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Dirty wellies in a wine bar
Rural romance

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Ray King column
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Dirty wellies in a wine bar?

Rural romance could soon be only a click away as a new online friendship and dating service is launched. The site has been designed with the needs of country dwellers in mind. Country Couples, the brainchild of Cumbrian woman Sally Bolton, will offer subscribers across the UK the opportunity to find country loving, or simply friendship, with others who enjoy country life.

Country Couples is offering free full membership for the first three months after its launch in mid December, which will allow unlimited access to the sites features. Sally says “My aim is a genuine site, with gradual but honest build up of membership rather than ‘invented’ or ‘purchased’ members. Country Couples will be closely monitored to ensure a safe and pleasant online environment.”

Millions across the UK now make friends and meet partners online. With so many online services aimed at the singles market is there really room for another?
Sally explained “I chose to leave my city career and move to rural Cumbria a few years ago. I loved the lifestyle change but meeting people was the biggest challenge. As a single woman you can’t just hang out at the local pub and social activities are very limited, so you have to rely on meeting through work or chance encounters. I tried online dating but everyone I ‘met’ seemed to live in the south, overseas or had no interest in the countryside.”

Sally decided to establish her own website as a virtual meeting point for country folk who are more comfortable with a ploughman's and a pint in the local pub than venturing into a fancy wine bar.

Concluded Sally “The one or two sites directed at country minded people tend to be directed at the county set in the south, with articles on hunt balls and the latest polo match results. However, many single people in the countryside simply do not live that lifestyle and so may only join these sites due to the lack of an alternative.

Country Couples has been designed to be that alternative. Members certainly do not have to be rich, beautiful or part of the county set to join our site!”

www.country-couples.co.uk