Wednesday 23 February 2022

Living On A Little Land

 I've owned these two books for as long as I can remember, so long that I've no idea where they came from, but it was way before Amazon.

 Living Better on Less was published in 1977 and Living On A Little Land in 1978 and before that he'd written Politics By Pressure; The Restless Generation and  The Survivalists and in 1982 he wrote Diet For A Small Island. 

Patrick Rivers was a journalist in his 50's when with his wife Shirley they moved to an old cottage on ridiculously sloping land in the Wye Valley. 
It was not the first time they had left London for the countryside because after WWII he had done the Government training scheme for new farmers but after running a Jersey herd for a few years they'd moved back to London when a farm purchase fell through. Then after losing his job for the second time in 10 years they decided to make one final move and to be as self sufficient as possible.  

 

He says they really purchased land that was too difficult for a couple in their 50's but luckily help often turned up unexpectedly just when it was needed. He called it "The Flow".

I thought I'd written about this before and thanks to the new search facility I found it on the old blog in 2014

When Patrick and Shirley Rivers  moved to an almost derelict house on steep overgrown land in the Wye valley, they were already nearly 60 years old and found some of the work really hard. Often just as they were on the verge of despair something or someone would turn up to help. Later, when he researched the other book, he spoke to many people who had also found that if they had faith in themselves and the way they were living simply, things often happened at just the right time. He called it The Flow.

That's how it's been for us. We've never sat back and waited for something to happen but when we've worked hard and trusted in ourselves to manage, everything usually turns out OK. All the house moves we did to work our way towards a smallholding always went well, we never lost out but we had to work hard to improve the properties.

When C had the heart problems last Autumn
(2013) he wasn't able to do the 3 day-a-month council job but then the unexpected extra council work when he was well again in December and January filled a gap which would have meant dipping into savings.
When Council cuts in this new tax year brought his work with them to an end our income  fell but   our neighbours'  gardener  has now retired so C will fill that gap to do her grass cutting  for her, which means a regular job with no traveling.
With Easter being late this year our April income from the campsite has been a bit more than usual, which will help us through until we start to sell our produce again.
Last year the irrigation work didn't start until June but we had the Sizewell Outage men on the campsite early in the year before our opening time, which was an unexpected bonus that saw us through.

There are a few photos,lots of good drawings, plans and maps in this book (lots by Sally Seymour the then wife of Self Sufficiency Guru John Seymour)

 Showing how steep the land was Patrick says that from the road at the top only the roof of the house was visible.

 

They had to practically rebuild the house at the same time as clearing the land  





There was a huge heap of rubble and rubbish in one area that they had to clear and needed help, but much they did was by hand.



Love this drawing of Shirley milking, on a stand similar to what I had - although mine had a bucket loop so the goats had their food while being milked and was narrower so I had a chair to sit on beside the stand. Wonder why she's milking one handed only - two handed is the way to do it. It's odd that with all my years of goat milking I have no photos of me doing it. I've got lots of goat photos but of course I wasn't blogging then so hardly used the camera. I loved leaning against a warm goat on a cold morning - it wasn't so good on a hot evening - especially as I had a window right behind me with the evening sun shining through. We walled in the little milking room, which was in the corner of one of the big buildings, with a door to get in and keep shut to keep flies out. So I was often sweltering by the time I'd finished.

 
Taken by a photographer for a piece in the East Anglian Daily Times promoting the Suffolk Smallholders Society in about 1994. How young we were!

 

Back Tomorrow
Sue

37 comments:

  1. What great memories. Looking back to those days, I sometimes feel that love, determination and enthusiasm carried us through, when there was no regular cash coming in. I love your descriptions of milking the goats

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was Cols dream to retire at 55 and live mainly off the smallholding and campsite - and we did it for 3 years!
      Loved my goats

      Delete
  2. A world away but such memories. Lovely tale Sue. The 'back to the earth' movement never did quite get off the ground but it had a good try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's still happening really Thelma - not quite at the same pace as it did back in the John Seymour days but people are still heading to the country (wherever land is cheap, which means lots heading to Wales). It happened even in Edward Thomas' days as he did it himself - growing all his own vegetables, living basically.

