November 2009 Archives

This definitely falls into the category: Don't try this at home.

The picture was snapped in Cambridge, New Zealand, by Bart Dinger who happened to spot this perilous pruning manoeuvre.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea here. I don't regularly read The Daily Mail. Honestly. But it does have some funny stories occasionally - like this one about the cows wandering onto a housing estate.

Great set of pictures in the Daily Mail of a squirrel saving one of her offspring from a dog. They certainly don't mess around, squirrels...

Here are some photos from the National Trust, showing some of the terrible flooding in the North West.

I thought fans of the mischievous woolly critter, who I mentioned earlier this week, might like these additional four shots of Shaun...

It's my (current) dirty secret. I'm addicted to The X Factor.

I'm afraid I'm firmly in the "hate Jedward" camp, though. But I was still interested to see this story (and short vid) on The Sun's website about how they're helping up yields on one farm.

Never chuck your old wellies away - you never know what they'll be worth one day.

This pair of boots, thought to have belonged to Oliver Cromwell, went under the hammer yesterday for £3800.

The 60cm high "leather postillion's boots" smashed the estimate of £300-£500 when they were sold by auctioneers Dreweatts at Donnington Priory.

They had been displayed in the hall at Wormsley Park and formed part of a collection of items described as forming "a quintessentially English country house sale".

The British Army has got in touch to tell me about an initiative that some of their guys are working on in Helmand in Afghanistan. They're helping the locals with animal care, improving livestock health and, as a result, the standard of living of the locals. It's another example of our fantastic service personnel doing a great job in difficult circumstances.

You can read the full story by clicking here.

Or click below for more pictures and a video.

Seeing as I was eulogising about Shaun the Sheep yesterday, here are some additional pictures.

Talking of The Archers, Matthew Naylor has posted a photo of the kitchen in The Archers' family home on his blog...

Apparently the world's oldest sheep has died in Australia.

Press reports said the animal, called Lucky, became "increasingly cantankerous" as she got older. I know the feeling...

The news just seems to get worse from Cumbria... here's a round-up of all FW's floods coverage.

Fantastic news - a new afternoon series of Shaun the Sheep has started on BBC1.

Shaun, who's the creation of Wallace and Gromit animator Nick Park, first appeared in A Close Shave in 1995 then got his own series in 2007.

His adventures typically involve the Farmer and his long-suffering sheepdog, Bitzer.

Yesterday's episode saw Shaun throwing a party, disguising himself as the farmer to prevent the scam getting detected, while today's sees him and his buddies hijacking a machines that paints white lines in the road.

More pictures below.

...and while we're on the subject of animals, I was interested to hear about this new otter book.

I'm undecided about otters. I think they're cute but, as a fisherman, I also know the carnage they can cause. This albino one is quite something though...

Kangaroos, like squirrels and polar bears, are overrated.

Forget the cute 'Skippy' image, they're dirty and vicious and have obviously had the benefit of good PR over the years.

But this grisly story involving an Australian farmer in today's news shows what they're capable of...

Just heard my Game Fair buddy Bernard Cribbins (there's a particularly unflattering picture of me with him here) is going to be in the Christmas episode of Doctor Who. How exciting...

Forget birds. The Telegraph is more interested in cats - more specifically, this stowaway christened Pharaoh. Bearing in mind it set sail from Felixstowe, maybe a better name would have been Felix...

Birdwatching - it's the new rock and roll, according to The Observer.

I've been to one of the reserves mentioned, Minsmere, but I'm afraid I didn't get the bug.

And speaking of birwatching, apparently an Alaskan Loon Diver has been spotted in Cornwall. Whatever one of those might be...

It was the end of an era for Archers fans last night.

Just before 7.15pm, Norman Painting spoke his final words on the R4 series as Phil Archer.
 
He'd had nearly 60 years in the role (the longest an actor has ever played the same part) and this episode was recorded just before his death last month.

"You'll be shattered by Christmas Day," were his final words.

I like Delia Smith.

Not for the same reasons I like Nigella Lawson, obviously, but I'm a fan of her recipes and evangelical approach to cooking.

So well done to the TV chef, who's just been given a CBE by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

The 68-year-old, who's sold more than 20m copies of her books worldwide, is a culinary institution - and she'll be back on our screen again soon in a one-hour Christmas special.

I'm assuming Prince Charles didn't mention that little incident at Norwich football ground...

Images of Northern Ireland's most beautiful places have gone on display at RSPB NI's photography exhibition 'Nature's Hotspots'.

The exhibition is the culmination of a competition that aimed to raise awareness of the importance of NI's most valuable wildlife areas, known as ASSIs (Areas of Special Scientific Interest).
 
Of the winners, my favourite is this picture of a young fox yawning on a summer's day taken by Jack Hughes from Belfast, which won the wildlife category. Other winners were Warren McConnaughie, Andrew Mulholland and Dr Domhnall Brannigan.

And if this has inspired you to pick up your camera, don't forget Farmers Weekly's Photography Competition 2009 opened yesterday.

A group of rugby-playing youngsters were flying the flag for Staffordshire-grown parsnips when they went on a three-match tour of Canada recently.

