Country diary: In rural Britain, some signs are more polite than others

Croxton Park, Cambridgeshire: While nature reserves ask, private estates demandYesterday it was "Please stay on the path", a polite request on a charity nature reserve, duly obeyed. Twenty-four hours on, 10 miles away and a world apart, the inscription reads "Shut & fasten gate". Private estates do not ask; they demand.For at least 800 years, villagers have walked through the back entrance to Croxton Park in supplication. They have bowed, not to the landowner of the day, but to a higher authority, for the parish church of St James is located at the very heart of the estate. There is but one path to God here - every tempting offshoot from the drive is barred with "Keep out", "Private" and "No entry" signs. It feels like old-style National Trust, with visitors expected to know their place. Continue reading...