countryside – Page 5

Making Farming and the Veterinary sector something we can all be involved in! – Guest post by Navaratnam Partheeban

Partheeban Navaratnam is Senior Lecturer in Livestock Production at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. He recently wrote an opinion piece in Farmers Weekly calling on us all to break down the ethnic barriers in farming and so I asked him to embellish on the subject on thinkingcountry. Agriculture and the veterinary profession are very importantContinueContinue reading “Making Farming and the Veterinary sector something we can all be involved in! – Guest post by Navaratnam Partheeban”

The Hare, why I love it and why we might lose it

Working on a mixed farm with a mosaic of arable cropping, tussocky grassland, marshland and hay meadows I am lucky to be able to see a wide variety of species, although I would love for wildlife abundance to be still greater, a difficult prospect when wildlife is under threat from so many angles. Hares haveContinueContinue reading “The Hare, why I love it and why we might lose it”

Opening Doors to Shared Ownership in the Countryside

First-time buyers often perceive that properties in the countryside are only within reach of the very rich, and their only chance for affordable housing is to head to the city. Well, shared ownership could change all that. In recent years, the cry from those who have lived in rural areas is that they are oftenContinueContinue reading “Opening Doors to Shared Ownership in the Countryside”

‘Meet the Farmers’- episode 21 – Royal Highland Show with Kelvin Pate

This episode was recorded back in June at the Royal Highland Show which I was visiting for the first time. I speak to Kelvin Pate, a farmer from near Gifford in East Lothian (Kelvin is also NFU Scotland’s Lothian and Borders regional Chair) as well as Jamie Newbould from Scotland’s Rural College and Michael Clarke fromContinueContinue reading “‘Meet the Farmers’- episode 21 – Royal Highland Show with Kelvin Pate”

Music, Art, Creativity and the Countryside

Countless great pieces of music and art are influenced by the natural world and rural landscapes. The works of Ralph Vaughan Williams for example, or Beethoven’s 6th Symphony or Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude are all influenced by the outdoors. Elgar was influenced by his beloved Malvern Hills, Benjamin Britten by the Suffolk coast and Holst theContinueContinue reading “Music, Art, Creativity and the Countryside”