Woodston - the biography of an English Farm

This is a fascinating book tracing the history of a farm, Woodston, situated on the Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire borders, from the neolithic times right through to present day. John Lewis-Stempel traces the changes in methods of farming and how people lived on the land. The changes from use of animal horns, then flint onto the bronze and iron ages. Each new material bringing technological change. There are the Romans, with their organusation of the land to feed more people. The Anglo- Saxons, much of, whose template still runs today. So most villages and paths/rights of way across the country date back to this era. There is the emphasis on sheep farming during Tudor and Stuart times to the enclosure of land in the 18th and 19th centuries - driving people away. Much of the most destructive activity in terms of biodiversity has occurred since World War II. The rush to grow more during the war, onto the movements to rip up hedgerows, and drench the earth with pesticides and herbicides. These have resulted in the loss of so many birds, mammals and plants. The author contrasts how much more conducive it is to biodiversity to say manually scythe an area rather than run a combine harvester over it - with all the subsequent destruction caused. This book has all the ringing authenticity of a naturalist farmer truly connected to the land. His lived experience, punctuated with a variety poetry, particularly from John Clare. He values farming but only done the right way. So he has stuck with his 1950s Ferguson tractor, rather than move to the modern equivalent. The modern vehicle being computer driven, cutting the direct link to tha land. Lewis-Stempel has some criticism for what he describes as tree planting mania. There is a seperate essay on this in the notes at the back, suffice to say he wants the need to produce more (70%) in order to feed the world to be taken into the tree planting equation. He also sees other ways to reduce carbon as being of equal merit. Also, some harsh words for #meatfree who he describes as "ludicrously anti-ecological". He illustrates this point quoting how managing a wood for four years, allowing cow and pigs to roam, massively increased biodiversity. A final essay, draws some interesting parallels between the handling of the Foot and Mouth crisis in 2001, with Covid today. Government turned to some of the same behavioural scientists at Imperial College then, as it has done with Covid. Then as now, the real answer was vaccination. Highly recommend Woodston, which offers a real insight into how things have developed down the centuries, where things have gone wrong and how a step back in a number of instances could help put things right for the future *Published by Transworld Publishers, part of Penguin Random House Group. £20