A farmer who broke his neck in a cycling accident is about to embark on a 280-mile ride across Vietnam and Cambodia.

Jonathan Pellow, from Albaston on the Cornwall/Devon border, has been confined to a wheelchair since he "went over the handlebars" of his bike 13 years ago.

The 42-year-old, who is paralysed from the waist down with limited hand and arm function, leaves the west country next week with his fiancée, Sarah White.

The pair plan to ride from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to the finish line at Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.

"Being in a wheelchair, keeping fit is really important - I've never been one to go to a gym, and cycling is a really enjoyable way to keep active," says Jonathan. "Sometimes you need a challenge like this to keep motivated.

"Sarah and I hope to raise £3,000 for Regain, the charity which helped me after my accident. They bought me my first hand-cycle, and they are the only charity which support tetraplegics so I wanted to raise some money for them."

The week-long trip will see the couple cover up to 50 miles a day in hot, humid conditions.

Jonathan has been training regularly since June, fitting in rides on his three-wheeled hand-powered bicycle, with his job running two holiday cottages at Todsworthy Farm which have been converted to cater especially for people with disabilities.

You can sponsor them here.

Here's the latest on how the storms in Cumbria are affecting the farming community.

There's also news and pictures on the BBC's site.

For people who enjoy taking pictures, here are full details of the Farmers Weekly Photography Competition 2009. Good luck.

Never chuck away your old wellies. They could be worth a few quid one day. £500, in fact, if this pair are anything to go by.

Game is obviously coming back into fashion.

Last week, it was a new book on how to cook it. Now chef Mark Gilchrist is on a mission to persaude people to eat more of it.

Quite a few parts of the country have been hit by storms in the last week or so. My colleague Phil, who writes a blog about agribusiness, took this pciture last weekend in 60mph winds at Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset.

There might have been a rare outbreak of sense in the Mail, but I can't agree with what Chris Maume is saying in the Independent about The Archers.

I didn't realise there'd been nearly 16,000 episodes of it, either. Imagine having to sit through all them. Puragatory.

Something very strange has just happened. I agreed with something in the Daily Mail. Richard Littlejohn was ruminating on the subject of Dorking's deceased squirrel. Here's an extract:

Albino or otherwise, squirrels are still vermin. But this one has been accorded his own grave, with a little wooden cross. Cards, flowers and bags of nuts have been left, along with messages such as: 'We can't believe you've gone, little friend' and 'Miss you. Love you.' Snowy was run over by someone described as a 'hit and run driver'. Hang on a minute. It wasn't as if this motorist ploughed through a bus queue. He squashed a squirrel. What was he supposed to do - surrender to the police and volunteer for a breath test?

Careful what you wish for, hey.

I was moaning the other day that I'd probably be swamped again with dozens of naked and semi-naked calendars put together by farmers and country people. Now I know these are usually raising money for good causes, but there's only so much flesh a man can look at!

But this year, the calendar count has been remarkably low. Hardly any women on ATVs or men on tractors clutching beacons to cover their modesty.

Remember Mat Follas, the guy who won MasterChef? Well there's a review of his new restaurant in The Guardian.

As I mentioned in connection with Rudolph Diesel, you learn something every day.

Today it's this: that actor Edward Woodward, who died yesterday, was the son of a chicken farmer.

Always surprises me, how many famous people have farming connections...

There are new clues as to the origins of the Cerne Abbas giant, according to today's Times.

I still chuckle at the time the chalk figure met Homer Simpson.

Here's the official trailer for the Bovine film.

You can also see photos taken during filming here.

It's obviously going to be a day of pictures - I've just been alerted to these fantastic "bull leaping" shots in the Mail.

If you're wondering what bull leaping is - well, it's exactly what it sounds like. And it's very, very dangerous...

It's obviously a good day for wildlife photos on the Telegraph's webiste. As well as the bears, they've got three incredible pictures of hippos killing a crocodile.

After recently covering the story of Britain's only polar bear recently, I was interested to see more polar bear pictures in this collection on the Daily Telegraph's website today.

Victoria Beckham has forked out £1,400 on two nine-inch, 13lb micro-pigs.

The miniature pot-bellied animals - fast becoming the latest must-have celebrity accessory - were a present for hubbie, David.

The pampered pets will be lapping up a life of luxury at the family's "Beckingham Palace" in Herts.

Press reports say Posh wants to name them Elton and David after Sir Elton John and David Furnish, while the football star prefers Pinky and Perky.

Here are some pictures of micro pigs in the Daily Mail.

Speaking of competitions, you know I mentioned the Britain's Sexiest Farmer competition, well there's now more than 220 photos in the entry gallery...

We're not going to be launching it in Farmers Weekly until next week, but I thought I'd give Field Day readers a tip off (I'm nice like that) that we're about to run a big photography competition so you might want to dig out some of your favourite rural shots.

As was the case last year, there'll be big cash prizes on offer. I'll give you full details next week...

Thank goodness for that - the "tragic final seconds" of Dorking's albino squirrel have been revealed.

The whole incident seems to have left a community in mourning..

