Field Day

I’m sure we’ve all had a few odd birthday presents in our time.

Spare a thought for the Queen. What did she get for her 80th? A cow!

Two cattle were given to her this week by the Red Poll Cattle Society to mark her birthday.

The octogenarian is a big fan of the breed – she's been patron of the Society for 55 years – and now plans to keep this pair at Sandringham in Norfolk.

The breed has, in fact, a long connection with Royalty – George V was a devotee. More recently, there’s been a general revival of interest in it, partly because of its suitability for low-input organic systems of farming.

This was one gift, you'll be pleased to hear, that didn't come wrapped up.

Farm workers obviously have allies in high places.

The actor Martin Sheen – known to millions as President Bartlet in the tv drama The West Wing and for those with slightly longer memories as Captain Willard in the film Apocalypse Now – has backed a campaign supporting “exploited” mushroom pickers in Ireland.

The actor is a well-known political activist in America, where he’s been arrested dozens of times for protesting.

There have even been reports that he’s been approached by the Democrats to run for the Senate, which he declined claiming he wasn’t qualified.

“You’re mistaking celebrity for credibility,” he said, with an un-celebrity-like sense of self-awareness.

Mushroom pickers are yet to respond to this ‘presidential’ intervention…

So, Liz Hurley has tied the knot.

Her wedding to Indian businessman Arun Nayar this weekend followed months of speculation in the media.

England footballing legend - and one-time Republic of Ireland manager - Jack Charlton has been helping the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.

Working with other members of your family can be a blessing and a curse.

It's something that farmers, perhaps more than in any other business, are used to. When it's going well, it can go brilliantly; when it's going badly, it can go terribly.

Ireland's star bowler in the World Cup cricket, Boyd Rankin, is certainly glad his 'day job' is on the family farm.

OK, so we always knew Bryan Ferry would be singing at the 'Countryside Rocks' concert in aid of the Countryside Alliance.

The Roxy Music's singer's son, Otis, is a big name in hunting circles ever since he disrupted Parliament with a pro-hunting demo in 2004.

Remember the groundbreaking BBC show Castaway 2000?

This, as tv fans will remember, was one of the first reality shows - screening even before the first Big Brother, which is now in its eighth series.

I'm not one to name drop.

I was only thinking this the other day, in fact, when I was chatting to my friend, the world-famous chef, tv star and countryside campaigner Clarissa Dickson Wright.

Talking of post offices, you might well see Joan Collins and the lads from Westlife popping into one soon.

They’ll be among the famous faces appearing on a new tv advertising campaign by the Post Office.

Most people know him as captain of the England rugby team, but a less well-known fact is that Phil Vickery is farmer’s son from a traditional agricultural background.

The prop, who grew up on a family dairy farm in Cornwall, is still a passionate supporter of the countryside.

The man who’ll be facing South Africa in this weekend’s World Cup Final even reckons the discipline that farming gave him from an early age has helped his sports career.

Golly, this is exciting. A friend of mine has just told me he's popping round to Madonna's place tomorrow.

Don't worry, I'm not going to try to turn this blog into Heat.

But seeing as we've been on the subject of celebrities and their countryside connections, I thought I'd mention a bit more such news. This time, it's Jordan and horses.

Hello! magazine isn't on my regular reading list, but I've just been shown a copy of the current issue.

The recent Farmers Weekly Awards, which I've referred to before, gets a mention because the Countess of Wessex was there in her capacity as president of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

After my Gary Rhodes celebrity shocker (basically, I didn't know him!), I now have more celebrity chef news - this time involving the nation's darling, Jamie.

A bit more celebrity news.

This is what most farmers can only dream of - a Russian billionaire desperate to buy some of your land.

Maybe he's in the market for a corner of my garden in Carshalton...

Just off to this posh hair place in London for our agricultural student makeover.

Heard last night that the stylist has worked in the past with a member of the Royal family, top singers and a famous footballer (I'm supposed to be sworn to secrecy, but let's just say the one concerned has a wife called Victoria!)

It's just as well he doesn't have to give me a makeover - I'm sure the poor guy will despair at the sight of me. I know I said yesterday that I very rarely wear a tie, but you'll be pleased to know I have ironed a shirt in preparation for today's proceedings! Will let you know how it goes.

Today’s been brilliant.

It’s probably the only time I’ll ever spend a day with a world-class hairdresser and fashion stylist.

The day, however, was about our three agricultural students who'd won the makeover. They entered into the spirit of it, had their hair totally restyled and were dressed in clothes worth thousands of pounds (no, they didn’t get to take them home - although one did joke about making a run for it, then flogging it on eBay!)

Here are our three agricultural students - obviously after their makeover. Respect!

See below for some more before and after shots.

Funny, the diversity of people who are involved in farming. Was reading about a composer called John Eliot Gardiner mentioned in the paper this morning who's got a new CD out (Bach Cantatas Vol 16) and someone's just told me that, other than classical musical, his main passion is farming.

Here's an article about him from The Observer earlier this year.

Well I never.

I was only talking recently, wasn't I, about 1970s tv shows - and guess who someone's just sent me an email about? Pam Ayres.

Dairy farmer Clive Keam is about to become a tv star.

The 63-year-old from Cornwall will appear on January 4 on the hit C4 afternoon show Deal or No Deal, which gives contestants a shot at winning £250,000.

“I loved it – it was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever done,” Clive told me yesterday about his stint filming.

Nothing like a bridge to spark a debate.

Thanks to Field Day reader Martin from Tiverton who drew my attention to this story.

Seems the Paul Simon bridge rumour may, in fact, be no more than that.

It's becoming a bit of a habit this - silly stories on a Friday afternoon.

