Taking rural pains - Telegraph It's a conversation taken up by many a husband and wife, particularly at this time of year: shall we go and live in the country? This is something that the poet Sir Andrew Motion often discusses at home, for he lives in London but is drawn to Orkney, Norfolk, and - in his mind, like Housman to Shropshire - he returns to the rural Essex of his childhood. We British are torn in our feelings about the country. We think of ourselves as country-dwellers, but most live in towns. We want fast trains and new airports, but hate them to spoil beloved landscapes. We enjoy the peace of the country, but it is only quiet because most people keep away. These are antinomies that Sir Andrew will have to wrestle with as the new president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. "Taking pains with the world" is a key phrase in Sir Andrew's poetry. Now he has set about it in another way.