Chairmans Chat 2024

Hello all Country Linkers,

I was woken at 6.30 am yesterday by my daughter asking if I had any power. No! was the answer when I tried the lights. As I dragged myself out of bed, and with Storm Darragh still raging, I suggested "Get Paddy (her husband) to check the trees"

It turned out that a cedar / pine tree had gone over, taking a smaller tree with it, along with the power lines and the tops of two poles. Half of the village was without power - including us.

National Grid were soon on the scene, orders a cherry picker, two new poles, and a digger. While they were skidding around on the grass all day trying to fix the power supply I got soaked twice when feeding the sheep, while drinking squash and eating a sandwich for lunch.

My daughter and her family, and their weekend guests, abandoned ship for the day and left me to do the evening feed by torchlight. As I finally walked into the house on the stroke of 5 o'clock, the lights and the radio suddenly came on and I was able to have the first hot drink of the day. I can only praise National Grid for their hard work on a Sunday afternoon in very adverse weather conditions.

Even though mince pies have been on sale in my local supermarket since late September, winter decided to come in with a bang two or three weeks ago around here. After three or four inches of snow, a week or so later we had five or six inches of rain. All of the water meadows that I pass on my daily excursion with Daisy were under a few inches of water, and deeper than I have seen in all of my twenty-three years here.

The last serious rain was on the Sunday, and on the following Tuesday I had to take the road out of Banbury towards Daventry. The road lies to the east of the M40 and is flat, all of the fields either side of the road were still under water for about 1 mile. Cars in front were slowing down for an Audi which was abandoned in the middle of the road, followed by three more cars on this flat section, and two more further into Northamptonshire. For biosecurity reasons I always carry a clean pair of wellingtons and a stick in the boot of the car. If I encounter a flood I get out and walk into it, if it is more than three or four inches deep then I don't drive into it.

With the amount of rain this year, and its adverse effect on all types of food production, I think it is hard for anyone in this country to deny climate change is happening. Even if the causes of it can be debated forever by all concerned.

With the festivities and celebrations of Christmas and the New Year looming large I hope you all enjoy a good Country Link lunch, dinner, or dinner dance booked up. In Oxfordshire two of us managed to come second in a quiz in Leicestershire a couple of weeks ago. We are having a dinner on 18th December, with some of us joining Worcester for their dinner dance on 20th December.

I would like to wish all members, old and new, a Happy Christmas and a joyful New Year for 2025.

Dick Stephens - Chairman

Hello all Country Linkers,

I recently had a very enjoyable time at the autumn Country Link National Weekend which was held in Llangollen, Wales over the first weekend in November.

This was organised by Derbyshire Country Link, had a good selection of trips on both Saturday and Sunday, dancing on Friday and Sunday evenings, while on Saturday some members took part in a beetle drive and others enjoyed a live band in the bar at the hotel.

On Saturday I went on the farm trip to the Swan's family farm, a traditional hill farm that had diversified. Gail Swan gave us an introductory talk, following which her son Ed showed us around and gave us a full run down of the farm. Ed's passion and enthusiasm for the business shone through.

They keep 120 cattle, killing 2 each week, rearing them from 2 weeks old through to slaughter, getting the right amount of marbling in the meat and providing beef for their farm shop. They also keep 100 pigs to supply the farm shop with pork, and free range hens for their eggs.

Ed and his father had both trained as butchers so they can have control of the finished produce.

We were very well looked after and the shop, near Mold, is well worth a visit. On the way back to the hotel some of us paid a visit to Valle Crucis Abbey.

On Sunday morning I joined the trip to Chirk Castle, a National Trust property, for another enjoyable day out. All in all, I think everyone had a good time over the weekend, especially the new members. I urge everyone to try and bring someone new along to one of your events. If I can do then so can you!

Thanks go to the Derbyshire team for another excellent weekend.

Glancing over the hedgerows during my journey home from Llangollen I noticed that most of the crops were growing well, with some patchy germination in places. This is a result of the very catchy weather we've been having this autumn. Arriving back in Oxfordshire I noticed that the 30 or so acres of maize that join my land had vanished, no doubt had gone to a local anaerobic digester.

As the winter rolls in, and after listening to the Remembrance day service, my thoughts turned to members of my family who had served. Both of my grandfathers, and some great-uncles, served in the Great War. All survived and told of the suffering endured by everyone during the conflict. My father, and various uncles, volunteered for the forces during WW2 and again all survived. However, my father-in-law served in Burma and was at the Battle of the Admin Box (also known as the Battle of Ngakyedauk or the Battle of Sinzweya). This was a very tough time for all. A friend's father was called up in 1945 and joined his unit at Bergen Belsen. He never spoke of it!

