Field Day

A shepherd has become one of only 1000 people ever to have swam the Channel.

Father-of-five Gary Wilson completed the charity swim in 15 hours and 23 minutes.

"It would have been 22 miles if I’d been able to go in a straight line, but because of the currents I ended up swimming more than 30 miles," he told me. “If you stop swimming for 10 seconds, you can lose as much as 400m.”

Aside from the stamina required, the Kent-based man contended with the severe cold and jellyfish bites as he completed his mammoth feat.

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.

After unearthing a bit of info about Phil Vickery's farming pedigree, I've been asking one of my sports-mad mates about other stars with rural connections. Turns out there are quite a few.

The guy in the picture is John Jeffrey, a favourite of Scottish rugby fans and Kelso's most famous farmer.

John was known in his playing days as 'The Great White Shark' because of his predatory instincts and his shock of blond hair.

The countryside has got allies in the unlikeliest places. Like Wrexham Football Club.

A joint message from the Farmers’ Union of Wales and the Club urging fans to buy Welsh Lamb will be read out at half time during the Dragons' home match against Brentford this Saturday.

Everyone’s at it – trying to get us to walk more.

And a good job it is, too, after that Christmas excess.

If you don’t fancy any of the National Trust’s month-by-month walks, you could join Natural England’s Outdoor Gym.

Herefordshire farmers son Robert Hall is making quite a name for himself in the motor racing world.

The unseasonably mild weather over the weekend prompted the usual raft of stories in the media about people doing spring or summer-like activities in February. This is one of the few that warrants a second glance, though: a guy practising what, apparently, is set to become a popular new sport: horse-surfing.

Bearing in mind, I'm not fond of water and I hate horses, I think I'll give this one a miss.

No wonder Hugh's gone quiet. High winds have forced Cheltenhan to be called off.

I'm not as anti-Dragon Den as Mr Naylor, but I do find it a little boring these days. At first it was great, but the concept has worn a bit thin. And, I've never seen that Deborah Meaden say Yes to a single proposal.

Might be worth watching tonight through - as farmers son and racing driver, 18-year-old Robert Hall from Herefordshire, is on the show which airs on BBC2 tonight at 9pm.

He'll be pitching to the dragons for £50,000 and help introducing new investors to Motorsport to progress his career. 

Ex-England rugby player Jason Robinson has gone into sheep farming. He'll need all his speed and agility to catch them when they escape!