The writing is deft and delicate with skilled observation ranging from the mystery of trees, fungi and plants to the ordinary but cherished wood dwellers – pigeons, foxes and moorhens – all glimpsed and learnt from with a keen intelligence and obvious passion for their part in the living cycle of the worked and wild countryside.’ Sometimes I think it’s about the sacred in the landscape, about what is left once the church and the chapel have gone. It is interesting to learn about Heughan and McTavish as people (apart from their characters) , and their interactions with each other are by far the most entertaining part of the novel. The practical jokes played, and the kindly joking between the two had me literally laughing out loud in a few spots. Another choice is grazing animals like geese and sheep: they can take care of your grass as well as providing a source of food. Goats, too, though they have to be managed carefully to prevent them from eating your crops. How much does it cost to set up a smallholding and what are the legalities?

There are plenty of descriptions of the land and of farming methods, and plenty of local dialect words some of which are beyond the scope of a standard dictionary, but these are rarely essential to understanding the story, which is largely about the way farming has changed, and the community has changed with it. This book truly surprised me and I liked it way more than I originally expected. Prior to reading, I really didn't know much about this book and was curious to see how they would integrate the lives of two authors and Scotland. Parts of this book were quite funny as Heughan and McTavish constantly poke fun at each other. I was amused at the beginning chapter called "Taken for a Ride" when Sam Heughan changes a quote from J.R.R.Tolkien by saying, "It's dangerous business, Graham, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." -Sam Heughan on behalf of J.R.R.Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings. While I don’t care much for Outlander books, I’ve always been partial to Outlander the TV show (the horror of liking the movie more than the book! Book gods are about to smite me!). To borrow the description that this book provides about it, “The show can be best described as tartan and soft porn”. Flood zones are a planning tool, created by the Environment Agency, to help understand the likelihood of an area flooding. A plot designated Flood zone 1 is the least likely to flood, with a less than 0.1% (1 in 1000) chance in a year. Flood zone 2 means the plot has between a 0.1 and 1% (between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 100) chance. The final, highest-chance designation is split into two: Flood zone 3a (greater than 1% chance of flooding from rivers, or 0.5% chance from the sea) and Flood zone 3b (5% chance in any given year). A plot being in a flood zone can mean planning difficulties, plus insurance or mortgage premiums so this layer can be useful in researching land you’re thinking of buying.I like a hot Scottish accent as much as the next person & was considering this as a xmas gift for someone so thought I'd give the audiobook a spin. Oh man... these two come off as INSUFFERABLE douchebags. Maybe the smarmy, self-important tone isn't as obvious in print, but I'm currently 2/3 through the audio version and I don't know if I can even finish it. I'm giving it a couple of stars for the historical content (and the accents, which don't disappoint), but oof. Buyer beware.

Another strand is the change in attitudes to unmarried mothers - at the emotional centre of the book is Etty, who is forced to marry the proud but old fashioned and older farmer Idris while pregnant with Oliver, whose father has deserted her. Oliver is a giant, hard-working but hot-headed often drawn into fighting. His child Cefin is the product of a short-lived affair with Naomi, a student teacher and aspiring writer who refuses to sacrifice her career to the farm. From the beginning of the story there is something quiet, somber, almost a sadness as we see the determination of Idris Hamer to tend the land and the animals on it, in the face of adversity. In spite of the beauty of the prose in so many places , there were some things that fell short for me. The story moves slowly, with not much action even as the chapters leap forward by multiple years. Sometimes it was a struggle to determine what had happened in those years that passed. I found I was distracted with the use of the Welch dialect in so many places as I tried to guess the meaning within the context. The biggest issue I had was that I just was not able to feel any emotional connection to the characters except to Oliver, as a child during a devastating snow storm as he tries desperately to save the sheep buried under the snow. It took way too long to get a feel for what the Idris held inside , maybe a reason for his demeanor. It took way too long to get a feel for his wife, Etty's secret. It took way too long to understand Oliver's pull to the land.I have been an Outlander fan for over 20 years and seen Diana Gabaldon speak 3 times so I was excited to read this book by two actors from the series including the handsome Sam Heughan who plays Jamie Fraser. They also made a TV series based on this book that will be on Starz starting in Feb. I think it will be better on TV than in book form. This is one of my favourite reads because it’s about rural life, but also so much more. It’s all about the edges, the interfaces, the bits of life, society, geography and… fields… which have their own special quality simply because they’re on the edges.

One of its great strengths is in the clear truth of its language and the sheer humane depth of its inquiries. It is a beautifully written book” Public Rights of Way are paths that criss-cross land across the UK, through which the public has legal rights to travel through, at all times and regardless of who owns the land. Not always physical paths, they can be anything from well-marked bridleways for horses to invisible legal rights. They do not compromise your legal rights over the land, should you own it, but they do grant access to it. If you’re a hobbyist who’ll be working a full-time job on top of managing your smallholding you should probably look at a smaller, more manageable plot. Conversely, those who are going to be focussing the majority of their time and energy on their own land might want a larger plot to plan and grow into. Either way, there’s a suitable large or small plot out there for you, whatever your needs. Whether you’re going to be growing to earn money:Our next selection comes from the top! – Crispin, our Chief Executive. Crispin has chosen Addlands, and tells us: Tom has contributed to various titles in the Rough Guides series – he has a particular interest in the music of Southern Africa – and, in 2015, co-wrote a screenplay for Revolution Films, Mr Burton, about the early life of the actor, Richard Burton. His short stories have been included in anthologies including Oxtravels (Profile, 2011) and Beacons (One World, 2013). At present he is a Visiting Fellow at the University of South Wales, where he received his PhD in 2014. Since 2008 he has worked as a freelance tutor in Creative Writing for organisations including Ty Newydd, the Arvon Foundation, Hay Festival and Cardiff University. On the day in 1941 that his nineteen-year-old wife gives birth to a son, middle-aged Welsh farmer Idris Hamer discovers a large, flat stone with unusual lettering on it while plowing one of his fields. Over the next 70 years, the stone will reappear periodically in the lives of the Hamers, serving as a sort of guardian talisman or tormenting demon in this bleak yet compelling family chronicle.

Si la experiencia de leer este libro fue increíble, me imagino que escucharlo en su formato de audio debe ser otro nivel, así que seguramente luego me lo repita de esa manera. For all the overwhelming range offered by the modern supermarket (from Egyptian strawberries in winter to Guatemalan peas in the autumn), there is still something to be said for the joy of growing your own produce on your own plot of land. Labour costs to prepare the land for planting and grazing. New plots won’t be clear, verdant pasture but will probably have stones or weeds which will have to be cleared (you can do this yourself but will still have to pay for waste disposal). You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.This is the book we have been waiting for from Tom Bullough, a complete work of art, astonishingly beautiful, deeply moving, and gripping from first to last.” —Horatio Clare, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award This book, co-written by Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish, explores the ancient primitive Pagan past of Scotland, alliances and feuds between the different clans, the beginning of the Scottish Kings, Jacobite rebellions, and the very sobering battle of Culloden; this book is also about the adventures of Heughan and McTavish as they explore the beauty of Scottish highlands, the glory of whisky, Scottish sports, food, culture, the Gaelic language, and the filming of the popular Outlander series based off the books by Diana Gabaldon. This book has me even more excited about going on holiday to Scotland in September! Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other”, by Outlander stars Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish is a combination of Scottish history (including the history of the country itself, the tartans/kilts, its clans and its whisky), with a little bit of comedy mixed in. Narrated completely by the stars themselves, Heughan and McTavish dictate their journey across the Scottish countryside in an attempt at learning about themselves, and the country they call home.