I can't help but wonder sometimes about people's priorities...

Someone's just alerted me to the photography of a guy called Tim Flach - his work's fantastic.

Here's his website, plus some of his other pictures.

Poor old David Dimbleby - he's been forced to miss an episode of Question Time because of a bullock.

Still think my favourite episode of Question Time was the one when the cat turned up...

Look at this monster of a cabbage. It was grown by Shropshire farmworker Graham Tranter.

Graham's won many trophies from shows across the Midlands with his vegetables over the years, once winning an astonishing 17 in a single season.

And he's now set a new world record for the number of tomatoes grown on a single truss, with an astonishing 304.

It's been fascinating following the progress of the Bovine film - but the countryside is obviously a hot topic when it comes to the big screen because I've just heard about another farming-related film project.

Emerging filmmaker Nick Jones is planning to make a short film about agriculture, hopefully featuring an A-list actor in the leading role, to raise funds for rural charities.

Nick, who grew up on a farm in the West Midlands, reckons the 15 to 20-minute story will highlight the "plight and struggle of British farmers and the rural way of life".

The film, which could have a BAFTA winning editor, will be shot next year and then launched onto the festival circuit.

"I love farming," says Nick (pictured above, with his father). "My father is a farmer, as was my grandfather and many of my extended family. It's not just a job, it's a way of life, and an industry that our country has been built upon."

Nick, whose production company is called Grass Roots Media, reckons it'll cost £20,000 to fund the venture so has embarked on a fundraising drive. He plans to raise cash by holding a limited number raffle (ideally selling 2000 tickets at £10 each), with prizes up for grabs including a holiday to Spain and VIP tickets to a West End show.

Profits from the initiative will go to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and the Countryside Alliance Foundation.

Find out more about how you can get involved here.

More on the dead albino squirrel in the Daily Mail. As if the whole thing wasn't ludicrous enough to begin with, now this article is talking about a "Diana-style show of grief". 

Speaking of dead animals, I hear a new TV show called Young Butcher of the Year is due to start next Monday on BBC3.

According to BBC3, it will be unlike other talent shows. "These finalists haven't set out to be famous and they don't want to be celebrities, but they are all striving to be the best at what they do," say the programme makers.

Finalists will face a number of increasingly tough challenges designed to test their skill, knowledge, ability and passion for the job.

The first set of judges will be Justin Preston, owner of Allens of Mayfair, the oldest British butcher to still operate on its original site; and master butcher David Lishman from Yorkshire, twice British sausage champion.

The series has got the media quite excited. Here's what The Telegraph, the Daily Mail and The Guardian think about it...

A lovely book has arrived in the post today: Game - a cookbook by Trish Hilferty and Tom Norrington-Davies.

A quick flick reveals such tasty treats as rabbit braised with prunes and beer, squab and braised peas, and quails on toast with white onion puree and watercress.

I'm hungry now...

I'm always wary of farming when it's brought to the stage. The temptation is for writers and actors to descend into caricature: it's all exaggerated accents and stereotypical rustic sorts.

Not Farm Boy. I managed to catch the last performance of the current run at Greenwich Theatre and it was a beautiful piece of work. It got a big thumbs-up, too, from The Stage paper.

Based on the Michael Morpurgo book, this Daniel Buckroyd adaptation was a tight, one-hour affair featuring just two actors: John Walters and Matt Powell, playing a grandfather and grandson in rural Devon.

Alongside an exploration of their relationship, there were glimpses of the First World War, insights into the changing face of farming, the uplifting story of a illiterate man learning to read and a horse versus tractor head-to-head, all leavened with splashes of humour.

The play delved into the past, but had a contemporary feel: the lad, having just done four years at Uni, had returned to the farm - and this issue of succession (and the draw of the land versus the pull of the bright lights) is a topical one.

Farm Boy was about what the young can learn from the old and what the old can learn from the young. A valuable lesson for farmers everywhere.

This nice picture of a boy with some hounds is in The Times today. More interesting, though, is the explanation from the photographer as to why she took it...

Meerkats traditionally inhabit the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and South Africa. But one of these critters is proving to be the star attraction at a pet shop in Devon.

Speaking of animals passing (first it was Benson, the monster carp, then Chilli the giant bullock) now news reaches me of the death of Dorking's famous albino squirrel.

Now I shouldn't laugh. We all get attached to animals. And some people like squirrels. But something in this article reporting this creature's sad passing made me, well, laugh out loud if I'm honest.

Maybe it's the language used, maybe it's the quotes, maybe it's the way the article has been put together - the tragic tone of it all - but I couldn't help thinking: It's only a bloomin' squirrel.

I particularly like the call for "photos and memories of the squirrel". Nice touch, guys...

Wildlife lovers might like to check out these pictures by Colin Chandler, whose exhibition at the Alexander Meddowes gallery is running until November 27.

On the same website, you can also see pictures from a previous exhibition by Tania Still, whose work I'm a big fan of.

This is a big year for Farmers Weekly - we're 75.

We've published lots of articles and pictures connected with this milestone over recent months - but you might be interested to know that they've all been gathered together now on this one page. Enjoy.