On the 26th April 1932, two days after the Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout, the Yorkshire Post published an article by Winifred Holtby. It was entitled "A Green Revolution?" and subtitled "The Urban Country Lover and England's Future".
Holtby began the article by describing her initial disdain for all the weekend countryfolk - the urban dwellers who arrived en-masse with their unnecessarily bulky knap sacks and bicycles. And particularly those who bought weekend cottages, pushing up prices for locals - a problem that we have still failed to tackle today. But then one day, she overheard a discussion among some young city folk about the work of the shepherd, and this changed her mind. She investigated further and concluded:
"Something is happening in England. This newly-found passion of townsmen for the country does not end in scattered paper bags, trampled crops and wild flowers torn up by the roots...Townsmen are becomeing aware of the country. That is not just a trusim, it is a fact of political, economic and social importance."
She went on to describe how many European countries suffered from rural uprisings after the war, but not here - despite the grievances held by many country folk and the entrenched view of urban and rural being at odds with each other. However, this green mania gave her hope for the future. She points out that those youngsters currently filling the countryside, going about looking at things and asking questions, were the legislators of the future.
Holtby concludes:
"I am beginning to think that our green revolution may come, not through the revolt of the village against the city, but through a new understanding of the city for the farm."
This was agriculture's big chance to become top of the agenda.
Holtby's title - a green revolution - shows how the colour green was firmly connected to the countryside and to rural living. And also, coming so soon after Kinder Scout, the article illustrates a connection with the push to get outdoors and find, if only for a day, a slower pace of life. Was the fashion for green connected to a deep desire among the British to slow down, to stop and smell the flowers, in a world that was increasingly moving too fast?
