Why did I not see that the Countryman / woman was on the edge of extinction ?

[JP1]

Was it that I believed up until about ten years ago that the Conservative Party “got” their back ?

Was it that I firmly believed that the country person held the skills and enterprise to manage the countryside and not an outsider

Was it that I believed the public realised farmers not supermarkets produced the food we require

Was it because we had a facade of rural agricultural colleges instead of allegiances as part of mega University fee suckers

Was it because I still believed that veterinary medicine was a vocation not a 9/5 employment

Was it because I still liked to believe the public liked the countryside the way it was kept by countrymen

Was it because I failed to see farming starting to discount the geology, topography and access to markets and follow the money

Was it because I just passively accepted central Government planning directives that have removed any regional identity to any developments

When I see beauty and interest it’s largely from the natural world not the built or manufactured World

I’m sure I’m not alone but I fear my generation is possibly the last

 

[spin cycle]

last of the Mohicans jp

 

[JP1]

last of the Mohicans jp

I gather things are changing fast in France too and you only have to see the German water cannons being deployed in The Netherlands today

It’s all just sad

Anton’s post is what led me to post this

At least the King still “gets” it

My Mum and Dad moved us when I was 13 out of a London overspill town . Then I still could have the option to do a rural studies O level . That was put down as something for the thickies and then all this core curriculum stuff came in and they were scrapped anyway

 

[bluebell]

What i find is so "contraditry" is "wealthy, young, something in the city" types, that have, "got it all", decide, no they "havent", sell up, move, either to the back of behond in france, spain, italy, to buy, "" either a , chateau, or , rundown ruin", because they are "seeking a better life, for them and their children"? Plough loads of money into the " project", having no "real idea" how they are going to "make a living", they then find that running a small hotel, or farming, say a small "vineyard", nursery, etc, is is, alot more work and worry than they had in their former life, for alot less money, if you earn anything at all? Everyone thinks the grass is "greener" the public sector, jobs, civil servants etc, dont know how hard it is for the small"self employed" business man or woman, who has to work "all hours" to make it "pay" no sick, pay, no holiday pay, no public pension etc etc?

 

[DrWazzock]

What amuses me is that those who rule us don’t really know much about our work or how we do it. But they feel the need to tell us what to do. So they employ advisers to tell them what to tell us, which is more and more to tell us to also employ advisers.
Can nobody do a job under their own steam any more?
The beauty of growing up on a farm in a family run business is the wealth of knowledge you pick up because you live and work amongst the job. Granted a few training courses and some outside learning can be valuable but now those who rule us, who know very little about our work, insist we have an ology or some piece of paper and now worst of all, officially recognised CPD points that have to accrued continually.
The sad fact is. as said we will lose the last of the yeomen,Yeo women and replace them with hi viz clad disinterested numpties provided by an agency on min wage and a personnel department with a cabinet full of asinine produces and the transformation of the artisan to the min wage zero hours worker will be complete. It’s happening all around me as I write.

 

[ewald]

Enjoy what is left of your rural life - I fear that history and society are only going one way.

 

[caveman]

The consequences of being woke liberal.

 

[JP1]

The consequences of being woke liberal.

I’ve heard many descriptions of our present Government but never that one before

 

[DrWazzock]

Enjoy what is left of your rural life - I fear that history and society are only going one way.

I’m thankful I’m on the rundown but a bit a sorry about the generation to come. With the best will in the world they’ll face a much more uphill battle than I ever did.

 

[caveman]

I’ve heard many descriptions of our present Government but never that one before

Not the government...the population, including many who view theirselves as countrymen.

 

[Farmeraduk]

Would anyone protest like the Dutch are today. I remember going on the countryside march as a YFC member along time ago. Perhaps the NFU should have organized one for today in solidarity as we face the same Nitrogen, livestock reduction plan. It is already law.

 

[bluebell]

Food, its eating, its growing, its value, was up to about 40, odd years ago always very important from way back in time, now since the "ease" and "cheapness" of imported food, it changed, that and the availability, because of "economic worldwide, quick" transport, means that food that 40 plus years ago, could only be eaten "in season" or was only available to the "wealthy", can be had by all? How long all this will "last", who knows? But if, when it changes, i fear the UKs will then have "lost" its ability to "produce the food, in the quantity" the then size of population will then need?

 

[SilliamWhale]

Whilst I feel I agree with you there is a counter-argument which I is very interesting. But your feeling of losing a way of life wouldn't be new - read Edward Thomas or Houseman's poems or read Ronald Blythe.

I'm not a mega fan of re-wilding but I can see elements of it having a place. Or at least a form of stacking more variety and use onto our landscape. And what is happening with that, is new people are coming in with new interpretations of what a healthy countryside/ environment/ farm/ rural dweller should look like. So then when I read books by Leif Bersweden, or Benedict McDonald about how they feel their vision of a better countryside looks I feel I can't totally dismiss that side of the argument either. As farmers we feel the newer interpretations lack authenticity but there is something of change rumbling.

I read the other day a the turn of the century Scotland had 100k deer roaming about and now its close to 1 million. No idea if its true but the perception is that the "masses" want to turn away from that sort of landscape

 

[Goweresque]

I’ve heard many descriptions of our present Government but never that one before

The monkeys on the organ are irrelevant, its the bureaucratic apparatus of the the State that is the organ grinder who runs everything, and that definitely is woke liberal.

As for the current government, it allows woke cr&p to run riot in schools, it allows a de facto blasphemy law to exist (only if you are a Muslim though), it allows immigration in the hundreds of thousand per year, it is attempting to muzzle our free speech right via controlling the internet, it locked us all in our houses like criminals over covid, it demands we say a rapist in a dress is 'real woman'. How exactly is all that NOT woke liberal?

 

[soapsud]

Thanks to @Humble Village Farmer I've starting gathering evidence for a little piece I want to send to the Efra committee meeting.

https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/3072/

It's starting to look difficult to make a case:

 

[Old apprentice]

It's all right for the masses want all rewilding, but when enough has been done to reduce food production enough to have lots of food shortages things will change . If you look at lots of things they go round in circles.

 

[JP1]

Would anyone protest like the Dutch are today. I remember going on the countryside march as a YFC member along time ago. Perhaps the NFU should have organized one for today in solidarity as we face the same Nitrogen, livestock reduction plan. It is already law.

I went and have to recognise it was a long time ago .......

 

[Hilly]

How did George Orwell know ?

 

[kfpben]

I have more and more time for travellers with their hare coursing, pony trap racing, cash economy don’t give a toss attitude.

Get on lads- Just don’t nick my kit!

 

[Tim W]

Was it that I believed up until about ten years ago that the Conservative Party “got” their back ?

Was it that I firmly believed that the country person held the skills and enterprise to manage the countryside and not an outsider

Was it that I believed the public realised farmers not supermarkets produced the food we require

Was it because we had a facade of rural agricultural colleges instead of allegiances as part of mega University fee suckers

Was it because I still believed that veterinary medicine was a vocation not a 9/5 employment

Was it because I still liked to believe the public liked the countryside the way it was kept by countrymen

Was it because I failed to see farming starting to discount the geology, topography and access to markets and follow the money

Was it because I just passively accepted central Government planning directives that have removed any regional identity to any developments

When I see beauty and interest it’s largely from the natural world not the built or manufactured World

I’m sure I’m not alone but I fear my generation is possibly the last

I have sympathy for all these thoughts but I remember my grandfather saying the same sort of thing & I would guess his grandfather before him uttered similar.....