This was John Constable's view of the English countryside in 1814 not many years after William Blake wrote:


And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen!


And what would he write now I wonder?

It is still possible to see green in the countryside, if you look quickly in the early spring. This is a couple of miles from Welton.












But turn slightly to your right to glimpse a change of colour:

and even further right to see the full effect of modern farming where you can talk of England's cadmium yellow!
Hasn't quite the same ring to it as Blake's version.

Even the approach to Welton is via the yellow brick road; the source of England's answer to Popeye's girlfriend, if you are old enough to remember  - rapeseed oil.




Cooking has changed the countryside