Menopause Matters Forum
General Discussion => This 'n' That => Topic started by: CLKD on November 02, 2014, 07:02:33 PM
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Watching Country File this evening and seeing children going to City Farms to learn about animals: and I know there are petting farms across the UK ………. being told that Schools are no longer teaching farming ……. we didn't get told about farming other than in general geography. Perhaps because I was raised in the Fens :-\ but that didn't mean I knew about farming because it was 'out there' …… other than we need calves so that cows continue giving milk and that the beef is a side-product …...
I would love a small holding: ducks, chickens, turkeys but not sheep or pigs, would get too fond of those ::): a large lake for fishing …….. but that is a responsibility ….
Where do you live and how much do you know about farming in general, other than buying your milk, cheese, yoghurts etc.?
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I'll live in Scotland surrounde by farms we are a farming village, my backdoor is next to farming fields and full of sheep and lambs at Easter it is great, we see all sorts of animals her second nature to our kids, sometimes you wonder though when they were young we went to a zoo and what were they most interested in yes some sheep! X
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We are quite rural, albeit coastal. Rural behind and the sea in front. My kids grew up knowing what came from what. We still took them to farm parks though and when I think of it.... ::)
I was trailed around farms as a child as my dad visited through work. My memories are of kindly women feeding me scones and milk and being shown all the baby animals. I clearly remember bottle feeding lambs in a very grand country kitchen. The owner was not there as they were Lord and Lady ### but the cook was ::)
At one time I wanted the croft type thing, but after seeing a friend really struggle with that kind of life style I decided against.
We were very into horses and ponies when the kids were small....to be honest it was more for me than them. Leased a couple of ponies at one point and was glad we had not bought.
I was never and could never be a city girl. My heart is by the sea and always will be.
Honeyb
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Oh and I'm sea sick ::)
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I would love a small holding: ducks, chickens, turkeys but not sheep or pigs, would get too fond of those
CLKD - Ducks are lovely how could anybody not get fond of those? Chickens have their moments too.
Now I live in very rural area. Till I was 8 ish I lived in a city 2 up 2 down area. 8 till 16 suburbia, 20 onwards rural.
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I am a farmers daughter but never encouraged to go into farming - my father needed a son when i was born !
Have lived in two cities for a short while at the start of married life but the rest in three different rural villages. Now live near fields and farming - means a lot to me - guess i still understand some farming in general or maybe it is just what i remember now - times change.
Hattie X
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:thankyou:
"forest school teaching" was mentioned this evening too on CFile. Whereas we walked everywhere if we weren't cycling. Only 1 car in the household which Dad used to go to work. My Dad was raised near the coast, Mum near a City ……… we were raised with Grandparents/parents/uncles/aunts growing all our fruit/veg. and I remember Granny having a soft woollen hat in which the chicks were put by the fire when we visited so that we could see them. Wonder what the broody thought ::)
We had forests an hour's drive away and it was where we went for picnics which were all-day events. Running around in the sandy loamy soil, sitting down quietly to eat the picnic, resting then racing around again. So the concept of 'forest school' seems strange, they do that in our area too. There were 11 wood yards in our area ……. the last 1 closed 10 years ago.
Now I live 3 hours from the coast <sigh> and yearn to move closer ……..
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I'm like you honeybun costal at front rural at back, we are so lucky to have beautiful views, just don't realise it till your out and about in the city and driving home you see all the lovely countryside in one side and sea view on another😃
X
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I love my coastline and the views of the islands. I have lived in this general area all my life and would not move now. One mile up a hill takes me to the country side.
As a child my days out first with mother and then will friends was the beach. All the mum's would get together in the morning and we would walk to the beach. Sandy sandwiches and warm lemonade ;D.
As a teen I got a lot of freedom. On a ferry with a bike and a packed lunch and back before dark.
My kids got to do much the same. We spent a lot of time beside the water but for me not on it. My kids both sail, and canoe and wind surf.
Happy days.
Honeyb
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Farm across main road from us, cows & sheep. Although, if local authority get their way, it will be an additional 4,000 homes. Grrrr. We've objected.
When we lived in Inverness we had a local farm shop 5 minutes walk away. It is all houses now. Shame. Went some lovely walks into the hills with daughter in pram all those years ago.
I do remember getting taught farming basics in geography though. Rotating crops etc.
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I grew up in a town, which seemed to have all the disadvantages of urban living and none of the advantages. I remember standing at the bus stop, on the way to school, dreaming of living in the country. My parents still live in the same house they bought in 1958, so I still visit and my feelings haven't changed. The traffic is horrendous. My husband was given the chance to move back there years back, but we did not even consider it even for a second. The first conversation my husband and I had was about where we aspired to live and discovered we wanted the same. We live in a village surrounded by beautiful countryside, but near to 2 lovely cathedral cities. Here I feel feel peaceful. It is peaceful. All I can hear apart from next doors oil boiler, is owls. No cars. Oh and a moo from the cow in the field behind. Should be asleep!
