The West Country of England

[Brewingale]

I have been around Devon and Cornwall over the last few days and I must  say what a delight it was. To see fields of dairy cows, lush green fields, plenty of activity with the production of winter feed for these animals. Silage, both foraged and baled. I live in Hampshire and over the last twenty years all the dairy farms I once knew and watched with interest throughout the seasons have sadley gone. I wonder if those days will ever come back? somehow I doubt it.

[Paul Palmer]

i live in devon so im bound to be bias,but i wouldnt want to live anywhere else Steve,i did have a brief spell on a large arable farm near salisbury and crondall

[CMB]

A lot of dairy farms around where I grew up in north Devon were closing even before I left for Gloucestershire in 1988, god knows how many remain.

[powerrabbit]

Not much dairy here now, that which remains are mainly in the hands of just 2 or 3 individuals, I milked cows for 27 years and Father before me milked for 23 years, I gave up the cows in 1997 when he died and was the last dairy herd in the parish to go, the parish is one of the largest in Devon. A big dairy farmer who has several herds in Devon and Cornwall, over 300 head in each, in the last couple of years has started up a dairy herd 1/2 way between me and the village, how long it will last is anyone's guess, he was 'organic' but that didn't work, he discovered that without fertilizer that grass here won't come to anything and certainly not enough to sustain 300 cows let alone them producing milk, watched them cross the road a few days ago, if they were my cows I'd be ashamed of them, nothing but bone bags.

[Stabliofarmer]

Were I live is moorland with small holdings dotted around. 40 years ago almost all of the small holdings would have had a few milkers. Knower days there isn't a single milking herd out of about 40 farms. In fact only about 10 are still working farms with sheep or cattle for beef. The rest have been turned into houses and the land either abandoned or used for Neddys.

[powerrabbit]

Dartmoor is now very much like that, all the old 'proper' farmers have died out, farms split and sold off by dribs and drabs, barns converted, owls evicted and the Swallows, fields divided into paddocks with post and rail containing nags with rugs on their backs and fly screens over their eyes, they don't think about the more nasty biting fly's on their backs and legs! Paddocks bite right to the ground and shade being given by a dozen 8 foot thistles and a large patch of stinging nettles up one end where the nags turd. You never see anyone from these places, they cut themselves off completely, look at us that were born in the place as if you were something on the bottom of their riding boots and think that just because they're on a horse all dandy'd up think that they own the road and have right of way. I don't mind the emmets, grockels, vurriners and holiday visitors as they go home again after a while and as long as the leave their money behind when they go but take their rubbish home with them then they're welcome to come again.

[Stabliofarmer]

Tim I think you're very much right there. Were I live is a country park with a lake and some of the places ( public footpaths not bridleways) people take there horses are just somewhere you wouldn't dream of taking a large animal, a footpath with lots of people young and old or a busy main road, Its just stupid. And what you say about looking down there noses at you is completely true for some as well. They just think its all one giant playground where they can show of there money and don't give a second thought to the few still making a living from the land around them. This isn't however all of them just enough for you to notice. I have to disagree however on tourists as just not enough have respect for others areas and are quite happy to dump what ever they want were ever they want without a second thought, and I'm afraid no matter how much money they spend that in my mind overrules everything.

By the way I've never herd a horse called a Nag before, I had to look that one up

[powerrabbit]

I've got nothing against horses, in fact I quite like them, as long as the gravy is thick enough!, used to have a pony myself in my younger days but that was a Dartmoor pony and they, like the Exmoor and other native breeds are a world apart from these high tempered, flighty Arab cross types that seem to be the norm now and the rider has in my observations, no control over them or any road and vehicle sense whatsoever. They usually have a pack of dogs running with them as well, another animal they have no control over from the back of a horse. Another type that annoys me no end is cyclists on the roads, they ride 5 abreast, try to do the same speed as the cars behind them, never pull in to let you pass and if you come across them on our very narrow roads they're dangerous. And don't even mention the visitors that can't reverse their car but it is very entertaining to sit and watch them try, don't get me wrong, I'll reverse for anyone, I can drive as fast backwards as I can forwards, learnt that very early on but when they have just 2 lengths or so of their car to go back it seems to take them an eternity to achieve with numerous shunting to get there.

