BBC adventurer Simon Reeve reveals his new battleground is exposing the plight of the ‘rural, white working class’ edged out of the countryside by the middle classes buying up second homes they don’t live in
- Simon Reeve, 49, explores class in his new BBC series, Touring the Lake District
- Said in one village near Ambleside, just two out of 28 houses are lived in full-time
- Explored financial struggles of hill farmers and the lack of job opportunities
Simon Reeve has claimed that his new series on the Lake District exposes the plight of the ‘rural, white working class’ who have been edged out of the countryside by the middle classes snapping up second homes they don’t live in.
The BBC adventurer, 49, who lives on the east side of Dartmoor with his wife, Anya, and their son, Jake, 10, focuses on the issue of class in his new show, Touring the Lake District.
‘The biggest realisation for me in the series was that there is a great risk of the countryside becoming a place primarily, or just, for the middle class,’ he said, speaking to The Telegraph. ‘It’s definitely getting harder to be poorer in rural Britain.’
He went on to explain how properties within national parks are approximately 20 per cent more expensive than those outside the area – noting that shockingly, in one village near Ambleside, just two out of 28 houses are lived in full-time.
Simon Reeve, 49, who lives on the east side of Dartmoor with his wife, Anya, and their son, Jake, 10, focuses on the issue of class in his new show, Touring the Lake District. Pictured, at Haweswater, Lake District National Park
In his latest adventure, the best-selling author and broadcaster also explores the financial struggles of hill farmers. Pictured, with with farmer, David Thompson and his Fell Ponies in the Lake District National Park
In his latest adventure, the best-selling author and broadcaster also explores the financial struggles of hill farmers and hears from locals who are angry by the rapid increase in second homes and holiday lets in the countryside.
He also pays a visit to Whitehaven and Barrow-in-Furness – towns outside the national park – where he learns that job opportunities are scarce, meaning possible struggles for younger generations.
‘We want functioning communities in rural Britain, and we’ve really got to address how the countryside is a space for all,’ said the BBC travel presenter.
‘We don’t want a situation where the worker bees are in small towns around the edge of national parks and commute in to serve the tourists and the wealthy.’
The adventurer appeared on ITV’s Lorraine on 14 October 2021
The adventurer used Switzerland, where they cap the percentage of second homes in a community at 20 per cent, as a role model example, suggesting the issue should be spoken about in Britain sooner rather than later.
‘These are bits of Britain we don’t always get to see,’ he added. ‘And definitely one of the most under-served, under-reached parts of the country has been the rural, white working class.’
Reeve, who reveals he lost his west London accent quickly when he started working at a newspaper to ‘fit in,’ also urged his son to follow in his footsteps so that he too, would be able to flit between different situations ‘seamlessly.’
He went on to question whether the nation has become so self-obsessed.
‘What the hell would Brits say today if they were called up to fight the Nazis?’ he added. ‘I really wonder whether we’ve been so brainwashed by individualism and “because you’re worth it” that we’d say, “Well, not bloody me.”‘