Experiences of Place and Change in Rural Landscapes: Three English Case Studies
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University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2015 Experiences of Place and Change in Rural Landscapes: Three English Case Studies Wheeler, Rebecca http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/3366 Plymouth University All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. EXPERIENCES OF PLACE AND CHANGE IN RURAL LANDSCAPES: THREE ENGLISH CASE STUDIES by REBECCA WHEELER A thesis submitted to Plymouth University in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences December 2014 Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author's prior consent. i Abstract This thesis examines how changes to rural places and landscapes are experienced by residents and incorporated into place attachments and identities over time. It does so through exploring findings from seventy-eight qualitative, ‘emplaced’, oral history interviews in three English villages: Mullion (Cornwall); Askam and Ireleth (Cumbria); and Martham (Norfolk). These villages are located near to at least one existing windfarm, which – as an example of rural change - provides a common focus for the research. The research is informed by a ‘middle-ground’ theoretical approach that considers discursive and experiential aspects of people-environment relationships and pays particular attention to how engagements with the past are enrolled in shaping experiences of landscape, place and change. Attitudes towards rural place-change are identified as being shaped by four complex, relational facets, viz: i) discursive interpretations of rural place, (post)nature and temporality; ii) experiential factors; iii) assessments of utility; and iv) local contexts. The thesis draws these together into a conceptual framework that helps guide analyses of place-change experiences. The framework’s value is demonstrated through applying it to the example of windfarms. The results reveal perceptions to be complex and multifarious but suggest that changes can be incorporated into place attachments and identities so long as highly- valued place assets are not harmed. The research makes a valuable contribution to geography by enhancing understandings about everyday rural lives and experiences; and revealing parallels between academic and lay discourses about landscape, ‘nature’ and place-temporality. It also adds to the considerable literature on perceptions of renewable energy by providing insights into attitudes towards windfarms at the post- construction, rather than proposal, stage. ii Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ........................................................................................................... vii List of Boxes ............................................................................................................. vii List of Illustrations ................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... ix Author’s declaration ................................................................................................... x Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research background and rationale .................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Rural change................................................................................................. 1 1.1.2 Temporalities of place and landscape ........................................................... 3 1.1.3 ‘Nature’ and heritage in rural landscapes ...................................................... 5 1.1.4 Windfarms as place-change .......................................................................... 8 1.2 Research aims .................................................................................................. 10 1.3 Structure of thesis.............................................................................................. 11 Chapter 2. Contextualising rural change ................................................................. 15 2.1 Introduction........................................................................................................ 15 2.2 Rurality .............................................................................................................. 16 2.2.1 Contested and changing rural space ........................................................... 16 2.2.2 The discursive rural ..................................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Rural community ......................................................................................... 20 2.2.4 Theoretical plurality and relational rurals ..................................................... 24 2.3 Place attachment and resistance to change ...................................................... 28 2.4 Attitudes towards windfarms and other non-‘natural’ structures ......................... 32 2.4.1 Energy infrastructure as disruptive to place attachments?........................... 34 2.4.2 ‘Societal’ objects in a ‘natural’ landscape: Windfarms as ‘out of place’ ........ 35 2.4.3 Energy infrastructure and positive associations with place .......................... 38 2.4.4 Windfarms as congruent in a hybrid countryside?: A relational perspective 39 2.4.5 Do attitudes change over time? ................................................................... 41 2.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 3. Understanding experiences of rural place-change: Landscape, place and temporality ......................................................................................................... 45 3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................ 45 3.2 Conceptualising place and landscape................................................................ 46 3.2.1 Constructivist perspectives .......................................................................... 46 3.2.2 Experiential perspectives ............................................................................ 50 3.2.3 Combining the discursive and experiential .................................................. 54 3.3 Temporality in conceptualisations of place and landscape ................................. 56 3.3.1 Temporal fixity in representations of rural place .......................................... 56 3.3.2 Temporal fluidity: Place as process ............................................................. 58 iii 3.4 Place, past and identity ..................................................................................... 61 3.4.1 Engaging with the past: History and heritage .............................................. 62 3.4.2 Engaging with the past: Everyday space and memory ................................ 65 3.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 68 Chapter 4. A case study approach .......................................................................... 72 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 72 4.2 Using case studies ............................................................................................ 74 4.3 Introducing the case studies .............................................................................. 77 4.3.1 Mullion ........................................................................................................ 77 4.3.2 Askam and Ireleth ....................................................................................... 82 4.3.3 Martham ..................................................................................................... 87 4.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 92 Chapter 5. Research design and methodology ...................................................... 93 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 93 5.2 Exploring place and change through oral (hi)stories .......................................... 94 5.3 Emplaced and mobile interviews ....................................................................... 96 5.4 Interview design .............................................................................................. 101 5.4.1 Interview format and procedure................................................................. 101 5.4.2 Research participants ..............................................................................