[Stabliofarmer]

No, no I've nothing against horse's in fact my sisters would absolutely love one but without the land that's a no go. Now then cyclists. I ride my bike to and from school everyday and like to think of myself as a sensible rider. I ride close to the pavement use proper signals and respect traffic. However I'm a mountain biker at heart and have a pure hatred for those idiots that think they own the road on there thousand pound bikes. There in the middle of the road having a natter or even on there mobiles with no consideration for the traffic behind them that has the power to kill them in an instant. Then what I find truly stupid, dangerous and down right disgraceful is holding on to trucks. My mum ran tippers for many years and had trouble with this, they just grab hold of the rear of the truck and keep hold. However when they crash into the back of the truck or fall over and get injured its immediately the drivers fault. There is of course a way to stop this which is just slightly drift over to the left and they should let go. Reversing, well another story, my dad drove bulk feed wagons and once went to a particularly tight yard which you had to reverse and turn around in. The farmer went and stat on the wall and watched while my dad turned the wagon round with little effort. When done the farmer stopped my dad and said "that's ruined my day that, a new driver like you can usually take a good half hour to turn round and its right good entertainment but you've gone and done it in a minute"

[powerrabbit]

Another pet hate of mine, very much concerning the West Country is the area that people think that it covers, some say it covers from just North of Bristol, taking in most of Somerset and part of Dorset, well, as far as I know the area in reality extends from Taunton in the North, as far over to Calne in the West down to Chard and then West covering Devon and Cornwall. This in conjunction with 'outsiders' perception of the indigenous people being all oooh-arrr-oooh-arrr, wearing a smock and with a piece of straw sticking out their mouth, I think that the Wurzels can be blamed for this! All I can say to outsiders is that we are educated, wear normal clothing and do not go around with straw in our mouths and we do speak English.

[bigbear]

No, no I've nothing against horse's in fact my sisters would absolutely love one but without the land that's a no go. Now then cyclists. I ride my bike to and from school everyday and like to think of myself as a sensible rider. I ride close to the pavement use proper signals and respect traffic. However I'm a mountain biker at heart and have a pure hatred for those idiots that think they own the road on there thousand pound bikes. There in the middle of the road having a natter or even on there mobiles with no consideration for the traffic behind them that has the power to kill them in an instant. Then what I find truly stupid, dangerous and down right disgraceful is holding on to trucks. My mum ran tippers for many years and had trouble with this, they just grab hold of the rear of the truck and keep hold. However when they crash into the back of the truck or fall over and get injured its immediately the drivers fault. There is of course a way to stop this which is just slightly drift over to the left and they should let go. Reversing, well another story, my dad drove bulk feed wagons and once went to a particularly tight yard which you had to reverse and turn around in. The farmer went and stat on the wall and watched while my dad turned the wagon round with little effort. When done the farmer stopped my dad and said "that's ruined my day that, a new driver like you can usually take a good half hour to turn round and its right good entertainment but you've gone and done it in a minute"

Cor! Don't get me started about cyclists! Plague of the roads around Devon. A couple of weeks ago, I was going through the village when about 40 of them came the other way, totally ignoring the traffic calming give way lines. I had to stop quickly to avoid hitting them and then the tail riders started thumping the roof of the car and shouting at me because I was 'in their way'! I was blooming annoyed at this and turned around to follow them for a little chat. After 4 miles of watching them - as Tim said - five abreast, forcing at least another three vehicles to pull in and stop, they turned right - shouting at an old man who was trying to cross the road  - to carry on up the valley. At this point, I managed to pass some of them safely and then stopped in the middle of the road. At last, one of them HAD to slow down to get around my car. I asked him - quite politely - which club they were in, but he said that they weren't a club, just individuals... I said that it was odd to find so many individuals who were dressed in the same colours and riding so closely together. I also pointed out that they had been behaving in a terrible way to other road users and also ignored the laws of the highway... His response? "Oh, we will do that if people get in our way or cut us up"!!! NO! They behaved like pack animals! With no identification, number plates or anything, I had no chance of identifying them at all. If I had run one of them over, they'd have been onto the police with my details soon enough... Bah! I reckon they watch the cycling on TV at the Olympics and suchlike and are too dense to realise that the roads are closed for those events and that there are safety marshalls crawling out of the tarmac all along the route. I reckon the time is right for a nice, slow tractor convoy all along the same route, which just might be in their way. What a pity!

[powerrabbit]

People who walk their dogs on the narrow roads is another thing, I thought that the highway was a public place and as such all dogs should be under control and on a lead? Like hell they are!

[CMB]

Another pet hate of mine, very much concerning the West Country is the area that people think that it covers, some say it covers from just North of Bristol, taking in most of Somerset and part of Dorset, well, as far as I know the area in reality extends from Taunton in the North, as far over to Calne in the West down to Chard and then West covering Devon and Cornwall. This in conjunction with 'outsiders' perception of the indigenous people being all oooh-arrr-oooh-arrr, wearing a smock and with a piece of straw sticking out their mouth, I think that the Wurzels can be blamed for this! All I can say to outsiders is that we are educated, wear normal clothing and do not go around with straw in our mouths and we do speak English.

 

I've always considered to be living in the Westcountry here in Gloucestershire, though it becomes the West Midlands barely an hour up the M5 south of Birmingham.

Although I don't walk around chewing straw I do like munching the odd grass stalk!