Country Living: The Lives of Rural Teens
As the youthquake swept across Britain, access to this newfound teen experience was allusive to some. Without youth-specific facilities and effective transport links, rural teenagers had to create their own spaces. Sian Edwards delves into the teen experience in the countryside and how their lives changed over the course of the 20th century.
Text by Sian Edwards | 27.07.23
Tracey Thorn recalls the banality and dullness of growing up in suburban England during the 1970s. That place, between the city and the countryside, she calls an ‘inbetweenland’ in her 2019 autobiography. Like the many individuals who recall experiences of growing up outside of the major towns and cities of the post-war ‘youthquake’, her account of adolescence is tinged with a sense that she had ‘missed out’ on the excitement experienced by urban teenagers. It was believed those growing up in urban conurbations such as Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester and, of course, London, who were believed to be the beneficiaries of the ‘modern’ social and cultural shifts that occurred following the Second World War. The rise of a commercialised leisure industry aimed at youth along with the availability of unskilled, high paid work gave urban teenagers the opportunity to create a distinct teenage identity forged away from parental control. For rural teenagers however experiences of being young were highly dependent on the extremely regional and local nature of the rural community you grew up in. For example, various levels of electrification, transport links and the nature of the local industry or agricultural practice could dramatically impact the extent to which rural young people could engage in the dominant youth cultures. Meanwhile, despite the facilities provided on many post-war suburban housing estates, many young people living in the suburbia’s of Britain found themselves at a distance from the ‘authentic’ teenage experience.
One of the most dramatic ways that rural experiences of growing up differed from the urban was the lack of access to mass, commercialised leisure activities. During the 1950s and 1960s the urban teenagers could take advantage of the many pursuits aimed at young people such as the cinema, dance halls and coffee bars whereas rural teenagers could not. The absence of these activities in rural areas was principally a result of two interlinking issues, firstly a lack of facilities and secondly the minimal transport links to nearby towns and cities. While technological developments such as the gradual growth of car ownership and the introduction of the television would have a significant impact on young people, these changes were often slower to take off in rural areas. By the middle of the twentieth century many villages were still without a reliable electricity supply and not all were served by a regular bus service meaning access to shops, cinemas, restaurants, and clubs in nearby urban centres was difficult. As well as the lack of symbolic spaces of teenage leisure there was also a lack of youth clubs, which were popular in towns due to the role they played in the socialising of the younger generation, due to a lack of sufficient space and a difficulty in attracting adult volunteers.. This resulted in a discontent amongst young people towards the nature of leisure pursuits on offer and was considered by contemporaries to be one of the main reasons for the large numbers of rural young people migrating to towns. In 1957 farmers were even advertising the face that they owned televisions to entice young workers to stay in rural areas.
"Despite the policing of many social behaviours the spatial layout of a typical rural village allowed for elements of autonomy, with fields, woodlands and riverbanks providing the perfect escape from the prying eyes of neighbours."
Financial constraints were a further restriction on rural teenagers’ leisure opportunities. The continued importance of farming families in many rural areas, alongside the shortage of varied and alternative labour meant that rural teenagers could have less disposable income to spend. While working-class teenagers found themselves with more disposable income than their parents had had at their age, rural peers were less able to take advantage of the post-war economic boom. Sons and daughters of farmers were expected to participate in agricultural work on the family farm, as well as girls being expected to perform domestic labour in the home, meaning that they had less time to pursue paid work. For this reason, even if teenagers had access to urban centres for the purpose of leisure or shopping, it was unlikely to see the displays of youthful hedonism and extravagance exhibited by urban subcultures such as the Teddy Boys and later the Mods.
