As it was said in the seminar William Cobbett was born in 1763 in Farnham, Surrey. He was taught to read and write by his father and worked on the family farm, before leaving for London. He joined the army and reached the rank of Corporal, but was branded a trouble maker and kicked out, after he tried exposing the quartermaster for stealing from the Army. In 1802 he started a newspaper, the Political Register, and would use this as a tool to wield his political opinion with in the public realm. He had several encounters with the law because of his criticisms of the government, which caused him to flee to America, but he returned to England. In 1821 he toured around Britain and record his journey in his journal and published his findings in the Political Register and a book called Rural Rides. William Cobbett died on 18th of June, 1835.
Rural Rides is a very good portrait of the countryside at the time, it's a hands approach to gathering information, to get a in depth view of what was happening around the country; in terms social, economical and political problems. It was said in the seminar that Cobbett was inspired to do because there were many people in the cities saying things about the country side and throwing wild rumours around; so Cobbett thought he would go see what is really going on.
Reading Rural rides it seems to lay the foundations for many things that we are familiar with these days. To put in context, by today's standards, you could compare it to shows like Top Gear, Grand Designs, Micheal Palin's travel documentaries and David Attenbury's documentaries. Rural Rides is travel reporting, in which someone embarks on a journey to investigate the world and go to places that normal people cant go to. These programmes allow people to experience the world from the comfort of their living room, like Rural Rides would allow people from the cities to experience the country side without leaving their taverns or coffee houses. Although it is a detailed portrayal of the countryside at the time, it is worth pointing out that Rural Rides is littered with personal opinion and bias, for example Cobbett said "All Middlesex is ugly" and "Exceedingly dull". These opinions and bias might compromise the integrity of his report.
It was also said in the lecture that Cobbet's method of journalism, is similar to foreign correspondents that feature heavily on the news these days. Foreign correspondences travel to locations all over the world, to find out what is happening there, to try and gather information first hand and report it back to London, for example. This is similar to what Cobbett was trying to achieve with his tour around Britain, bringing the countryside to the people in the cities. Another example is War correspondents that report from the front line, relaying information that other people do not have access to because they don't want to be on the front line of a War zone.
As I said earlier, Rural Rides could be compared to entertainment shows such as Top Gear and Grand Designs; although what Cobbett discovered was not really intended to be entertaining. I mean in the sense that experts test, critise, review and comment on things that the everyday man faces in everyday life. Cobbett knew allot about farming and on his travels helped farmers out. Whilst reading Rural Rides I could not help but think that Cobbett was the Jeremy Clarkson of his day; someone who knows his stuff about a certain topic, wither it be farming and politics or cars, who is not afford to criticise the government and say his piece of mind. Clarkson comments on the world in his books and offers his opinion on social, economic and political subject manner; maybe not academically all the time, but it is similar to Cobbett. For example Cobbet said "All Middlesex is ugly", and if I did not know better this could of come from Jeremy Clarkson's mouth.
Cobbett uses the term "political courage" when discussing the politicians changing their views to fit with the reformists. I like this term and my understanding of it is the "courage of acknowledging your errors" it takes a stronger will of person to admit they are wrong than to cower behind the ignorance of their mistakes. Most politicians lack this political courage as they are to scared to level with the public and hold their hands up and admit their mistakes because they are to concerned about losing voters. I personally think I would respect, and therefore be more likely to vote for an MP, who does hold his hands up and admit mistakes but tries his hardest to rectify them. An honest MP, that will be the day.
I found Rural Rides an enjoyable and informative read.
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