Jane, cattle and cpre - June 2011
Nearing the end of the guided walk last Wednesday, we stopped the group of 30 cpre members and gave them a parting round up, thank you and another plug for beef sales, as suggested by all the best training manuals. And I realised that this was very genuine. Of course it’s always a pleasure to talk about yourself, but to have a group of people appreciate what you’ve told them and compliment you on what you’re trying to do is great; so thank you if you were there.
After winning one of the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s (CPRE) Living Countryside Awards last December, Ann Collett-White asked if we would be prepared to show a group around the farm and explain what we do; of course we would! It was a beautiful evening, the Redmans were just finishing the hay cut, our small valley looked its June best, but still it was an effort to drag ourselves away from a nice cup of tea and to become Mr & Mrs Genial Host.
It was lovely to meet them all and to introduce them to our very noisy Red Polls, talk about the perils of hay making, Cow Bridge, problems with water supplies, Chinese lanterns and dogs – perhaps we went on too much?!
Martin Hazell with cpre June 2011
Thanks to Ann for organising the evening, to Martin Hazell for showing off his fabulous work with willow and hazel and to the Green Dragon, Gravenhurst, for welcoming us afterwards and serving one of the best pints of bitter I’ve tasted for a long time (Buntingford Ale I believe this time, Banks and Taylor last visit).