When I first married I lived on the edge of a village near to Daventry. Working in the front garden one day I noticed a tall, elderly man, of large build, walking his small dog along the bridle path alongside my property. I asked my neighbours about him and was told that he was a Polish refugee. I stopped him one day and spoke to him. "Polish?" I asked. He smiled and said "Hungarian". Perhaps nobody had taken the time to listen. I discovered he was called up at 17 years old to serve in the Hungarian units of the German army. The first battle he was in was STALINGRAD where he was taken prisoner by the Russians, when the 6th army surrendered in February 1943. Of the 91,000 taken prisoner 85,000 of them died in captivity.

Janos (or Jonas), not sure of his first name now, was marched off in the cold of a Russian winter with inadequate clothing. Comrades were dying as they walked and the Russian guards, who were also suffering, would bayonet the fallers and roll them into the ditch. A weakened soldier fell in front of Janos, who grabbed him and pulled the man on top of him. As he lay still in a snowstorm a Russian soldier bayonetted the body above him and pushed them both into the ditch. Janos waited until nightfall, got up and took some of the other man's clothing, then set off back the way he had come. By walking at night, and being a country boy, he survived off the land as best as he could. He got back to his village, some 2000 kms away, ahead of the Red Army. A relative told him to keep going or he would be shot as a deserter so he made his way to Trieste in Italy where he surrendered to the British. From Trieste he was shipped to England and worked on a local farm for 5 years. The rest of his working life was spent working in a local timber yard. He married a local girl and had 2 children. Tragically he died soon after we talked and I never had another chance to hear more about Stalingrad.

I think we need to pause and reflect to think about all of the casualties of war, on both sides, with all of the conflicts currently going on.

I'm hoping for a dryish winter as I'm already half way through my hay stock.

I'm planning to have some dancing lessons before the next National Weekend (Kent in May 2025). This will mean more to those members who were at Llangollen!

Drive carefully everyone as the winter is settling in and there will be ice on the roads in rural areas.

Dick Stephens - Chairman

Hello all Country Linkers,

Those of you who saw the photos in the August 'Chat' will have noticed my love of 1970 / 1980s style farming which I practice every year when haymaking.

Following on from this I made a trip to Yesterday's Farming Show, near Crewkerne, which was listed on the Somerset programme. It was a real trip back in time with working steam engines, two of which were winching a cultivator between them across a field of stubble.

There were several combines amongst the working exhibits, including a Massey Ferguson 780 Special which I remember from my much younger days. Perhaps not so fondly as it was originally a bagger which my father converted to a tanker one winter.

Other working exhibits included heavy horses, a JF tractor powered combine, binders, a steam powered threshing machine coupled to a stationary engine powered baler, another threshing machine where the long straw was being taken off and put into a roll for use by a thatcher, with the shorter straw going into an Int 445 (not the 445 D though) for conventional bales.

It was a very good show with lots to see, and with vintage and other displays in the Grand Ring. I even managed to have a quick word with our Vice-Chairman Nigel. On my way home I called in to see another Somerset member who reminded me that it was at least 25 years since I had last been to a Somerset Country Link event. How time flies!

While driving to and from Somerset I noticed that most of the cereal crops had been cut and the straw cleared from the fields, a week or more ahead of the South Midlands. After spending just under a week getting my hay in I watched the 200 acres or so of wheat next door being cut, straw being baled and carted, the fields drilled, rolled, and sprayed. All inside 8 days. Speaking to the neighbour (while I was walking Daisy) he told me that he had another 300 acres of spring barley to cut - which may be his most profitable crop.

The weaned lambs were eating three bags of cake, and up to eight bales of hay, each day in their paddock, so I needed to swap them over with the ewes. I managed to get all the lambs in the yard to worm and vaccinate them a couple of weeks ago, and took advantage of the help to weigh and check the condition of the largest. It was a pleasant surprise to find quite a few over 40kgs and one over 50kgs. I opened up the hayfield for the lambs, which contains a lot of clover, they are now consuming half a bag of feed and next to no hay. A phone call to the vets was in order. For those of you who don't know an inspection by a vet is required to get a VAN certificate which allows you to sell fat lambs through the market in case they go for export. She duly came, checked all the sheep, and gave Daisy her annual vaccination booster at the same time.