Thanks to reader Jill who sent me a link to this short clip of a comedy pig on Britain's Got Talent.

I once slagged off pugs on this blog and got some extremely waspish emails.

As far as I’m concerned, though, they do look like maggots. Obviously a lot of people disagree with me though because figures from the kennel show small breeds like the pug, shi tzu and pomeranian are thriving.

Fans of Emmerdale will be sad to learn that Clive Hornby (aka Jack Sugden) is taking a break from the series because he's unwell.

I once met Clive and he's a thoroughly nice bloke. If you're interested, here's a copy of the article I wrote after meeting him in 1999.

I've eulogised about Somerset before. It's a county I adore.

Seems like Nicholas Cage (an actor I'm not a big fan of) is similarly smitten with the place.

Who says wax jackets are solely the preserve of the huntin' shootin' and fishin' fraternity? They're set to become the latest must-have fashion accessory after a raft of celebrities have been spotted sporting them, according to one newspaper.

Wow, how exciting. I’ve just been given the opportunity to go and interview John Torode from Masterchef.

Jeremy Clarkson may have slagged them off - but Land Rovers still have a staunch following. My pal David has just had one on test for a week - here's what he made of it.

Had lunch today with John Torode (sorry, can't resist a bit of name dropping) at his Smiths of Smithfield restaurant.

Only one major faux pas. I ordered the wild mushroom risotto which was probably a mistake seeing as the guy's so famous for his beef. He immediately wanted to know if I was a vegetarian!

You know I told you I had lunch the other day with the bloke off MasterChef.

Well here's why.

If you want to read a few additional nuggets of info and gossip about John, scroll down.

We're supposed to be a nation of shopkeepers (at least, that's what Napoleon said).

Fitting, then, that Prince Charles is today opening his own shop in Tetbury. It will sell everything from organic carrots to breakfast bowls painted with pictures of the royal hens.

HRH opened his shop yesterday. Looks as if it sells some great stuff. Probably not the place to go for a four-pack of lager and 40 B&H.

I always come to regret things I say.

And now I fear my comment about Bill Bryson's beard may come back to haunt me.

I've just fixed up to interview him the week after next. Anyway, if you've got any questions you'd like me to ask him (preferably not relating to his beard), just let me know...

I missed this programme with Clarissa Dickson Wright earlier this week. Anyone see it?

Gordon Ramsay talks a lot of sense.

He’s a classic Alpha male (watching him makes me worry I’m too much in touch with my feminine side) and he swears a lot (even by my standards) but his latest idea sounds good.

Seeing as we're on the subject of lookalikes, here's another one.

The Queen and a pink hyacinth.

Remember Farmers Weekly's agony uncle Farmer Frank? Well it appears the old goat has become something of an internet star.

He's had a Facebook Appreciation Group set up about him, having become famous answering readers' queries in his own inimitable, unhelpful and often rude way.

Now I'm a bit of a greenhorn when it comes to these things (I've only had Facebook explained to me in the last year of so) but the group, which "shows support for - and celebrates - our dear friend Frank", already has more than 70 members.

Frank has made his name dispensing homespun wisdom on all manner of country matters - whether it's health issues, affairs of the heart, cash topics or more practical agricultural enquires.

He's ruffled a few feathers along the way. After all, this fictional therapist is not qualified, not experienced and, according to some, not all there. But many love the no-nonsense (well, not entirely nonsense) advice of this lovable old rogue.

Horticulture is big news this week, as it's the Chelsea Flower Show.

I'm not patient enough to make a good gardener - but I do like looking at nice gardens when somebody else has done all the graft.

I last went to Chelsea three years ago (the Flower Show, that is, not to see the football team - it was about six years ago when I last did that) and loved it - although it seemed as much about design and architecture as gardening and, like everything else these days, it was rather hijacked by celebrities.

Anyway, if you're interested, there's lots of coverage around today about the Show, which opens to the public tomorrow.

The Times has a variety here, while if you want to see a short clip of designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd have a look here (she sounds like a female Prince Charles!) and for the official show site, have a gander here.

Meanwhile my battle with the slugs in my small and rather unimpressive garden continues...

There was me, glossing over our lack of fish at the NFU Fly Fishing day (lack of local knowledge, bad weather, unsuitable flies etc) and my friend Phil goes and blows my story out of the water (geddit?) with a write-up about how well some of the others did. Bugger.

I could, I suppose, talk about the monster trout I had on briefly, but I lost it...

Trouble is, 'the one that got away' stories are boring, so I won't.

The only person who can do 'one that got away' interestingly is Raymond Carver (pictured).

If you don't know him, he's an American writer (he died in the 1990s) who just got fishing.

One of my favourite pieces of work of his is a story called Nobody Said Anything, which is about two boys who catch a huge fish by hand. It perfectly captures the sense of excitement boys have about fishing (it also has, like a lot of Carver's work, a dark undertone).

He also wrote a poem (I think it's called The Kitchen but I'll need to check when I go home tonight) about a boy who loses his rod to a huge fish. The sense of disappointment is palpable...

If you've never read Carver, try him: he's a fabulous writer. If you're not interested in writing, apologies for the digression!

OK, then, this is a bit more earthy and manly.

Having recently written about the Northumberland farmer who won the North Pole race and the land agent who trekked to the south pole, I hear today that Sir Ranulph Fiennes left base camp yesterday to begin a charity climb of Everest. The 64-year-old hopes to reach the summit on Saturday.

As you know, I'm not one to name drop (it's positively ages since I've seen my old friend Clarissa Dickson Wright) but I met Ranulph once. I was actually interviewing his late wife, Ginny, who was a farmer and he dropped in to say hello.

He was a nice bloke - and it's one hell of a name: Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes.