Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country

Out of the insurrection of the 1840s, the famous radical, Feargus O'Connor, founded the Chartist Land Plan and with it the idea that the countryside offered independence to workers. He scoured areas in Britain buying up land that could be divided into 4 acre plots which he offered to factory workers and their families. Each plot was equipped with farm buildings and a cottage, which the new proprietors would pay for by manageable subscriptions. Flawed as his scheme was, and as we'll hear from Laurence Llewelyn Bowen, O'Connor's plan paved the way for buildings societies and a very British attitude towards land ownership. Producer: Kate Bland A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.