For all members reading this column, we have a committee meeting coming up next week. So, if there are any issues you would like to see raised do get in touch with me, or your area rep, and we can discuss them at the meeting. Anyone who would like to come along to a meeting as an observer is welcome to attend, just let us know beforehand.

The weather is very changeable at the moment. I'm not sure what happened to the September heatwave that was promised. Hopefully it will arrive in time for the next Country Link weekend in Wales, I am looking forward to seeing and talking to lots of you there.

Dick Stephens - Chairman

Hello all Country Linkers,

It's still wet here in Oxfordshire!

On a recent visit to market, I thought I'd have a quick cuppa and went to the café. For some strange reason it was empty. I decided to watch some fat lambs being sold so took a shortcut through the empty cattle ring, about 1 hour after the cattle would normally be sold. Outside, I noticed 2 young people - one wearing headphones and the other with an aerial poking out of her back pocket. I thought this was strange and walked on into the ring only to be confronted by a tv camera. I 'turned casually' and watched a few store cattle being sold, and noticed another tv camera on the other side of the ring. I headed off to watch the lambs being sold (by the lady who normally sells the cattle). I was advised by the Stow Ag rep that apparently a certain Mr J Clarkson was buying some store cattle.

Adjourning to the (now busy) café I saw the tv crew in residence, and an old school friend of my brother talking to Jeremy. He was congratulating Jeremy on buying a Simmental and looked forward to seeing Jeremy chasing it around his farm on the tv. On reaching the front of the queue the counter manager said, "Tea or coffee?" In honour of our illustrious guests, I replied "May I have a caramelised macadamia oat latte." With a withering look, and a smile, he repeated "Tea or coffee?" I paid my £1.00, took my tea, and joined some old friends.

I've watched the weather change during the last month - from very changeable and mainly wet, to a couple of weeks or so of hot, dry, weather and then back to changeable again.

On my daily walks with Daisy the dog I walk through the middle of a 50 acre field which is split one third wheat and two-thirds wild bird seed. The bird seed comprising wheat, barley, oats, 2 types of poppy, crimson clover, fiddleneck, along with various other flowers. It looks a lot like the dredge corn we grew back in the 1960s. I'm not convinced about the long-term viability of this policy.

The water meadows near me had dried sufficiently, after being under water three weeks ago, for some big bale hay to be made and snatched. There are a few ruts and uncut patches left, but most of it was cut and baled. Oilseed rape has been sprayed off, and we're now waiting for some drier weather. The barley has turned and the wheat has started to turn, although bare patches and ruts still remain from the winter.

Some maize that was previously used to fatten cattle and now goes to a digester plant, is tall enough for Daisy to get lost in. I've seen a barley crop cut and crimped, and the field has been cultivated. On my way to Rugby Livestock Market I passed a field being cultivated with the cover crop being ploughed in.

I was hacking away at a few thistles today when the Red Arrows flew by, a field away. Upon checking with my daughter, they were on their way to the Silverstone GP ten or so miles away. My daughter managed to get a photo on the second pass as I didn't have my camera when they turned near my house to go back.

Since the AGM at Telford I have managed to visit 5 other clubs.

I've enjoyed meals organised by Dennis at Worcestershire, and Phil at Staffordshire, made a brief visit to Hoveringham Vintage Vehicle Society show in Nottinghamshire at the invitation of Tim and Michele Robson who had a stand there to promote Country Link (see report from Notts on the Events page), I've attended a couple of Quiz nights with Northamptonshire - where Rodney introduced a potential new member, and finally attended John Lawton's birthday party near Hinkley in Warwickshire. I must thank John for inviting me and Rodney to an excellent and very enjoyable evening. We were all entertained very well by John's son Jack who is a professional singer and, as luck would have it, they were all celebrating Leicester City FC winning the championship that same day as well.

At the AGM I asked everyone there to try and bring along someone new to a meeting. If every single member did this (and those people decided to join) we would easily double our membership very quickly. I would urge everyone reading this to try to bring someone along to a meeting, a walk, a meal, or a BBQ.

If you're not already a member, and reading this, please do get in touch with your local group and come along to a meeting or event. Contact details for each group are on the programmes page.

Finally, in my June Chairman's Chat I mentioned the Handbook as a source of help and information. This can be found on the Documents page of the website or follow this link: https://country-link.org.uk/documents/Club_Handbook_2024ver.pdf

Dick Stephens - Chairman

Hello all Country Linkers,

Wet! Wet! Wet!

