" because growing such consumables in our gardens cuts down on food-miles"

Sounds like a good case for growing bananas and kiwi fruit in your back garden then.

Of course that Norman-German-land owning, sponging, architecturally deluded intellectual midget Prince Charles has already had a go at creating the 'ideal' English village with the creation of Poundbury. Of course this has village has no more relevance to the reality of English village life than WAV's equally fanciful construct but then at least WAV's family haven't spent the last thousand years squeezing ordinary island villagers dry.

What about The Weirdstone of Brisingamen? Set in the decidedly ancient and eerie landscape of Alderley Edge and also Macclesfield this excellent book is as good a read for adults as it is for kids, and a whole heap better than Harry Potter, as many of the locations in the book exist and are visitable.