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Re: the negative. I experienced a bit of both, as at the time of my country ramblings, I lived in the middle of Chelmsley Wood, one of the largest council estate in Europe at the time. I think we just wandered miles cos' we could. I have mixed memories of living there, obviously concrete and system build tower blocks were king in our neck of the woods, though I do recall light and airy primary/junior schools, and a surprising amount of greenery in amongst the houses and estates. I guess we were lucky, as we moved in when it was all new, in fact, I seem to recall they were still building Area 3 when we moved in, and we didn't have a garden for years as the grass took an age to grow. Also luckily, we lived about 500m from one of the oldest woods in Warwickshire, it's still there, Alcott Wood, I had to walk through it to get to school from the ages of 5 till 11 or so. Guess that's were my love of nature and general adventuring was born. The 'estate' changed for the worse in the mid 80's under Thatchers regime, but by that time we'd moved to Tamworth, and back into the green belt. Luckily, my kids had a similar upbringing, the river is only about 500m from our house, full of trout, tadpoles and tiddlers, and the area is puddled with parks, lakes, canals and green spaces, even though we're still only 2 miles from Birmingham city center and about 1/2 a mile from Sarehole Mill (allegedly Tolkein's boyhood stomping ground, though I gotta say the link to him is played up a lot in Birmingham, but is tenuous at best). I won't say they rambled as much or as far as I did, they have different distractions these days, but they say they've enjoyed a more out-doorsey upbringing than many of their mates. They are 19 and 22 now, and both still love the great outdoors, as well as all the techy pastimes we've embraced since they were younger. So those days and experiences are still available to those who seek em' out.
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