I was thinking about what I was going to write whilst pondering the inequity of life. I'd been soaked to the skin (twice) while feeding my very good friend's llamas and emus at his wildlife sanctuary. Feeding them sourdough pave, kalamata olive bloomers, and luxury fruited hot cross buns - not just any hot cross buns... Before going home to a bowl of generic cereal for my breakfast.

Hello - I am your new National Chairman, Dick Stephens, elected at the AGM held on the Sunday afternoon at the recent Spring National Weekend in Telford. I am going to try to visit every group during the next 6 months to see how the national committee can help your group.

So, let me introduce myself.

I was born and brought up on a small farm on the Fosse Way in Warwickshire. We had suckler cows, sheep, and Christmas poultry, and grew dredge corn and potatoes. We also did some local contracting.

Aged 16 I joined the local Young Farmers Club. At the age of 26 I was ineligible to enter any competitions. Around this time a gentleman by the name of Will Bond wrote into Farmers Weekly to ask what we could join after Young Farmers. The following week there were more letters sent in on the same subject. Out of this Country Link was born and was sponsored by FW for some time afterwards. That was almost 40 years ago and I have been a member on and off ever since.

I was first a member of Warwickshire group, then I met my fist wife and moved to Northamptonshire. Finally, I joined Oxfordshire group where I met my second wife, and where I am still a member.

Now semi-retired I keep 50 ewes and their lambs, and I sell any spare hay to local horse owners. The lambs are all sold at livestock markets - which I urge you to support. The livestock markets set the open market prices which, in turn, prevents the supermarkets having total control of our produce.

We've finally had a few dry days and I managed to mow the lawn. I was contemplating baling it when it rained again!

During daily walks with Daisy the dog I have seen the crops around the locality being battered by the inclement weather this winter and spring. It is mostly rolling landscape on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment. The water meadows at the bottom of the valleys have had more water lying in them than I have ever seen before, and after 2 inches of rain last Saturday evening some still have water lying on the surface.

The crops on the slopes have suffered badly. Six inch deep runnels can still be seen where the tramlines were set, and bare patches are visible at the lower ends of the fields. Many of the footpaths across the middle of cropped fields have ended up 20 feet wide in places as the walkers try to dodge the mud.

On a more positive note, the lambs are growing well, and locally the oilseed rape is 4 feet high and in full flower. The wheat and barley crops are patchy but what there is is looking well. The grass is having a very good year, even if cattle have had to be kept inside, and it is just getting away from my ewes and lambs.

I would like to thank Caroline, Robyn, and Roy for an outstanding National Weekend at Telford. Everyone had a good time, enjoying the two dinner dances, and Sunday evening quizzes. The hotel was excellent in all respects. The trips were all well organised and, according to friends, all were very interesting and informative.

I went on three farm visits. The contrast between the wholesale potato business, with a self-propelled harvester, and the attention to detail required for the retail business at Shropshire Petals was fascinating. The high-tech planting machinery, including a robotic planter, I found amazing.

During the afternoon we visited a farm that had diversified into distilling, and retailing, gin. Again, this was very interesting. On the Sunday I visited a large dairy farm milking 1800 cows in a rotary parlour, with management needing to be totally on top of their game.

Caroline's report should now be on the website, along with plenty of photographs in the Telford photo Gallery.

I would urge all groups to think about hosting a national weekend in their area. Lots of help is available.

Please also send your programmes and reports to Vicky so that they can be uploaded to the website - this is, after all, our showcase. Please use the email address nottscountrylink@yahoo.co.uk to send anything to Vicky, and please make use of the website to show what your own club does.

To anyone who has't been to a national weekend - please come along and try one. You will meet a lot of like-minded people, and enjoy dinner dances, quizzes, optional fancy dress, and visits to local places of interest. There is always a good choice of visits and there should be something for all tastes.

Finally, I would like to thank Peter Hunt for all his hard work over the last four years, first as Vice-Chairman, and then as Chairman.

Hoping you all have a dry and sunny June.

Dick Stephens - Chairman

Hello all Country Linkers,

I hope you all had a good Easter Holiday. Lorna and I went to visit my sister in Italy which was very enjoyable, and it was good to have a break from the rain here in the UK!

Now that the clocks have changed, and the evenings are becoming lighter, it would be good to get some better weather so that we can all start to enjoy some outdoor events again.

It's good to see that most programmes are being updated, and uploaded to the website, on a regular basis and I'm always impressed with the different things each club chooses to do. There's a good variety of walks, visits, and meals on offer.

In Nottinghamshire, our regular evening meetings are on the first and third Wednesday of each month. However, to try and encourage more people to come along we also have a coffee morning on the 5th Wednesday, about 4 times a year. Maybe your own club could consider holding a daytime meeting occasionally as some members may find a daytime meeting more convenient.

