The area around New Cwm Farm
It is a different way of life, living in a rural farming community, and I am finding out more about it all the time.
The local pub is an important part of farming life. Our local pub is The Anchor Inn, about a mile away from New Cwm Farm. It is on the route of one of the old drove roads, and it was on the grasslands around the pub where the drovers would stay awhile for rest and feed for themselves and the cattle. For about a thousand years from 850 to 1850, livestock (mainly cattle) were driven from outlying parts of Britain into London, along well established Drove Roads. Livestock was collected from farmers throughout the area into herds of about a thousand cattle, and shoes put on near Anchor - the cattle had metal shoes, the pigs had lace-up leather boots, and the geese were driven across melted pitch and then over crushed seashells to make their shoes. Herds were driven at about two miles per hour, so it would take about two weeks to reach London from Anchor, much longer for the herds from northern Scotland. Apparently the “Trail Boss” was highly respected and was a trusted courier for official documents, etc.
The local pub is a social meeting place where the farmers meet and discuss the price of sheep and the state of the market, and anything else on their minds. If they have any problems, or need to know where to get something, or the best man to answer any questions, or the best workman for a particular job, there is usually someone there who knows someone who can answer the questions. Sometimes business if sorted out and settled with a handshake. These discussions are lubricated with a glass or two of beer, but it is very rare for anyone to have too much to drink. There are not many customers at a time - perhaps ten plus or minus a few, but the rooms are small, and it is not often crowded. Most of the pubs around here are several hundred years old, with oak beams and settles. Many of them do catering these days.
I miss being able to do gardening like I used to. The best I could do
recently was plant out into some pots, with help from one of the stable cats. I bought some "plugs" of pansy
and polyanthus, and added to crocus, daffodils and snowdrops, it would make a good
show. I was able to do that bit of gardening with Linda acting as my "go
fer". Much to my dismay, some stray sheep came around and bit off all
the pansies - they didn't touch the other plants.
Stray sheep are often a nuisance. They belong to the next farm along the lane, where the lawn is covered with snowdrops every spring. The farmer has never been married - lives on his own - not old (but then no-one seems old when you are 93). I heard someone say, "He is a real gentleman." I call him a different name when his sheep eat my pansies!
Nancy has seven horses at present here at New Cwm. They range from Misty who is the matriarch, to the recent additions of Bebe and Chance. They all have different characters and it is interesting to see them express these. Misty has produced a foal every spring for several years, and she is a good mother and quite happy to provide the 'milk-bar' and then share the mothering with Dancer who is delighted with these new-born additions. Star is a good horse with a lot of sense and he will teach the youngsters the correct procedure in the stable yard and fields. Dixie is a good horse and provides a safe, comfortable ride for anyone, even nervous riders feel safe on her. Nancy is very good with the animals, giving them a lot of attention so that she can change their diet or treatment if necessary.
Nancy's husband Richard has about ten horses at their home, which is a mile away from here. The group is made up of horses he has bought to 'ride on and train' and then sell, and some that he is training for other owners. They are trained to be ridden and to accept instructions from the rider without decanting them, and some have to learn to get used to going with the hunt.
Fox hunting is banned by the government, but the riders and hounds still meet just the same - they are exercising the hounds and that is not illegal. Nancy has lost several ducks and chickens to the foxes. Anyone is allowed to shoot foxes, or poison them, or kill them any other way because they are vermin. Richard does some of his business with the hunting people. We have the United Pack meet at New Cwm once a year and it is a lovely gathering.
Another vermin we have around here is the mink. Some years ago there was a mink farm in the south of the country and a group of "animal rights" campaigners got in and cut the wires and released them all. Consequently they have been breeding at an alarming rate and killing off some of our native wild life. And there are no natural predators to keep the population under control.
Another animal that is causing discussion because of love or hatred according to your circumstances is the badger. They are lovely to look at, unless you are a farmer, and they blame the badger for spreading TB to the cattle. This is strongly denied by the lovers of badgers and there are TV programmes showing the animals at play and going into raptures about them. Badgers are a protected species and there are a great many around here.
The mobile library van stops in The Anchor car park for ten minutes once a fortnight. I used to go and choose my books, but Nancy does that task for me now. When she first took on that job she told the librarian that she wanted books for me. She said, "Mother likes sex and violence!". Luckily the librarian knew me very well and knew Nancy was joking. What I like is a good adventure yarn or a mystery or a detective story. Not about terrorists or drunken louts, but just a good intricate "Who done it?" I have eight books each time, and that seems about right.
There are several villages around here. There is Kerry and Beguildy and Newcastle on Clun, and they are all 5 or 6 miles away. They have a church or chapel which caters for their spiritual needs. They have the usual facilities of village life with village shops, and the whist drives and the social meetings for the various age groups from toddlers to over 60s. It is a very active community in this sparsely populated area on the border, with frequent reasons to socialize. For example, we had a whale of a time at a recent pig-roast at the Bettws Parish Hall, with home grown entertainment that went on into the midnight hours.
We have an accident around here sometimes. Very often it is when a quad bike and rider part company abruptly. Those quad bikes are strong powerful machines and very useful on a farm. It is very tempting for the riders to want the exhilaration of speeding on the powerful machine. When there is trouble, everyone is relieved to know that we can call on the Air Ambulance for help. It has answered the call for help several times just lately.
New Cwm Farm is 1,200 feet about sea level, so we catch the wind up here in the hills. Anything in the garden is about a fortnight later in maturing than growth of things lower down the valley. We are a few hundred yards from the road from Kerry to Clun, but apart from that there are miles and miles you can go without seeing a car. If I see more than four vehicles a day pass the bottom of the drive, that is really busy - and most of them are either 4x4 Land Rovers or tractors.
