Tolkien really was a serious reactionary.

I’m not a fan of cars or environmental damage but the idyll that he puts on a pedestal just didn’t exist for the vast majority of humans in Britain (let alone elsewhere in the world)

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shrubble 5 hours ago | parent [-]

The Cotswolds documented at their tail end (ended by the motorcycle and car) by Laurie Lee in "Cider With Rosie" had about the same existence for centuries.

	▲	reillyse an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I would push back on that concept a bit. I think if you lived in the Cotswolds in say 1920 you would be agog with the pace of change. Bicycles, industry, exploration the world even literacy. Everything around you was changing and the idea that this place was unchanged is simply not true. Somebody in 1820 might not be able to read but by 1920 literacy had hit 96-97% (numbers for the UK in general), books became far more common etc etc Change is the only constant.