“Find the perfect rural idyll?” I said. “Piece of cake!” And so I headed off in search of England’s green and pleasant land for BBC North East, to discover if country life really is the best life you can live. According to a survey, carried out last year by M-Lab Research, it would seem so, as the results revealed that 80 percent of people dream of moving to a country cottage. So what is it about rural life that makes it so appealing?

For many the answer to that question seems simple. One of the main draws of rural life is the ability to soak up the landscape on your doorstep, and as I ventured into Kielder Forest I could certainly see why. With its stunning 27-mile shoreline, England’s largest forest has so little light and air pollution that it’s no wonder it was voted as Britain’s most tranquil place by the Campaign to Protect Rural England last year.

It also boasts an observatory that wouldn’t look out of place on Tracey Island. But this trip was just the beginning. I had an appointment with an easy rider.
From the tranquillity of the forest I found myself perched behind Mark Wilson, a leather-clad biker on his three-wheeled chopper. We cut through the dales, riding alongside inquisitive birds as he gave me a guided tour via the helmet intercom. The experience couldn’t have been more different later that day when I met with Jon Monks on the blustery heights of Simonside Hills. Jon is a retired shepherd turned high-tech walker who promotes this breathtaking environment with blogs, selling his shepherd walks to the world on the internet.

So that was a big tick in the landscape box, but surely there was something more. I found my answer in the market square of Allendale in Northumberland. There, Margaret Stonehouse bundled me into a minibus, the best way to see a village that could have easily inspired the writers of Postman Pat to create Greendale. “The help and support of all the locals has been invaluable,” shouted Tom Hick as he hosed down the floor of his pristine brewery, stacked high with barrels of his prize-winning ale. Recently crowned Rural Young Entrepreneur Of The Year by Lycetts and The Field, Tom produces more than 5,000 pints a week to over 100 pubs in the area. It’s easy to see why he’s content. After hearing from Margaret that the people of Allendale had fought to keep their post office and many other local businesses from going under, it seemed that Tom could concentrate on his brewing knowing that whatever happens, the folk of Allendale would do what they could to keep him going. Waving goodbye to the villagers, having waltzed with half of the over-60s at the hugely popular weekly tea dance, I could feel how proud they were of what they had. They lived so far away from anywhere else, but by pulling together they had created a community that was crowned Calor Village of the Year in 2006.

But there was no chance to stop on my whistle-stop quest for the perfect slice of country life. Before I knew it, I was shovelling bread into an enormous oven. Not the classic stone-fronted bakery in a cobbled street, but a shipping container perched on top of the unforgiving Northumbrian hills. Matthew Rawlings had left a stressful life in Oxford as a design engineer and, in his words, “selfishly moved the whole family to the north to follow a life of baking”. Matthew and his wife Zoe maintain that it was the best move they ever made, and once again community spirit was an ongoing theme.

I saw a lot of smiles on my journey, all of which proved to me that the people I’d met had found their rural idyll. With my Land Rover full of gifts, including rattling bottles from the brewery, freshly baked buns from the baker and maps from the rambling shepherd, it had been a fruitful three days in more ways than one. So why do people dream about moving to areas like those I’d experienced? For most, the biggest pull is the landscape and rows of cottages, a picture postcard of rural Britain, but in the long-term it’s the people living in that beautiful view who keep you there.

This feature was taken from issue 21 of Countryfile Magazine, on sale now. To make sure you never miss an issue subscribe today.

MORE FROM MATT BAKER ON WWW.BBCCOUNTRYFILE.COM:

A childhood of adventure
Joys of spring
Meet the new team