October 2009 Archives

Sad news for fans of The Archers - Norman Painting, who plays Phil Archer, has died.

Here's the BBC's full obituary.

Our Britain's Sexiest Farmer competition continues to generate loads of interest among radio stations.

After the first batch of interviews, I've also now been on BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC Radio York, BBC Radio Newcastle and I've also done a pre-recorded slot for Moray Firth Radio which is scheduled to go out at 12.40pm today.

I think I might have to get myself a manager...

Farmers Weekly's fame spreads even wider. Not only are we all over the airwaves because of our Britain's Sexiest Farmer competition, but we even popped up on Around The World In 80 Days last night.

The programme, which is part of the 2009 Children in Need campaign, follows six pairs of celebrities as they race against the clock re-enacting the epic odysseys of Phileas Fogg and Michael Palin for a 21st-century audience.

Last night Countryfile presenters Julia Bradbury and Matt Baker took up the baton travelling 3700 miles from Kazakhstan to China in just 14 days.

And what better way to break the boredom of a long train journey than reading a copy of FW?

It certainly worked for Biggins...

Sex Pistols front man John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) will be back on TV in November as part of Country Life's Great British Butter campaign.

The ad, which runs for six weeks from November 2, stresses Country Life's British credentials and fresh creamy taste.

The phone's been red hot since we launched the competition to find Britain's Sexiest Farmer with requests for interviews from TV and radio stations.

Yesterday morning I was on BBC Radio Cumbria and Belfast's U105; this morning it was BBC Radio Solent; and I'm hot-footing it up to ITV's studios in London later this afternoon for a TV slot which ITV Border region will broadcast about 6.15 tonight.

If you want to listen to me talk about the search to find Britain's Sexiest Farmers, you can listen again to the Radio Cumbia breakfast show interview (you'll need to skip forward to about 47 minutes in).

A harris hawk called Sin is settling in alongside 600 Freshers at Harper Adams.

Sin belongs to 18-year-old Merlin Becker who's come to the Shropshire campus from County Wicklow to study Countryside and Environmental Management and could not bear to leave his beloved bird behind.

Merlin has had the five-year-old bird since he was 17 weeks old. "I fly him regularly at home, going out every two to three days to see if there's anything around to be caught."

This is Harper's first official avian resident, with the estates team building a special accommodation block for Sin.

"He's got his bird bath and everything he needs in there, so he's well happy and he has settled in now," says Merlin.

He has to earn his keep by assisting with pest control on the campus. "I'm going to be flying him around the Bamford Library which has to be protected from pigeons on top of the roof," says Merlin. "We won't actually be hunting, but if I fly him around that area it should act as a deterrent.

Watch a video of Merlin and Sin in action.

Another foodie is in trouble.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall got it in the neck a while back for admitting to having tucked into a giraffe (got it in the neck, geddit!) and now it's Sunday Times columnist AA Gill who's facing criticism after shooting an inedible baboon.

Personally, I never trust anyone who uses initials in that way. Pretentious tosh, if you ask me.

Aileen Dooley took the coveted title at the Irish Conker Championship in Freshford over the weekend.

She fought off stiff competition in this event, which attracted 200-plus players to the Co Kilkenny venue.

These were the 10th annual championships and over 60,000 conkers were collected, with 2,000 being graded for use in the final competitions.

"I'll just have to try and keep my feet on the ground and not let this incredible achievement go to my head," Aileen commented afterwards.

Which is a nice sentiment, but anyone would have thought she'd just been awarded the Nobel Prize...

Rabbits are in the news again.

First we learn they're being used to fuel a central heating plant, now I hear of a particularly strange pursuit: a competition which involves throwing dead ones.

A contest has been held each year in Waiau in New Zealand, part of three days of fundraising and festivities, in which children see how far they can toss a dead bunny.

This year, however, it has been cancelled, with opponents claiming it sent a message to kids that dead animals were fun and could be used for entertainment.

Others have dubbed it "political correctness gone mad" and point out that New Zealand has more than 30 million wild rabbits, which cause millions of pounds of damage every year.

One animal cruelty inspector said: "Do you throw your dead grandmother around for a joke at her funeral?"

Most people, I'm guessing, would answer that one 'No'.

Britain's only polar bear is settling into her new home.

Mercedes has been moved from Edinburgh Zoo to a four-acre enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park in Invernessshire.

The enclosure, which aims to recreate a tundra environment, contains a public viewing platform.

Mercedes (apparently she's named after the car company which assisted with the costs of her transport) has been in Edinburgh since 1984. She was rescued from Canada after almost getting shot for roaming into a town.

There are some pictures of her on The Times's website.

But, before we all get carried away with how beautiful polar bears are, remember this picture of one biting someone.

After the archive photo of the New Forest family, I thought you might like this one as well.

