Jim Gough, who has lived through both world wars, said man's obsession with money was destroying the nation's quality of life.

"We're fighting nature in the name of greed," he said.

"We think we're going forward, but really we're going back."

The retired timber merchant claimed:

More high-tech machines meant fewer jobs for people.

A faster pace of life just lined people's pockets at the expense of community spirit.

And a growing car culture was changing the country for the worse.

"People had more time for each other in the past," said Mr Gough, 83.

"Once you'd walk along the road and talk to neighbours. Shopkeepers in Knutsford would come out and say hello. But supermarkets, motorways and cars have taken that away."

He said farmers had put profit before nature over the mad cow disease crisis - and paid the price.

"It's a good example," said Mr Gough, whose family first moved to Lower Peover in 1762.

"Years ago farmers fed their stock with natural food and there wasn't a problem. Then they start using cheaper man-made stuff and look what happens."

Mr Gough, who has lived all his life in Lower Peover, claimed the countryside of his youth had gone - and rural life was gradually being eroded.

"I used to live a lovely quiet life where I could smell the hay nearby, see wild flowers grow and hear the birds singing," he said.

"Now what you get is cars whizzing past with their smells and their noise."

He said young moneymakers didn't understand his point of view because modern life was all they knew.

"I was born in the time of the horse and cart and now I'm living in the age of the rocket," said Mr Gough.

"But if we keep putting economics before nature and people we could destroy ourselves. People must understand that."

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