Of course, the teenagers of rural Britain still found ways to have fun. Adult-facilitated leisure was one of the key ways, outside of school, that rural youth met, socialised and enjoyed themselves. Youth organisations including Young Farmers’ Clubs and the Young Conservatives provided rural teenagers with legitimate and adult approved spaces in which they could congregate and enjoy themselves. These groups often organised local dances, film showings and outdoor activities which attracted middle-class youth in villages across the country. Importantly these events could also provide space for courtship as youth could socialise with ‘like-minded’ individuals, encouraging the continuation of farming families in predominantly agricultural areas. Church groups played a similar role, reflecting the way teenage culture within rural context grew within existing structures and relied on adult intervention. Intervention meant that the behaviour and romantic relationships of rural youth, particularly girls, was often monitored with the size and closeness of many rural communities meaning that there was little chance to escape the scrutiny of adults. This was particularly true for teenagers in farming families, whose courtship habits were monitored more closely to ensure that they had chosen the most economically advantageous partner.
Despite the policing of many social behaviours the spatial layout of a typical rural village allowed for elements of autonomy, with fields, woodlands and riverbanks providing the perfect escape from the prying eyes of neighbours. Rural teenagers could be found cycling, swimming in local rivers and lakes, playing sports, hunting and rambling across the countryside with friends. The use of the countryside for leisure and courtship was often met with amused tolerance and caused very minor concern. Until the late 1950s when the national press became increasingly concerned with the behaviour of Teddy Boys in the Peak District, who ‘cast a shadow’ of troublesome behaviour over the area by uprooting hedge posts, damaging crops and throwing rocks. Such activities were seasonal and, in the winter especially, it was common for the teenagers of a rural village to stay at home with their parents - leaving public courtships for the summer months.
From the mid-1960s onwards, some rural teenagers had the time and money to give to driving lessons, rural adolescents from middle-class backgrounds increasingly found themselves with access to scooters, motorcycles, and cars, which allowed them easier access to urban sites of teenage leisure. Trips to the cinema or nightclub in the nearest town or city became common, particularly for those whose parents owned a car or who could rely upon friends and romantic partners for lifts. Suggesting that, far from being isolated and restricted, teenagers increasingly brought urban popular culture and leisure into rural spaces.
Despite this many rural teenagers still felt as if they were ‘missing out’ on the excitement of the apparent ‘Swinging Sixties’. Partly due to the public behaviour and romantic conduct of the teens still being monitored heavily by the local community as church-going and religious belief remained an important feature of rural life. For those who didn’t own means of transportation (who weremore likely to be working class) the continued reliance on infrequent or inconsistent bus routes provided a barrier to accessing leisure and shopping opportunities. Rural teenagers were less able to be spontaneous and impulsive than urban teenagers. A missed bus or disagreement with peers could leave teens stranded miles from home, particularly difficult for girls who could find themselves in dangerous situations without any means of getting home. As a result of this parents could become overbearing and protective, demanding they chaperone their daughters to and from the bus stop, provide lifts or impose strict curfews.
However, despite restrictions the ability to travel into urban centres was revolutionary for the development of youth culture in the countryside. By the 1970s, many teenagers had the ability to travel for shopping, leisure and entertainment, meaning that urban styles could often be found in both rural and suburban areas. As electrification was becoming more widespread, record players, radios and televisions were more frequently found in the homes and bedrooms of rural teenagers, meaning that subcultural styles such as Punk increasingly found an audience in rural youth. For some, such as Tracey Thorn, music was a route through which they could express their dissatisfaction and boredom with provincial life. For some, this dissatisfaction was intensified by the continued decline of industry in rural mining villages and traditionally agricultural areas leading to the continued drift of youth from rural to urban. Indeed, as cities and towns continued to be the hub of shopping and entertainment, adolescents in both villages and suburban estates continued to navigate feelings of isolation and difference, with many going to great lengths to participate in the cultural trends blowing up in towns and cities nearby.
Siân Edwards is Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Winchester. She has published a number of works on youth and the countryside, including her 2018 monograph Youth Movements, Citizenship and the English Countryside. Her recent work explores popular environmentalism and youth culture in Britain at the end of the twentieth century.
@DrSianEdwards
