RuralRides

From UoWiki

Between 1822 and 1826 William Cobbett travelled throughout southern England to generate material for his Political Register and to campaign for political and financial reform. the essays he wrote were first published in book form in 1830 and have been in print ever since. As George Woodcock writes in his introduction to the Penguin edition of Rural Rides "he lived to see the Reform Bill passed and had witnessed how little it had achieved in the bettering the lot of the poor."

The essays read well in book form; Cobbett was at least half a farmer and surveys the land with a knowledgeable eye, while all the while relaying often rancorous comments about the political views of the owners of the stately homes that he passes.

Exercise: Plot one or more of Cobbett's original rides on contemporary maps and invite VeloDerive.