DEVON IS HEAVEN IF YOU WANT THE COUNTRY LIFE

County voted best for scenery, pubs, food, heritage and green credentials:

Devon’s rolling landscapes, feted heritage sites and cosy fireside pubs have made it the best place in the country to live, according to Country Life magazine.  The county has a greater number of farm shops and local butchers, has the best recycling rate and impeccable environmental credentials.

It has an array of good pubs and the beauty of Dartmoor.  The magazine rated each English county on its performance across 19 categories, including health, schools, environment and heritage.  It also looked at village greens, the quality of the local pubs and the number of residents in Who’s Who.  The third biggest county was voted best for green credentials, local food, pubs, heritage and landscape.  “Few counties can match the variety that Devon manages to pack inside its borders,” said Mark Hedges, the magazine’s editor.

It is only the second time that this type of survey has been carried out..  Devon was top in 2003 as well.  However, it was half way down the table for the category for the county with the most influential residents, with just 237 entries in Who’s Who.  Oxfordshire had the highest number, 890, followed by Surrey and Cambridgeshire.  In his report on the survey, Clive Aslet, editor-at-large, writes:  “Every county has its special qualities, which speak to the heart of the people who know them. 

“Northumberland’s wild, empty beaches, Herefordshire’s orchards, the round flint towers of Norfolk churches, the intimacy of Kent.  As for Yorkshire, it is a kingdom, if not a universe, unto itself.  But few counties can match the variety that Devon manages to pack into its 2589 square miles.”

He adds:  “You can take Devon warm, sitting around a log fire drinking scrumpy, or take it wild, as Sherlock Holmes discovered when he camped out on Dartmoor, investigating a certain hound."” A Devon resident, the television and radio broadcaster Judi Spiers, said “The north coast has superb sandy beaches and crashing waves which draw the surfing fraternity, while there is the elegant Regency resort of Sidmouth on the east coast.  There are green fields, and scenery full of rustic charm and chocolate box thatched cottages.  If you are a hiker, a weekend walker or a yomping Marine, there is Dartmoor. 

“If it is history you’re after, you have prehistoric burial grounds, old copper mines and Sir Francis Drake’s bowling green.  With all this, and the best cream teas in the word, who would ever want to move back to the big city?” The statisics were gathered from government departments, countryside organisations, The Met Office and the Good Pub Guide.

Counties in the south of England occupied the top 11 places in the table.  The highest northern county was North Yorkshire, which came 12th.  East Yorkshire dropped from seventh place in 2003 to 40th and last in the rankings.  It fared badly on health, flood risk and council performance.  Devon took the local food category easily.  Hampshire had the highest number of shooting enthusiasts.

The average lifespan of both men and women is longer in Rutland than elsewhere.  West Yorkshire was 32nd overall, but came top of the arts category, because of the number of literary festivals and the range of museums.  Buckinghamshire, Shropshire, Suffolk and Hampshire were tied for the best council performance.  Herefordshire claimed the crown as the cleanest county, while Hampshire had the lowest council tax.