      Delete
    2. We did it for many years and many people in the Suffolk Smallholders Society had a good go too.
      More difficult now with house prices

      Delete
  3. Of all the animals my husband kept over the years I much preferred the goats. We had 17 at one point and he milked them all by hand. Happy days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The most we ever had at one time was 8 and milking 3 but that didn't last too long - Too Many! Mostly we had just one or two milking

      Delete
  4. I couldn’t imagine doing that in my 60’s, wow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No - shifting hay bales etc was beginning to be really hard work by the time we finished when I was 60!

      Delete
  5. A fascinating account - both theirs and yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you -I've got lots of goat, sheep, Smallholding Society and campsite tales I could tell!

      Delete
  6. In interesting post. So pleased you have lots of photos to remember by.
    We had hard times but they were happy.
    I found some photos of 1963 the big freeze, we moved in 1962 and we only had a little fire place, no car, and did the washing in a Burco boiler and toweling nappies.

    Lovely blue sky at the moment so hopefully I will be able to put the fence back up. ☁️☁️
    Hazel 🌈🌈

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our first years on the smallholding were so busy that we missed taking photos!

      Delete
  7. That's so interesting - some lovely memories.
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Those books passed me by. Heck though - they bought themselves Trouble with that place, especially at their age! My goodness - what a task they had, rebuilding the house at the same time as reclaiming the land which wasn't exactly ideal to start with! I wonder where they lived in the Wye Valley?

    I always wanted goats but Keith said no. Love the photo of you and Col and the goats. What lovely milking memories . . .



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unlike the Hovel books there were no clues to where they lived and their publisher no longer exists so no idea how long they were able to carry on there

      Delete
  9. It all looks amazing but I'm caught by the plan of the house - what a complicated, amazing place with the bedroom next to the milking parlour!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Must have been hard work slogging up and down the slope all the time

      Delete
  10. I think with all the prices and what is going on in the world maybe victory gardens at least should come back. The price of any land now here in our area of the US makes it impossible to do something like this now.
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it's only possible now for people who can sell a house in London and buy something cheaper further out - sadly - and even worse since Covid

      Delete
  11. What great books. Such an interesting post. I thought the sketches were good, and the one showing the slope of the land particularly good. I also really liked seeing the photo of you and Colin. What interesting lives you lived. I'm so sorry that his life ended too soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had 23 years on the smallholding and enjoyed it most of the time - except for chasing chickens when they escaped and shifting hay bales in heat of summer!

      Delete
  12. Much to admire (both you and Colin - Patrick and Shirley). Such a difficult way of life for folks approaching their 60s. Very definitely not afraid of hard work...but our bodies at that age aren't quite up to that intense physical labour. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They certainly must have been very fit - they were early Vegetarians - perhaps that was the answer!

      Delete









  13. Living off the land always interests me. It is hard work but also very rewarding. Rebuilding a home and making sloping land productive is most impressive. You and Col with the goats is a photo to cherish - happy memories!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our 5 acres were completely flat - which felt a bit boring but certainly easier to work on

      Delete
  14. Interesting to compare the parallels. I've been inspired by other people too, many times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were inspired by the people who wrote all the books in the 70's but took us until 1992 to work our way up to 5 acres

      Delete
  15. We always had goats to look after when we were children. Goats were tethered by the roadside to eat the verges and moved around during the day. It was quite a common things around here. I can't imagine seeing goats tethered by the roadside today!

    ReplyDelete
  16. In the hippy era in California I was a self a sufficient go getter and we rented to start and then bought a house on five acres. When you also have horses that need a lot of hay it is not easy.
    Now a days I enjoy having NO chickens, goats or a large veg garden. Still have horses though and pay for their care.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It was fun to read their stories and yours too.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I've never milked a goat but for many years I did milk a house cow. The worst was when you were almost finished and the old girl would lift one hoof and carefully place it into the bucket - that is, until I learnt how to do proper leg-ropes! Great memories :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. We so nearly got goats but were outbid at the auctions we went to and then never found ones we wanted.

    I think it was growing large scale on a slope that finally did for my back, you don't realise the strain working sideways on a slope does to you until it's too late.

    ReplyDelete