Lost Rainforests of Britain

Guy Shrubsole's enthusiasm for the wild woods of Britain is apealing and contagious. I think he has a real point at how central these habitats are to the legend and myth of Britain, and how few tiny patches of those temperate rainforests are left. The big idea that I was left with, however, was how completely English domination (or arguably colonization) of Scotland or Wales reshaped the history of those communities, that farmers fight re-wilding and defend the ways of life that were originally imposed on them by the conquoring English. A places like Wales may identify with the yeoman sheep farmer, but that's only a ~150 year old tradition (created in large part by tax policy from David Lloyd George) and turns its back on the much longer history of Wales that included vast swaths of wild wood and different farming methods.