Wiltshire...What Is It Good for? .....Shepherding Apparently

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

My personal experience of Wiltshire is basically limited to driving along the M4. So all my knowledge of the place is limited to observing green grass which to my unknowledgeable eye seems perfect for sheep to graze.

Which is a good thing considering the latest book I've finished is A Shepherd's Life: Impressions Of The South Wiltshire Downs by W H Hudson published in 1910.

So let me start by saying one thing: "This is probably one of the best books about the countryside that I've ever read. I'm not saying for one second that it would have inspired me to leave my wife and daughter in Wales and my mother here in Essex for shepherding (but she's not in hospital anymore - She's been discharged tonight - Yippee - Still frail and needs me to be with her but I'm hoping after a couple of weeks she can finish her recovery in Wales).However it did grip me.

Why is such an interesting countryside book? Because whilst the countryside as well as the natural world may be an important factor it's the people, especially the shepherd of the title Caleb Bawcombe and the tough life they lead.

The toughness is the key. No lyrical description of lush green grass and lambs frolicking here.

Hudson's politics is intriguing. Whilst clearly not a socialist he is not unaffected by the conditions the workers have to face. Or the unfair laws against them.

And perhaps the most interesting example of this is his view of villages. for he does not approve of the squire or squire type figure. All very good and left wing you might think. However his solution is that the village should should fend for itself in a hard world. A sort of prototype Brexit. Makes me wonder if he lived today Hudson would have been a UKIP supporter.

Still politics aside this is an important book. It's reality countryside style.

Until the next time.