Welsh Books Council Review

"Very readable.  This is the work of an entertaining story teller.  He gives a straightforward account of How We Did It (With Difficulty), using a light touch which avoids false comedy, false romance about the rural life and false sentimentality about animals.  There is however much humour and much genuine love of animals."

........Copies are available from bookshops or direct from Blaen Wern Farm Trust        Price £9.99 including postage

"....... it started to snow, and her shape slowly merged with the whitening landscape ...... What a tough, loyal little dog she was, never frightened by anyone or anything, and seldom far from my side for the next fourteen years."

"...... each time they saw one another through the boundary fence we were treated to the mandatory sabre rattling display of courageous growling, snarling and rushing ferociously up and down the fence line, followed by the sort of crouching glare that dares the other to make the first move.  We're not entirely sure who eventually took the initiative, but there was apparently at least one occasion when a temporary truce was negotiated and they became very close friends.  The result was Trixie, Tina and Candy.

"........ she loved eggs as well, chicken's or duck's, she wasn't fussy about their origin, and it was always a race to find a new nest in the hay ........."

"....... the momentum generated by a sprint start carried him unerringly over six feet of intervening mud to land heavily and with all his considerable weight on the edge of the first duck board, which was by then liberally covered in slippery balls of ice cunningly concealed by the slimy deposits of two day's welly boots ..........."

"........ the mere thought of making a profit raised his blood pressure to dangerous levels which in turn prompted a sympathetic upward surge in the pitch of his voice.  The higher the potential profit, the higher his voice.  Those who knew him simply negotiated downwards until his voice was back to normal, at which point they'd reached the best price possible, and promptly clinched the deal. ......."

"....... she followed the children everywhere, including into the unfinished house where they'd put up an old discarded camp bed for her. ........ The problems started when we succumbed to the growing temptation to move into the house ourselves and her eviction became necessary.  She'd got used to home comforts and wasn't going to give them up without a fight.  Whenever the door was left open, in she'd go, straight up the stairs to bed ....."

"....... faced with the possibility of losing lambs outside, I adopted the only course that I could think of.  That was how sheep came to live in the house at Blaen Wern before we did.  And very grateful they were too, reclining regally in their straw bale pens in the sitting room, protected from the inclement weather endured by the rest of us, as much food as they could eat and with excellent uninterrupted views across the valley. ...."

"........... ancient oaks and rocky streams exuded a stability that only time and nature can create, and we could see little that had changed since order was wrestled from the virgin hill countless generations ago.  Neglect was everywhere but it was irrelevant.  Fences had degenerated into tangled webs of rust clinging tenaciously to sprawling trees, and shallow lines of silt were all that remained of the once effective drainage of the nearby land.  But through the chaos there was a kind of order that can only be created by evolutionary process, an artistic talent far beyond the reach of man.  We were completely captivated by the raw beauty and knew instinctively that this was the farm we'd been searching for."

"During that first year we gradually came to know the farm a lot better ....... Wild creatures were everywhere.  We watched glistening trout dart from pool to pool and balletic squirrels leaping gracefully in the countless trees.  We saw heron, preening themselves on land to the front of the house, and the rare red kite circling overhead.  Foxes, badgers, buzzards and kestrals, they all lived their separate lives, accepting our presence in a naturally balanced land of plenty."

"............. my thoughts turned to children, born and raised in city confusion, who would learn so much about the real world at a place like this.  Their blinkered view of life could broaden to embrace a better understanding of priorities and of people.  But few would ever have the chance to find out.  One day I'll do something about it.  Refreshed and enlightened, I slowly walked back down through the farm to the modest comfort of our new home."