Almost 85% of us live in urban areas. With the health benefits of spending time in the great outdoors now well-proven, we've rounded up some beautiful, perhaps lesser-known, locations with easy public transport links from some of England and Wales' most populous cities.
On 24th April 1932, hundreds of walkers, many from Sheffield and Manchester, walked up to Kinder Scout in the Peak District. It was an organised mass trespass on land which was at that time fenced off by landowners. The countryside, the walkers argued, should be for all. Scuffles broke out between the trespassers and gamekeepers, and later, six of the ramblers were arrested and imprisoned for between two and six months. The incarceration of the protesters caused public outrage and drew attention to the lack of access to the countryside in Britain. The walkers might have lost their battle on that Sunday long ago, but the trespass and its aftermath helped lead to the passing of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act in 1949, opening up vast swathes of land for the general public’s enjoyment.
Today, our National Parks and National Landscapes – the new name for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – are our playgrounds, places that allow us to relax, to breathe, to spend time with family and friends, to inspire children, and to care for our environment. Incredibly, 66% of us live within half an hour's journey of a National Landscape. In them, we walk, run, cycle, climb, kayak and swim. Protected within them are lakes and rivers, moorland and mountains, waterways and farmland, and all have the legal purpose "to conserve and enhance the beauty of the area". And remember: we all need some green space.
