The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland

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Joyfully this does not prevent or spoil John's efforts to turn his newly acquired 'Flinders' field into a glorious and abundant wheatfield enjoyed by birds, wild animals, wildlife, wildflowers, wild herbs and all that comes with a worm-filled rich soil and the care of someone who understands the needs of the land and how to nurture it through the seasons. In a way, this book reads like a love letter to the English countryside, and one field in particular. There is a heady mix of agricultural history, rural folklore, geography, childhood memories and an odd grab-bag of facts. For example, in an aside on the joys of ploughing by hand, we learn that the ploughman’s lunch was an invention by the British Cheese Bureau in the 1950s to increase the sales of cheese! Fans of Lewis-Stempel's bestselling Meadowland will find here the same easy-reading prose fuelled by daft-as-a-brush enthusiasm and embellished with lyrical flourishes ... the mud-spattered details of a farming life lend The Running Hare a unique realness." ( Mail on Sunday)

The diary form of The Running Hare facilitates impressionistic and spontaneous prose as the rural year unfurls. Problems queue up for recognition, of course, but Lewis-Stempel ploughs on (sorry), sowing, among other things, to encourage the eponymous hare. And the animal comes. “Have hares, have our national landscape.” Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Society White Horse Bookshop Prize 2016. John Lewis-Stempel was winner of the Thwaites Wainwright Prize 2015 for MEADOWLAND. That John Lewis-Stempel is one of the best nature writers of his generation is undisputed." ( Country Life) His column on nature and farming in Country Life won him Magazine Columnist of the Year in the 2016 BSME Awards. [3] His monthly column in The Countryman magazine began in March 2023. The critically acclaimed celebration of English wildlife and the bestselling natural history title of 2016, SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2017.Description: A close up and intimate natural history by John Lewis-Stempel. By taking an abandoned field close to his farm, he observes in minute detail the behaviour of plants, birds and animals that are being displaced by agribusiness. In telling the story of one field, he tells the story of our countryside, our language, our religion and our food. But in transforming one field, he creates a haven for one particular animal close to his heart - the brown hare. A beautifully observed book, full of poetic descriptions. Brilliant and galvanising." ( Sunday Express) Happiness can truly be enhanced by soil - scientists at the University of Bristol report that a specific soil bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae activates a set of serotonin releasing neurones in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the brain - the same ones targeted by Prozac. So your mood can genuinely lift, just form working with, or walking over soil.

Whether your bringing the whole family or enjoying a night off from the kids, we have plenty of options for everyone.How about trying one of our show stopping burgers such as the Ultimate Spicy Beef Burger? Or, If you fancy a pub classic, try our hand-battered fish and chips. That the wildflower speedwell can lie dormant int he soil for up to 20 years, and then germinate. The folklore around it is that it does literally 'speed you well', and travellers in years gone by would sew it into the linings of their coats as a charm for their journey.It can be a bitter cupful to swallow, even for those who understand some of the ecological cost of our modern ways of agriculture and science and intensive farming practices. Most people don’t even see the changes to our entire ecosystem these “progressive” practices have wrought in less than a single generation. The decimation of animal habitat and species and the equal decimation of plant variety and habitat. It is interesting to learn about the search for various types of traditional farming equipment, repaired and used at each stage of the wheat growing process, from ploughing the field, sowing the seeds, harvesting, transporting and storing the harvest at the end of the season. It is good to know that quality tools built to last a lifetime are still around and will find a place in our lives again.

John Lewis-Stempel is an English farmer, writer, and Sunday Times Top 5 best selling author. He was born in Herefordshire, where his family have lived for over 700 years. [1] Career [ edit ]

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However, this book brings with it much hope; that old traditions never die and can be resurrected amongst our polluted rolling hills. It is confirmation that Nature is a miraculous living being in her own right and that she will flourish when we take the trouble to learn her ways and how to work with her through the seasons. The author of The Private Life of an English Field looks for ‘restorative reads’ after long, chilly days working his land. From a period Parisian thriller to nature-led poetry, here’s what’s been on his bedside table in 2019. Along the way we learn a little about seemingly everything rural - agricultural history, scientific studies of bird and wildlife decline, botany, modern agriculture, Lepidoptera, Shakespeare, agrarian poetry, and the history of English hedges, just to name a few. A stirring rural fantasia...Lewis-Stempel's heart and mind are absolutely in the right place. I salute him and I adored his appreciation of the quirky detail." ( The Times)

He describes beautifully the changing of the seasons and the habits of animals such as the hares that make their home in his field. The book is a superb piece of nature writing." (Ian Critchley Sunday Times)

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Englightening and stylish [...] Readers who enjoyed the author's last book, Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field, will find much in the same vein here: a mix of agricultural history, rural lore, topographical description and childhood memories. I learned a good deal [...] Lewis-Stempel is a fine stylist, adroitly conjuring scenes in which "medieval mist hangs in the trees" or "frost clenches the ground" [...] " Lewis-Stempel is a fourth-generation farmer gifted with an extraordinary ability to write prose that soars and sings, like a skylark over unspoiled fields. This wonderful book (a worthy follow-up to his brilliant Meadowland) is a hymn in praise of enlightened farming methods which reject lethal chemicals and allow insects, birds and flowers to thrive, as once they did. A close up and intimate natural history by John Lewis-Stempel. By taking an abandoned field close to his farm, he observes in minute detail the behaviour of plants, birds and animals that are being displaced by agribusiness. In telling the story of one field, he tells the story of our countryside, our language, our religion and our food. But in transforming one field, he creates a haven for one particular animal close to his heart - the brown hare. Smashing bit of nature writing. John Lewis-Stempel rented a field, with permission to turn it over to wildflower cultivation in its first year, and documented the diverse wildlife it attracted. TheWildlife Trusts is a movement made up of 46 Wildlife Trusts: independent charities with a shared mission.