UK Nature and Environment

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For proof, you only need look at the 15 national parks found across England, Scotland and Wales (there are no national parks currently in Northern Ireland), which change dramatically from the towering peaks of the Cairngorms to the sprawling waterways of the Broads, from the gently rolling South Downs to the broad beaches of the Pembrokeshire coast.

This year is the 75th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, which led to the creation of the UK's national parks, starting with the Peak District in 1951. The visionary legislation secured access-for-all to open countryside, while also serving to protect precious wildlife and places of immense natural beauty.

A concept imported from the United States (Yellowstone, established in 1872, was the world's first national park), the UK's national parks were "the culmination of political battles that had been fought for decades", says Carey Davies, hiker, naturalist and author of the new book National Parks Of The United Kingdom (Ithaka Press). "The Industrial Revolution made the British the world's first predominantly urban population. It's vital that people have breathing spaces and retain our connections to the land. But the idea that nature is good for people and that people needed access to the countryside was particularly pronounced after the UK had been through the horrors of World War Two. There was an exhausted population. Britain can feel like a crowded place in our cities but national parks can be oases of calm and space."