I don't remember being taught about farming, but I wasn't ignorant. My mum grew up in London, then was evacuated to Cornwall during the war. She had had no idea about where milk came from, but found out the hard way. She learnt how to milk cows the old fashioned way!
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Born and raised in a large city,vbut sent to a special boarding school (for disabled children) when I was 11, in the middle of Sherwood Forest. This began a life long love affair with nature, and especially woodland environs.
Now live in rural Nth Wales. Village setting but out my front windows I see only fields full of cows and sheep. The village school is surrounded by fields full of cows who often peer though the windows and watch the children's lessons! The village post office cat also takes in lessons roaming from classroom to classroom most days. It's like something from a Miss Read novel.
Three miles away is a stunning coastal forest overlooking Snowdonia. I take my assistance dog there most days. I love the sea, but my heart beats faster when I can trundle through the forest, breathing in the earthy aromas and listen to the breeze ruffling the treetops.
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tawanda - I want to live in your house!
It sounds idyllic and I love the way you describe the forest sounds and smells. You should write a poem, have you ever done so?
PN x x
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We live in a village in Suffolk and are on the edge of a lot of open countryside. Within a 5 minute drive we can be out in open fields with the dogs and we're only 40 mins from the coast as well so best of both worlds in my eyes. We have several very good farm shops in easy distances to us and regular farmers markets in the next town.
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I've been looking at properties nearer the coast this week - in Northumberland :-\ - but we have a good GP, lovely Dentist, village shop and PO, close to good hospitals, good fish and chip shop 4 miles away and only an hour from the Cotswolds. It would be a worry if the sea was on our doorstep ;D but I do miss the coast :'(
There are small towns that I could live in - I like cafe street culture on a fine day ;)
Love your description of Nrth Wales Tawanda :)
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I live in a small village in Scotland. Pop of around 3000. it is central to most of the motorways and we have a doctors, dentist, PO and library as well as some shops and take aways in the village. Very convenient.
Bramble
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Rural areas are well known to have lower wages than people earn in towns. Agricultural workers don't earn much, years ago they often lived in 'tied' cottages which meant that if they were ill and were unable to work, they were made homeless. Having spent a lot of time in the Fens recently it's obvious that MOST of the harvesting is by hand - which is where migrant workers help, they arrive in mid-Summer, are housed in basic accommodation, begin early i.e. 5.00 a.m. and stop after 9.00 at night. We could hear the machinery working all night and the factory down the road was producing something containing onions!!!! phew. Without migrant workers we wouldn't get food onto the table.
Acres of pumpkins - a lot of which have been left to rot due to heavy rains recently - potatoes were being harvested as were sugar beets for the factories, being put into heaps first ……
It's never been the cost of housing but the price of the initial deposit! Even now ……. which is why our young people are unable to buy within the villages where they were raised.
Even now, some properties are sold with an 'agricultural tie' :-\. One doesn't need to eat/drink as much as we do overall, therefore food can be eeked out …… buying in bulk or in a consortium works in some areas. DH and I buy in bulk when we can, we have 'cards' to a huge warehouse and go there about every 3 months.
It is well known that not only on Motorway Services but in rural areas fuel is hellish expensive. Many years ago we saw that fuel in Scotland was really pricey, even though the [oh the word won't come: the place where it's stored and distributed from:] was close by ::) that's it - distribution centre!
Did our shop there today: bought lots of kitchen roll, Kleenex man-sized boxes and coffee at special offer even within the warehouse - sacks of bird peanuts are £12.99 rather than over £30 elsewhere. It's storing lots of stuff that becomes difficult ……… :D
When growing up in the back of beyond we walked or cycled, only the wage earner had a car.
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To live where we live has always meant a reasonable commute to work. An hour each way minimum and sometimes more. If the weather is bad then it becomes a challenge. Trains.....one an hour.....buses the same. Ferries, one every fifteen minutes ;D
It was worth it to bring our kids up in a quiet town. We now live in a village of about 1000 people.
Petrol is bought out with town as its cheaper. I live in a county that has huge amounts of poverty and huge amounts of wealth dependent on what part you stay in. I'm lucky, we have been here for 30 years, bought small, saved up and bought bigger. We are most definitely not rich. Just bog standard normal.
Honeyb
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A train ? ;D …….. I would have to travel 22 miles in 1 direction, 12 in another and 13 to get to a Station. Buses now run hourly through the village but I have no idea what a fare is these days.
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I live in a 'popular village', which means expensive! Lucky we moved here before the prices exploded. 1986. Our house could be sold for 8 times what we payed for it. Our daughter would love to move back, but the rents are ridiculous.
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Only trouble with our train service is the line runs very close to the sea. If we have a combination of high winds and a high tide then the trains stop. ::)
You would think someone could have planned that a bit better.
