The English village is under the spotlight once again, with two new series coming up later this year on the BBC; Restoration Village, a spin-off from the Restoration series, and The Perfect Village. The village has a special place in the heart of almost all English people, and away from the attentions of the media the village is actually doing very well.

An old, vine-covered pub – serving real ale and run by a friendly, red-faced landlord, a shop that sells everything under the sun and where everyone knows everyone else, a village green – preferably with a duck pond, a cricket pitch, a 1,000 year-old church with lichen-covered gravestones leaning this way and that, and any number of thatched, rose-covered cottages – no two the same: Those are the ingredients that make up everyone’s image of the perfect village, and of course it does exist … but only in The Archers. Ambridge, despite the gay affairs and the gambling scandals, is still the archetypical village – and huge numbers of people want to live there.

As James Lawrie of leading estate agents Strutt & Parker says, ‘Despite all the crises that have hit the countryside in recent years, and despite rising levels of rural crime, very large numbers of town and city dwellers dream of moving to a village. It used to be something that people did when they retired but nowadays it’s families who move out. They’re looking for a sense of community and a better, safer environment to bring up their children’.

These new villagers tend to fall into one of three groups, defined by the occupation of the main wage-owner. Some still commute to work every day, and they are dependent on good communications – road or rail – but are prepared to put up with longer journey times if their families are enjoying a better lifestyle.

New technology really has made it easier for people to work from home, and Britain is achieving very high levels of broadband connectivity in country areas. A lot of workers who used to commute everyday now work from a spare bedroom, a converted barn in the garden or a room over the garage.

The third group commute on a weekly basis, going into the city on a Sunday night or a Monday morning and returning at the end of the week. Many of them have second homes – not in the country but in the city. Of the huge numbers of new apartments in cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham many are only used during the week. Amazingly the highest area of second home ownership in Britain is in Westminster, where midweek business accommodation accounts for almost 30% of all homes.

Matthew Hallet, who is based at Strutt & Parker’s Winchester office, adds, ‘Although large numbers of people do commute into towns from country villages, there is employment in rural areas. Agriculture employs fewer workers than ever before, but there are alternatives. A shortage of employment can be a problem in some regions, in others there has been a lot of careful, sensitive commercial development; new offices built on the edges of villages, redundant farm buildings turned into commercial units.

‘Tourism is important in many parts of the countryside, and in recent times we have seen wealth and employment generated by other outdoor pursuits such as 4x4 courses and trekking centres. The revolution we have seen in quality foods has been nothing but a good thing too. Farm shops and specialist suppliers bring customers into rural areas and create jobs, just as so-called ‘gastro-pubs’ do.’

If there is one real problem in the English village it is a shortage of homes for younger people and young couples starting families. House prices rise in the country just as they do in the town, and it’s often local people trying to buy their first house who can’t find anything within their budget. In some parts of the country there has been sensitive development within villages; affordable housing which fits in with other local properties and actually enhances the community.

Young people are crucial to the future of the English village, and not just so there are pretty children playing on the village green to complete the scene for tourists. Young people make the schools and bus services viable and provide a future for local businesses – be it the post office, the pub, or rural craftsmen and suppliers.

‘Without children, teenagers and young adults the village would be doomed’, Matthew says. ‘The second worst thing that can happen to a village is that it becomes a middle-aged dormitory, with no one around at all during the day. However the worst thing you can do with the English village is to try and preserve it artificially, keep it eternally unchanged, as if it were an exhibit in a museum.

‘The village has always been a dynamic entity, able to change and adapt, and country people mustn’t be afraid of change. Having said that, some of the villages in this part of the world can trace their roots back a thousand years or more, and I have no doubt that our villages will be around for another thousand years at least.’