It dates back to the Second World War and shows a gas mask and rug on a horse at the Royal Veterinary College in London.

This photo's superb - it's the winner in a photography competition run by The Natural History Museum.

Crop circles are back in the news after a police officer supposedly spotted three aliens at one.

He's quoted in this story in the Telegraph as describing the three figures as "all over 6ft tall with blond hair".

I must admit, I'm struggling to see what, exactly, made him think they were aliens.

Well, the story adds that the trio ran away faster than any man he had ever seen!

Couldn't have been three tall blond men by any chance, then, who thought they were about to get busted for criminal damage and legged it...

More examples of crop circles made by people (not aliens) here. 

Speaking on fishy stories - don't you just the signwriting on this van. Obviously DEFRA aren't that popular with some of those in the fish trade...

Forget the monster carp, Benson. He's dead in the water (literally).

Have a look at this 6ft perch...

Well done to the Newcastle University Agrics Club.

More than 20 of them volunteered as drivers for their muckathon which raised over £500 for DebRA, a charity for people suffering with the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa.

They raised the cash by asking people to guess how long it would take to spread a heap of manure, with a prize given for the closest guess. In the end it took 13 hours and 20 minutes.

"It was good fun and in a good cause," said third year student Jack Smith.

I love this photo. I came across it when I was looking at some old pictures from the Museum of English Rural Life's wonderful archive collection. It was taken in 1942 and shows 80-year-old New Forest smallholder Ian Drodge with his wife and granddaughter. It's one of a whole host of shots from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s which we'll be publishing in Farmers Weekly's 75th anniversary issue on October 30.

Wem Young Farmers Club has recently completed a charity bike ride from the top to the bottom of Shropshire.

The cyclists were raising money for two local charities: The Perry Riding School for the Disabled and Hope House children's hospice.

They set off early one morning from Whitchurch and - one puncture, a few slipped chains and a couple of falls later (not to mention aches and pains all round) - they arrived at the destination of Ludlow that afternoon. 

The 13 riders with a small entourage of helpers and a support vehicle covered more than 50 miles, dubbing the ride: 'Wem YFC Top to Tail Shropshire.'

"It was a tough slog but a brilliant experience and a superb challenge," says former club chairman Amy Hopley.

A family of gigantic straw mammoths in Lincolnshire has won farmer Paul Grant top prize in the Weetabix Wheat Art Competition.

The farmer from Boston scooped a £5,000 prize for his sculpture of 'Manny the Mammoth and Family' in this UK-wide competition run in conjunction with the NFU.

The sculpture, which was created with the help of Paul's family and the local community, fought off stiff competition in this contest which encourages farmers to have some fun and use their artistic flair to celebrate the harvest.

Radio 4's Today programme is a beacon of serious, sensible and well reseached news - at least, I thought it was until I heard the piece this morning about the snail/rural postbox crisis. 

This is obviously a big story, with The Times also investigating...

Perhaps there'll have to be a slug-style eradication initiative?

Well done to the guys and girls at Moulton College who entered into the spirit of Welly Week by holding a 'welly tractor pull'.

The students pulled a Massey Ferguson along the college road against the clock (wearing wellies, obviously).

Students were sponsored to take part in the event over the 100 yard stretch in teams of eight. The winning team was the group of lads from the year two mechanisation course.

Bicton College farm manager Paul Redmore is set to become a children's TV star.

The farm at East Budleigh in Devon was the location for CITV programme Farm Camp to be screened each weekday at 5pm from Monday October 19.

Don't you just love the names of British villages?

The Times has collated some photos of amusing ones. 

Five country pubs have been shortlisted for the Country Pub of the Year Award, which aims to encourage pubs to be more community-focused, rewarding hostelries that provide good, locally sourced food and bring people together.  They are:

* The Pigs, Edgefield, Norfolk
"The Pigs has shown great enterprise during the recession. It has encouraged the locals to swap everything from meat, vegetables, fish and fruit for pints!"

* The Thomas Lord, West Meon, Hampshire
"Renowned for its friendly atmosphere and classic village pub ambience, The Thomas Lord celebrates its affiliation with the founder of Lord's cricket ground and former resident of West Meon."

* The Peat Spade, Stockbridge, Hampshire
"Offering a desirable combination of good food, quality wine and sport, The Peat Spade is located in the fly-fishing capital of the world and really makes the most of its position overlooking the River Test. It has its own fishing shop and arranges fly-fishing and shooting for local people."

* The King's Head Inn, Laxfield, Suffolk
"Recognised for its tradition of serving beer straight from the cask, The Kings Head, dating back to the 16th century, also serves home-cooked food."

* The Mason's Arms in Cartmel Fell, Cumbria
"A pub that exudes individual character with low black beams and wooden tables on polished flagstones. It boasts spectacular views of the Winster Valley and has been recently refurbished."

