Woodston, The Biography of an English Farm

 

I first came across this author in 2009 when his book  "The Wild Life: A Year of Living Wild was published. 

Walking around his Herefordshire farm one October, John Lewis-Stempel saw a trout flash in the brook, mushrooms sprinkle the fields, a squirrel eat hazelnuts, and thought: Wouldn't it be wonderful if one could live just on what Nature provided for free? 

 He spent a year foraging, catching and eating only food from his farm. 

Then more recently I read his books....... 'The Running Hare' , 'The Secret Life of the Owl' and the small Candlestick Press booklet 'The Wood In Winter. I've owned his book 'Meadowland' but must have sold it in the pre-move clear out. He has written many others, both Natural History and books about the soldiers of World War I.

 

Woodston, The Biography of an English Farm, is his most recent book. It tells the story of a farm situated on the Herefordshire/Wales border from Neolithic to the present. Using old books and records he finds the owners through history and details of the way they farmed the land. His family have had links to the farm from times long gone and his Grandfather became Farm Manager there in the 1930's and he, himself, has farmed not far away for many years so is ideally placed to write this fascinating book.

Amazon describes it well....................

With his combined skills of farmer and historian, Lewis-Stempel digs deep into written records, the memories of relatives, and the landscape itself to celebrate the farmland his family have been bound to for millennia. Through Woodston's life, we feel the joyful arrival of oxen ploughing; we see pigs rootling in the medieval apple orchard; and take in the sharp, drowsy fragrance of hops on Edwardian air. He draws upon his wealth of historical knowledge and his innate sense of place to create a passionate, fascinating biography of farming in England

Although this is a history of one farm it applies to many in the area and (apart from the growing of hops) many more across the country.

I loved it - it should be compulsory reading for anyone moving from town or city to the countryside! 

 

The piece included in the  Notes at the back of the book about Foot and Mouth disease which JL-S got published in UnHerd magazine in 2001 should be read by everyone too, especially since the pandemic.

I'm going to reserve some of his other books from the library as soon as I have space to do so(they have a limit of 25 books on reserve per person). Oddly they don't have a copy of The Wild Life which I decided I'd like to re-read so I've found a cheap copy on Abebooks.

Back Tomorrow

Sue