This volume investigates the socio-economic challenges and developmental constraints facing the peripheral rural regions of Britain during the late twentieth century. Edited by J. Ashton and W. Harwood Long, the text compiles research presented at a 1970 symposium at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The contributors utilize regional economic data and demographic analysis to argue that remote areas require specialized policy frameworks distinct from those applied to urban or accessible rural centers.

Experts recognize this collection as a foundational document for understanding the state of British rural policy in the early 1970s. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which reflects the formal symposium setting of its origin.