Beeches Farm, Faxfleet
Yesterday's blogpost was about paths but this one concerns farms. I looked back on my Geograph submissions and discovered that I have contributed 3897 image that are primarily labelled "farm". For this post I have once again selected just seven of those pictures
My wife is a farmer's daughter. She was born in a Lincolnshire farmhouse by The River Trent. But it wasn't as isolated as the farms shown here. Her family farm, Holme Farm, was in the heart of a small village and very much part of the community.
In contrast, when out walking, I frequently pass lonesome farms that are located more than a mile or two from the nearest village. I wonder what it must be like to live in such places - not just for a country vacation but all the time, whatever the season.
Unquestionably, there must be lots of advantages - including the peace and quiet but there will be several disadvantages too. Children born on such farms will be far from their friends and may have to get used to inventing their own solitary amusements. It will be especially difficult for many teenagers raised on farms who need to experience some proper independence as they grow older.
In the mating game, farmers will often be very challenged. How do you meet someone when you live in glorious isolation? People who are not born into farming families must feel strange about moving to such locations. After all, you won't be able to walk to a shop or knock on a neighbour's door begging for cups of sugar or a few teabags.
It is reckoned that there are around 216,000 farms in Great Britain - each with its own history and story to tell The seven shown here form just a tiny sample of this kingdom's farms.
Dale Farm, Wetton
Avenue Farm, North Cliffe
Bettfield Farm, east of Chapel-en-le-Frith
Ivy House Farm, Peak Forest
Crawshaw Farm, Ughill
Leylands Farm, Broadbottom
I think my favorite is the Ivy House Farm, Peak Forest. The snow makes it looks so desolate but those bright blue doors really give the photo a great pop of color. And, of course, I love those stone fences.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response to that picture Ellen. Let's walk up the drive and have lunch with the farmer and his wife. I hope their dogs are chained up.
DeleteI don't think I'd make it as a farmer, but I do love these peaceful farm houses!
ReplyDeleteLet's give it a try. You can muck out the pigs. Here's a shovel and a clothes peg for your nose.
DeleteI was (literally) born on a farm, as was my brother, some 1.5 miles from the nearest village. We weren't completely isolated as there were two other families as well as the cook and chauffeur for the "big house" . Even with these other people around it was still quite isolated. As children we either walked or got the local bus to the village primary school, but didn't have that much social interaction with the village children - we were a pretty independent bunch. As teenagers it was a 4 mile bus journey to secondary school or any of the other town attractions, however the last bus left town at 9:30pm, so that rather limited one's activities . Yes, it was an isolated childhood for us, but there were compensations in that we had much more freedom than the town or village children.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course you were close to nature - closer than most people.
DeleteComing from the wide open Canadian prairie , it's difficult to think of farms being so close to one another.
ReplyDeleteYours was a different kind of farm - with big fields and almost total dedication to grain crops. I would have loved to visit Esk in the middle of the last century.
DeleteThey are all so green! Well, the surroundings are green. I see only one with livestock and tractors, and didn't notice any vegetable gardens either. They are still beautiful though.
ReplyDeleteShirley's father's farm was on much richer soil and he specialised in vegetables including cabbages, carrots and leeks as well as some wheat and barley. There were no sheep.
DeleteI like a room with a view, so my choice would be Leylands Farm with the pleasant looking hill behind.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately there's a sign on the gate that reads "NO AUSSIES!"
DeleteHow rude of them. We are very nice people.
DeleteLike you, coming across isolated farms or other houses (there are many lonely dwellings in the Black Forest, most of them now empty or only used occasionally) always makes me wonder what life must be like there.
ReplyDeleteNo popping out to the bakery for a fresh loaf of bread - do your own baking or buy enough to last you for a while. What happens in an emergency? With strokes and heart attacks, every second counts. How long will it take for an ambulance to reach your place? Children need to be up very early in order to get to school in time. Life without a car is possible, but very impractical.
People who live in places like that are almost like another type of human.
DeletePS: How do you select just seven out of the thousands of pictures? I would find it very hard to decide, since they are all so good.
ReplyDeleteOh you sweet talker! A bit of ruthlessness is required when making the selection. If I was picking seven today they would probably be different.
DeleteThere is little infrastructure in the countryside and rural isolation is not good for anyone. I would rather live in a village with public transport and a pub and allotments.
ReplyDelete"I ain't going to work on Rishi's farm no more".
Being a rural man, you know what you are a talking about. Would you work on Rishi's farm if he successfully sent planeloads of immigrants to Rwanda?
DeleteYes I'd go for a gander to Rwanda.
DeleteHow do you spend your time? You sit listening to cricket on the wireless all Saturday afternoon, recording the results ball by ball in a special book. Then, when you are older, you are so good at figures you start a local store franchise so successful it gives you the means to buy and rescue Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Like Colin from GGS.
ReplyDeleteYou must be referring to Colin Graves. Were you his fag at GGS?
DeleteHe's still got his GGS accent.
DeleteMy favourite is Ivy House Farm too, and the snowy scene captures the isolation prefectly. They are all excellent photos and I'm glad to see you found one with a few sheep.
ReplyDeleteI was raised on a farm, 80 acres of land, 1 1/5 miles from the nearest paved road, 5 miles from the nearest village shop. It is a different experience.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ruined farms up on the moors here, it looks very desolate. Crawshaw Farm looks busy and engaged with the world.
ReplyDeleteI was born on an isolated moorland farm, and loved the beauty of being close to nature, but it also made me aware of how hard it was to get supplies in, or out, when bad weather cut off access, and how hard it was to get help in an emergency. I expect life is easier with mobile phones and computers, but its a sobering thought that farmers are high on the list of suicides every year.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note, I know a single farmer who states that his criteria for a wife is, "I don't care what she looks like. She just needs to be useful enough to pull a tractor out of a ditch when it's needed." He remains totally perplexed why he is still a batchelor in his seventies.