributions to geographers' expanding interest in how people spend their leisure time in space, but seeks to illustrate how recreation and tourism phenomenon are seemingly separate and yet integrated aspects of the wider leisure phenomenon. Each chapter offers a series of insights into how the geographer has approached the analysis of tourism and recreation. (Midwest).