The winners will be announced in the 11 November issue of Country Life.

A new record has been set in America for the world's biggest pumpkin.

The silver pig cruet set smashed all price expectations at auction, with a fierce bidding battle ensuring the winning bidder ended up paying £3500.

"I knew they were good but I do not think that anyone was prepared for that much," so auctioneer John Dickins of Dickins Auctioneers told me.

"It appears that the winning bidder belonged to the 'London Silver Trade' and wasn't a farmer, but one day it will appear in a London shop (quite possibly with a price tag of more than double the hammer price) and then perhaps a wealthy farmer (and he will have to be!) might purchase it," says John.

I went along to watch farmer John Charles-Jones on the Fourth Plinth in London this morning. Read the full story and watch a short video clip here.

It's not just me who's been getting all misty-eyed about poetry.

The Daily Telegraph has, too - although, in their case, eulogising about Dylan Thomas was a prelude to an interesting article or rural broadband. Or, rather, the lack of it... 

When I lived in Wales, I visited his old house. It's a beautiful spot. I still love Thomas's poetry - the sound of it is incomparable, although I've found him a little one-dimensional as a poet as I've got older. Am I missing something?

Emma Malkin, a 23-year-old farm secretary from Staffordshire will be taking part in the Cambrian Rally 2009 this weekend in her Peugeot 205 GTi.

Emma lives on her parents' organic dairy farm at Cotwalton has always had a keen interest in motorsport - a far cry from the day job as a farm secretary.

The Cambrian Rally, which is a 45 mile, five-stage rally through the challenging famous Welsh forests of Clocaenog and Penmachno, will be her most competitive rally to date, with Julian Jones co-driving. World rally championship leader Mikko Hirvonen will also be participating.

Emma isn't the only farming person to enjoy rallying. Here's a feature on another, Sam Fordham.

We've had a lot of dog-related posts on Field Day recently so time for some cat stuff.

Here's a photo of some ninja cats on the Telegraph's website and a video on the Under the Paw blog of some kind of (exceedingly strange) cat massaging activity.

Here's a photo of John Charles-Jones, the farmer who'll be on the Fourth Plinth next week.

And here's what The Guardian has to say about the whole project...

Welly Week, organised by the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, kicks off on Saturday. Loads of boot-related events are taking place in aid of this good cause. And this is Beckie, the week's mascot, sporting some suitable footwear (or should that be pawwear).

I was with Matthew Naylor the other day. We were dead cultured - we talked about poetry and everything.

He told me about a poem by Seanus Heaney called Follower which, through the poet's memory of ploughing, speaks of his changing relationship with his father. I better not reprint it all because I'll get into trouble with the copyright police, but here's part. Lovely, isn't it.

Clarissa Dickson Wright has got a new book out, Rifling Through My Drawers. It's a sequel to her memoirs, Spilling the Beans. Here's what the Telegraph has to say about it.

The latest celebrity (OK, sort of celebrity) to endorse food/drink is Donna Air.

OK, I admit it: I'm a sucker for cute pet photos.

Nearly 30 Brits won gold medals - and two were named among the 10 best in the world - at the 2009 World Cheese Awards in Gran Canaria.

Saint Giles, an organic semi-soft creamy cow's milk cheese produced by High Weald Dairy in East Sussex, was placed 5th out of nearly 2,500 entries in the world's largest cheese competition, which is organised by the UK's Guild of Fine Food.

After mentioning Jackie Spurrier, I've just come across another artist I really like - Thuline De Cock.

Thuline was born in Bruges, but after "a romantic encounter in the mountains of Andalusia in 1996" ended up in the Lake District. And it's from the animals there that she draws a lot of inspiration.

"Cows are funny creatures," she says. "Just like humans, they have their own characters. Their faces show expressions and a curiosity that never stop to amaze and fascinate me. I like to capture their moods.

I've blogged about my dislike of polar bears before.

And this photo highlights another of their bad points - a cub riding on its mother's back says one thing to me: laziness.

Rural dwellers (with very deep pockets) might be interested in this - it's being billed as the most luxurious off road vehicle ever made.

I didn't get a place on the Fourth Plinth.

But an East Midlands farmer and NFU Council member John Charles-Jones has - and he's set to take his place on October 13 between 8am and 9am.

He was one of 34,247 people to apply for the initiative which is the brainchild of sculptor Antony Gormley.

Members of the public spend an hour on the plinth, 24 hours a day, over the course of 100 days and John will become number 2370 to step up.

His plan is to spend his 60 minutes reminding people about why farming matters. 

Remember bring-a-pet-to-school days?

I used to cart in my guinea pig, Viennetta (until Viennetta went to 'that great deep-strawed hutch in the sky' which I later discovered meant 'put out for the binmen in a carrier bag').

My collegue Jonathan has unearted a rather unusual pet one Cumbrian lad took in: a bull.