A LOVE OF THE LAND

I suppose that I was born with an inbuilt love and regard for the countryside – but it was a few years before I came to fully appreciate and respect the benefits and legacy around me.
The land was just there – it surrounded our farm house and filled my views from the windows. I never really thought about it or considered how lucky I was – and certainly didn't recognize any deeper significance... and growing up I took it all for granted. This all changed when I moved away from home to live in a town and then in a big city, and quickly realized how much I missed the green fields, the animals, the smells – and all the farm talk and activities, and what they meant to me.
Church Farm – my early home, in a small village in Somerset – belonged to my father who had inherited it from his father and a whole line of farming ancestors – farming was in the blood. But it didn't come free of charge – firstly, when my grandfather died, the family farm where Daddy had lived and worked all his life up to that point, was 'valued' and he had to pay his 4 siblings their due shares before the farm was truly his... Times were hard – these were the War years when farms were expected to be at their most productive, working all hours to literally keep the country fed and alive. Even 'double summer time' was introduced to make the greatest possible use of daylight hours.
Six long years it lasted – I didn't arrive on the scene until 5 years later, but my first decade must have been a hard one on the land, gradually easing a little with the advent of new machinery and more 'modern' methods.
Farming, especially dairy farming, plus those farms stocked with cattle, sheep, pigs etc... is a full-time job, at the whim of the weather and at the mercy of disease or infection, and at it's core, caring for the animals – not helped at the present time with huge Vet's bills... No wonder farmers are feeling frustrated and under-valued – there seems to be an attitude towards them a bit like mine when growing up - just looking out of the windows and taking the surroundings for granted.

I still love walking in the countryside, exploring new paths and areas – again I'm fortunate to be living in the Lincolnshire Wolds with it's big views and amongst land marked out into sweeping fields, where it's possible to stroll through fields of sheep and cattle, woods and copses, and smell the old familiar farmyard smells.
I miss the warm Somerset accents of course, but I do hear local farmers at our weekly livestock market – and also, hear the occasional bleat or moo from our cottage!

There are so many pictures I could have chosen, but have decided to concentrate on views of the land – different lands representing different areas from recent years....
Firstly, a walk in the Lincolnshire Wolds,
then the magnificent view of the countryside from a walk in Shropshire,
and lastly, one of my favourites – the view from our window in France.

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