ABSTRACT
If asked in a survey to articulate the characteristics of a ‘typical’ English rural resident (if such there can be claimed to be), it is highly likely that the majority of respondents would paint a picture of a relatively unchanging, predominantly mono-cultural society where farmers and young families co-mingle with a number of middle-class incomers who seek refuge in a rural idyll from the challenges of urban life, and a smattering of ageing eccentric rural ‘characters’ and a squire or two may be encountered in the village pub or store.
