Taking a Trip to the Countryside

Hey Cats,

Millions of us Brits live in cities or large towns, and rarely get out into the countryside. There’s so
much to do in a city - all of life is there, people, dining, activities, entertainments shopping; even
parks and gardens if you want to have a stroll through some trees. A lot of city-dwellers even feel
a bit suspicious about the countryside, believing it be mainly boring and/or be fragranced with the
smell of farm animals. If you haven’t visited the country for a while, or ever, now is a great time to
take the plunge, with summer nearly here and green spaces looking their best.
What’s so great about the countryside?
If nothing else, it will be a change of scenery. You may have failed to appreciate the truly amazing
variety of natural landscapes across the British Isles, simply because you’ve not taken the
opportunity to look properly. The great thing about our country is that it has such different scenery
within relatively short distances, so you could easily go from sandy beach to rocky cliff to moorland
to green fields to forests to mountain ranges, all in the same day! It can be very peaceful and
relaxing, which could do you the world of good if you have a stressful life and are usually
surrounded by the intensity and noise of city life. There are also some wonderful visitor attractions
in the country, so it’s not all about grass and livestock; and wherever you are you won’t be too far
from civilisation if you need a shop or a pub.


Making the most of your trip
Although there are fewer pubs now than there were a few years ago, there are still plenty of
excellent ones to try, most offering very good quality meals. If you really want to get into the spirit
of things, make yourself some fancy sandwiches and take a picnic with you. Remember it will be hot,
even if it’s cloudy, so store your picnic in a cooler to keep it fresh. There are so many great coolers
to choose from, in all shapes and sizes, but make sure you get a good quality one that will keep your
food sufficiently chilled.
Walking or cycling are some of the most popular activities in the countryside, and you will get to
see some beautiful sights like waterfalls, ancient woodlands, lakes and wildlife if you choose this
option.

If you want a more relaxing view of the country, a restored steam engine is the way to travel, such
as the North York Moors Railway that will take you from Pickering to Whitby through some of the
most stunning scenery you could wish for.


If you’ve always loved dinosaurs and fossils, how about a trip to the Jurassic Coast to look for some
yourself? Take a boat out on a Scottish loch and go on a Nessie hunt, or take your picnic up to the
Dan-Yr-Ogof caves in the Brecon Beacons for a look at an underground wonderland.

City life is lively and lots of fun, but the countryside is too, so don’t dismiss it as being boring until
you’ve tried it for yourself.


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