During March we held our planning meeting for the summer programme. Several members turned up for a meal, and a few more came along later to join in for a drink and chat. This was followed by a pub night at The Gleaners Inn, Calverton - our normal meeting place.

For our first meeting in April, we joined in with the Radcliffe-on-Trent Local History Society for a talk about the history of Radcliffe's pubs. There was a short introduction about the history of pubs in general, and the difference between an ale house and a public house. This was followed by a detailed talk about the history of each pub in the village (there has been several over the years), along with the names of the landlords over a long period of time. One pub in particular had a succession of landlords with the surname Hallam and our member Sue Hallam wondered if they may be related in some way.

Peter Hurt, our national president, organised a dinner dance in March which was held at a local golf centre. This was attended by several Nottinghamshire members, as well as Rodney from Oxfordshire. Derbyshire members often come along to this event as well but unfortunately, due to a change of date this year, were unable to make it.

A few of us met up the following day when we visited the Nottingham Transport Museum at Ruddington and then went into the city of Nottingham to visit the Galleries of Justice. These are two really interesting museums if you should ever get the chance to visit. See the photograph of me standing with my head and wrists in the stocks!

The National Committee had a successful meeting on 24th March, held at Leek Wootton village hall. It's always good to catch up with fellow committee members as well as discuss the main business of Country Link itself. We have received nominations for the posts of Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary ahead of the AGM but, to date, no-one has been nominated for the role of Vice-Chairman. Nominations or proposals for Vice-Chair will be taken from the floor at the AGM in Telford. If you would like to be considered for this role please put yourself forward, or talk to a member of the committee.

I would remind all of the clubs that there is £500.00 per club available to help with the cost of advertising locally. This can be an advert in your local press, a show guide, small items that can be carried away such as pens or pencils, or you could consider having a stand at a local show.

I'm now looking forward to the National Weekend in Telford and hope to see some of you there.

Peter Hunt - Chairman

Hello all Country Linkers,

Hopefully it's not too wet in your part of the world.

Nottinghamshire Country Link has had a busy February. At the beginning of the month there were enough members from our group to enter 2 teams into a fund-raising quiz, for another organisation, at Hoveringham village hall. We didn't win but it was an enjoyable evening, great to catch up, and the included curry supper was very good.

Our first programmed meeting was a talk by Pam Farquhar. Pam spoke to us about the role of military dogs both past and present, she covered the history of military dogs and how dogs have been used by the military in different countries. She also spoke about some of the dogs themselves as she has taken in a number of retired dogs and rehomed them herself. These dogs often need specialist handling due to the experiences encountered as working dogs. Of course, explosive detection dogs have saved numerous lives.

This was followed by pancake night at Peter Hurt's. It's a good opportunity to sit and chat with other members. There's always an excellent turnout for this (annual) event, and everyone enjoys their pancakes! Peter provides the eggs, Michele makes the batter, and Tim cooks the pancakes. Roma and David provide hot roast pork and cobs as well so there's always plenty of food to go around. It's a real team effort.

I have included a couple of pictures of people enjoying their pancakes, and of Tim preparing to toss a pancake. It is much harder than it looks to get a good action shot!

Our first meeting in March will be a planning meeting for our Spring / Summer programme. I am certainly looking forward to the (hopefully) better spring weather and the start of some outdoor meetings again.

I've noticed that some clubs are coming towards the end of their programmes so I'm sure that most of you will be having planning meetings too. Please remember to send the updated programmes to Vicky so that she can have them put on the website. I do know that Vicky does chase up the clubs as their programmes are coming to an end, and she will have programmes taken down once their last meeting date has gone.

The National Committee will be holding our next meeting this month, focussing on preparation for the AGM. If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments you would like raising at the committee meeting please contact your area rep who will include them in their report at the meeting.

The AGM will be held at the National Weekend in Telford during May. The positions of National Chairman, National Vice-Chairman, National Treasurer, and National Secretary all come up for re-election at the AGM. If you wish to stand for one of these positions, or nominate someone else, then the nomination forms need to be sent to Liz Goodwin by 15th March. The forms are available for download from the website country-link.org.uk/documents/Nomination-form-January-2024.pdf and completed forms should be sent to Liz on the following email address: nationalsecretary@country-link.org.uk

The National Weekend in Telford is now sold out, and I am looking forward to visiting this interesting part of the country. Hope to see many of you there.

Best Wishes

Peter Hunt - Chairman