Honeyb
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We moved here in 1983. Supposedly a 'popular' village houses take ages to sell :-\ regardless of any price range.
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Usually houses sell fairly quickly here. It's quiet, but well connected road and rail wise. Good for those who want to commute to work.
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In a flat within a converted Victorian school building. A bit quirky but with enough room to fit an organ console into the living room, where we've also got a "minstrel's gallery" - different! ::)
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I'm in rural west Wales and have been for the last 15 years. I grew up in south east London but always felt a country girl at heart. Love it here other than when the weather makes commuting difficult!
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Watching Country File this evening and seeing children going to City Farms to learn about animals: and I know there are petting farms across the UK ………. being told that Schools are no longer teaching farming ……. we didn't get told about farming other than in general geography. Perhaps because I was raised in the Fens :-\ but that didn't mean I knew about farming because it was 'out there' …… other than we need calves so that cows continue giving milk and that the beef is a side-product …...
I would love a small holding: ducks, chickens, turkeys but not sheep or pigs, would get too fond of those ::): a large lake for fishing …….. but that is a responsibility ….
Where do you live and how much do you know about farming in general, other than buying your milk, cheese, yoghurts etc.?
I now live in a seaside place in Brisbane Ozz
IN England I lived on the Wirral which is more or less farming and light industry hills green land and the sea surrounding the Wirral peninsualr so we saw farms every day and market gardens PLUS my family came from Ynos Mons (Anglsea) and Id spend 6 weeks to 12 weeks a year there on my Aunties farm no leccie no water this was the late 60s no indoor toilet no TV and I was 16 Id go from Wallasey 2 TVs at home Dicos Youth clubs cinemas BUT most of all my school holidays I spent in GWALLCHMAI no English spoken exceot on the crystal radio it was like stepping back in time to a time Id never known BUT for the most part I loved it I hand milked cows I collected the eggs and had a YOLK yes with a bucket at each side to collect drinking water from the well over a mile away I did this from birth (not the water hehehe) till I joined the RN at 16 and I loved it BY the 80s before we came to Ozz leccie and water@Tv all came to the farm they got rid of the milking and made holiday cottages as they had been there since 1940 when they were 20 but the farm and Gwalchmai the lanes the well are all still there almost locked in a time wharp it looks exactly the same as it did in the 60s thank god
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My father was a tenant farmer - the farm was part of one of the large estates that are now probably very diminished due to death duties. The house where i spent my early years is now divided into 3 homes.
Latter day migrant workers - my father had a two workers on the farm who were ex prisoners of war from the nearby camp - one was from East Germany the other Latvia and couldn't return after the war due to the Soviet Union. Gangs of local women used to come for the potato harvest.
I now live in a small property on the edge of a village in a completely different county- i finally feel 'at home' here but there is a sore issue when it comes to housing for families who have lived here for years and you are made to feel aware of it.
Hattie X
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However: property sales have always been 'free' to whoever pays the asking or above, many properties were derelict and if the locals don't do them up then they should accept that incomers may buy them! We bought in West Wales and paid into the local economy, even then (1976) some said that the English should to home!
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I very rarely watch 'Country File' now - just the odd bit maybe before something else starting or to catch the weather for the week - i feel it can often present an idyllic view.
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No where is idyllic. It's what you make of it that counts ;). I like our garden, wish I could pick it all up and take to a bungalow about 5 miles inland …….. first choice would be the Sussex coast, 2nd Northumberland ……
Not many people, myself included, think of how our grub reaches the shelves because we are more remote from visiting the butcher/baker etc.; it was when I was back in the Fens a couple of times recently that I remember how much hard work gardening, producing crops for the table, stock care can be!
I have in the last 3/4 years started to look upwards when visiting our local towns - some of the architecture is fab., if there is an information 'shop' do go in and have a look-see - you'll be surprised at how much you miss 'locally'!
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My hubby is English and has been in Scotland for over thirty years now. We moved to this area about 27 years ago and then to this village four years ago. Unless your born here like my kids we are "in comers " . Really doesn't bother me. My hubby fits right in with his English accent. I was born 30 miles away....and he's the one who fits ;D
Lots and lots of English people here and the further north you go the more there are. During the property boom in the South of England quite a few sold up for huge amounts of money and moved north. A lot of hotels are owned by English people.
Far from resenting this I feel that life and money have been breathed into the areas they go to.
Honeyb
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I agree Honeybun. The UK has always been populated by in-comers, way back to the Normans ::) - 1066 and All That!
I have never had problems fitting in 'cos I'm nosy ;D
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'Big Money' from outside has bought and changed three farms i can think of around here - become land owning private properties rather the farms they were bought as. I can understand some local resentment - on the other hand these old buildings are now renovated and maintained and have a future life - it was interesting to watch one being newly thatched last summer.
Hattie X
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It's lovely to know that some of the crafts are being continued. A cottage was thatched in our village this Summer, should last at least 25 years.
I would love to finish my days with a view :P