march

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You hired a farmer to do building work 🤣🤣🤣. Sorry- we tried giving local contractors work and I am still putting things right myself some years later so do feel for you. We need the Polish builders back!

We are in the National Park and I am not related to a local councillor (which is essential around here) and more importantly I rather like the countryside.

Give the poor bastard a break the fields are atrocious at the moment, he's probably working all hours and getting nothing but grief from certain quarters

Government and EU (we still follow EU farming regs but without the financial support EU farmers get). I have no idea what the Conservatives stand for any more. Because we are all too busy being ground into the mud by everyone else . I don't really know to be honest, possibly because they don't think they are going to get the support from the general populous.

Well this really sucks and just shows how this government is really treating British farmers. Our silage suppliers are packing in their family run beef farm as it no longer makes any sense to run. They farm 500 acres are each working 70-80 hours a week with no breaks and are just getting more and more restrictions put on them (all farmers are). And to top it off they have Natural England / DEFRA are in their area threatening to fine farmers if they don't build covered and enclosed concrete yards to handle the winters muck piles (never been an issue before), the farmer thinks it would cost them between £200,000 and £250,000 to achieve so completely unrealistic. If a 500 acre farm cannot make is worth while then we are truly screwed. We are packing in farming as well as it no longer makes sense (costs and stupid rules - do you know I can no longer feed cattle in the fields, absolute madness, this is how we used to target areas that needed fertilising naturally - so no to natural fertiliser but yes to loads of expensive chemicals. And don't get me started on fence posts. This government is killing British farming (amongst many other things), especially traditional family farms and I can't see it getting any better. Just wait until the next crisis when all the countries that export food to us decide to keep their produce for their population rather than let us have it. See who suffers then - it wont be the fat cats MP's with their massive pensions. I will never ever vote Conservative again in my life again, the trouble is who else do you vote for, they are all clueless and lacking in any form of common sense. Feeling very depressed. I wonder if real civil unrest in the UK is that far away (Never been on a protest in my life but I will be there, especially if there are Bacon butties).

- What the hell is up with this country! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/04/sir-walter-raleigh-sir-francis-drake-names-exeter-school/ In case you can't access it: A private school has pledged to remove the names of Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake from its buildings in an “inclusivity” drive. Parents at Exeter School in Devon were told that the Elizabethan naval heroes no longer “represent the values and inclusive nature” of the school. Louise Simpson, the head teacher, said they had “less than positive connotations” in modern times. She has announced plans to rename the school’s houses after local woodlands, castles or topographical features, The Sun reported. Exeter School in Devon can trace its history back to 1633 CREDIT: EXETER MEMORIES Raleigh was one of the most celebrated explorers of Elizabeth I’s reign. He helped defend England against the Spanish Armada in 1588, serving as a naval adviser to Queen Elizabeth and helping to improve the design of ships, which is considered a significant factor in the success of the English fleet against the Spanish. A year earlier, he had launched an attack on the harbour at Cádiz in southern Spain, sinking 37 ships, which forced the Armada to delay sailing by a crucial year. He was the first Englishman to travel all around the globe as part of a mission approved by Queen Elizabeth against the Spanish. Colonial expedition Raleigh was a colonialist who failed to establish a British settlement in North Carolina because of hostile relations with Native Americans. He is believed to have brought back potatoes and tobacco on return from his expeditions. Potatoes were grown on Raleigh’s estates in Ireland and he is said to have popularised smoking at court. However, his legacy has been reassessed over his involvement in the slave trade following Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Drake took part in voyages with his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, which saw the capture of black African slaves. They also attacked Portuguese slave ships to steal their cargo of slaves. Drake and Raleigh are among 10 house names being scrapped at Exeter School, which charges fees of up to £16,710 a year. The other names include the philanthropists and benefactors Sir John Daw, Wilfred Townsend, Sir Charles Goff, Hugh Crossing and Elizabeth Dowrich. ‘Erasing the school’s history’ The school is facing a backlash from parents and alumni over the plans. One former pupil told The Sun: “Instead of erasing the school’s history, the mature thing to do is let the pupils think for themselves. “Woke cancel culture like this just makes people question the head’s suitability for the job.” Last year, the Sir Francis Drake school in south London was renamed Twin Oaks Primary because of concerns about the navigator’s links to the slave trade, which the head teacher said sat “at odds with the values of our school”. During the Black Lives Matter protests, there were calls to remove Drake’s statue from Plymouth, where legend had it he calmly played bowls before defeating the Spanish Armada. However, the council said the statue would stay, with a plaque installed to detail his links to the slave trade.

