LIFE in rural towns and villages faces many pressures. Some are easily apparent, such as closed villages shops and schools, spiralling property prices and traditional villages slowly turning into commuter communities.

Other forces work more slowly and take time to identify. Demographic changes have a gradual but lasting effect on rural life. As we report today, more people in Malton - and in Ryedale in general - are dying than are being born.

According to Government statistics, twice as many Malton people are dying each year as are being born, while through Ryedale as a whole, the death rate exceeds the birth rate.

You do not have to be a professor of demography to spot the problem here: if more people die than are born, the rural population will inevitably decline. In fact, that is not the case because people are moving into Ryedale to fill the potential vacuum.

So at a stroke, "incomers" solve the problem. Or perhaps they help out while also being part of the problem. All this depends on how much importance is granted to people staying where their families have always lived.

Clearly, Yorkshire would hardly be Yorkshire without its own identity, its own people. While some may fear that "Yorkshireness" is being worn away by people moving in, it is possible to look on the bright side. If people want to come and live here, this area must have sturdy attractions that can withstand such changes.

Modern life places many demands both on city and country. It may be sad that young people are forced to leave their home town or village because of escalating property prices, or because work is in short supply. But young people often move on, and it is natural that many should seek the bigger attractions of city life.

Ryedale, like many rural areas, is an attractive place in which to retire. Yet it is also within reach of York and even Leeds, so is a possibility for commuters prepared to travel a little further in search of a better quality of life.

Updated: 10:54 Wednesday, June 13, 2001