Says it all about British politics and politicians at the moment.

I walked miles through the countryside as a kid and I would have hated to walk through in effect an alleyway as I feel you lose the sense openness. Also putting in over 1km of sheep netting, posts and barbed wire is horrendously expensive and would really cause a problem for access to the lower part of the field. Unfortunately it has gone from the few spoiling it for the many to the many spoiling it for the few. As an aside the cash strapped Dartmoor National Park is changing over all their styles to wheel chair friendly styles - I hope they are offering wheel chair recovery service as there is no way in hell a wheel chair will get across our field. In some cases I can understand this being a good thing to do but not across active farmland with animals or crops.

Unfortunately this is not uncommon up here on Dartmoor. I have regularly had 'discussions' with dog walkers on our land (we have a footpath over our winter grazing area) with dogs running loose next to our cattle. Responses have been varied but never 'oh yes I will put my dog on the lead'. Responses have included - Oh my dog wouldn't do anything like that. My dog only has to be under close control and it's OK - as it's running around our field jumping up at me. (Nearly lost it with that one). And the best one - Oh I grew up on a farm, they will be OK. We have had new born calves killed and taken by dogs. We are the only farm locally that has not fenced in the footpaths but it's getting to the time we will have to do it. And guess what happens when the cows react to stupid walkers and the their dogs - the Farmer gets the blame. I am not anti dogs - we have 7 big dogs which was one of the reasons for buying the farm all them years ago.

Always had a sneaking admiration for the French farmers. It's a shame the Brits are not more like them at times.

And not enough support vessels.

To add a bit more context - I used to work for the Police in IT, the amount of short term decisions and waste during the short period I was there was phenomenal - the contract was one of the most profitable my employer had. It was a very depressing job. To state how bad our local police are (and this does colour my views as well) - a neighbouring farmer was attacked and punched on his land by a neighbour, the police sent out a WPC who basically stated they wouldn't do anything and 'anyway what do you expect us to do about it'. So how come the Met are now looking into it - why not before, have they gained enough manpower all of a sudden or is policing now based upon media awareness?

Need to have a tv drama made about it before anyone will do anything.

That article was posted in July 2021 - Any guesses on the costs today? It looks like they have started https://www.google.com/maps/@51.3281486,0.6593296,1053m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

It's lovely here in Devon (well it always is), the sun is out, it's lovely and warm - a bit wet last night but no wind at all over the past few days. Lovely day! 😁 Forgot to mention, central heating off and conservatory open, may have to open a few windows if it gets much warmer.

Yes I did question this - apparently they have dumped a large generator in the middle of the road to allow water to be pumped whilst the power is off during tree pruning - I assume by someone else but who knows. It all seems a bit of a farce - just enjoying the comments on the local Facebook group.

Well the road works have started, the road is closed and work has started and a diversion is on place - The problem is South West Water have closed the diversion lane so they can prune trees, apparently it's been chaos and there are a lot of unhappy bunnies in the village. 🤡🤣 I think whoever schedules our roadworks needs to be awarded a gold star for effort.

I have just been informed the local valley road will be closed for resurfacing next week. Well that's OK but the following week it will be closed again to have water mains work to be completed. Just sitting here shaking my head - the mind boggles at the ineptitude of our local bureaucrats.

My Dentist practice has just stopped doing NHS work, no warning just a letter demanding money if I want to stay on their books as a private patient. Absolutely no practices are taking on NHS patients locally according to the NHS dentist finder so I am a bit stuffed really. Just a sign of the times I suppose. This country is really going down the pan.

I have been following the 'Bladerunners' over the past week or so - it pretty much looks like warfare in London and suburbs.

Just to make you feel better - it's lovely here in Devon 😁.

I don't know if I am missing the point but risk registers are nothing new and I would be extremely surprised if the government didn't have one. The government has released an updated one not introduced a new one. Yep - you are becoming a conspiracy theorist 🤪.

Old Farming tip - Feed the body to some pigs before burying any remains. And the bonus is lots of Bacon.