Life of a Chalkstream: Why the NFU ghosted Jeremy Clarkson

Greetings!

This is not part of the weekly quiz but give this one a go; what is the connection, aside from being adjoining buildings, between 17 & 18 Smith Square, Westminster? The answer is, despite the paved streets of SW1, farming: 17 Smith Square houses the Ministry of Agriculture and 18 Smith Square the National Farmers Union.

This adjacency goes a long way to explaining the incestuous relationship between those who farm and those who regulate the farmers and why Tom Bradshaw, recently appointed President of the NFU, informed Jeremy Clarkson in the midst of the March for Farming that his support for farmers, at least in terms of the Oxfordshire gentleman farmer being an official NFU spokesman, was not required.

17 & 18 Smith Square

Now, I for one am not too bothered if the NFU choose to turn their nose up at Clarkson – it is pretty clear the NFU nose is heading in another direction. They have clearly made the calculation that associating with a right leaning Clarkson will prejudice their influence in the corridors of power with the current left leaning administration. However, what this vividly illustrates, along with the visceral public support for farmers in the Inheritance Tax row (53% against the tax and 18% for it in a poll this week), is how hard we are going to have to fight agricultural interests who share an equal blame with water companies for our polluted rivers.

Frankly, I am not sure how we do it. The rural idyll and the plight of farmers as selfless custodians of the British countryside is hard wired in the consciousness of the nation. But intensive farming, and most farming is intensive, be it in poultry sheds, dairy units, pig rearing enclaves or fields that are slavered with pesticides and fertilisers is gradually killing the rural idyll in plain sight. But if you think the NFU are going to stand by to let ecology trump the financial interests of farming prepare to be disappointed; they will wield their influence with the neighbours with no regard to the ongoing and increasing damage to our rivers.

It is going to be a long battle fought over decades with evidence, logic and determination the key weapons. However, that battle will not be helped by the likes of Clarkson, who more by accident than design, has positioned farmers as food heroes when the truth is something very different.

Feargal Sharkey Video of the Week

It makes me sad to have to bring you this video as it features Feargal Sharkey highlighting pollution from the banks of the River Test for his weekly feature on LBC.

Would that it was not so, but as Feargal carries out nitrate, phosphate and ammonia tests the results are as depressingly anticipated. However, what struck a chord most with me was Feargal’s parting shot, coming as it did in the week of COP 29.

As he rightly points out, the British government is happy to fly 400 plus delegates halfway around the world to deliver lectures on saving the planet to others whilst, right in our backyard, less than 75 miles from the Mother of All Parliaments, we are wilfully destroying the chalkstreams, one of the most precious ecosystems in the world, whilst the government looks on doing little to address the root causes of the issue, namely farming and water companies.

Watch the video here .....

Fishing with Ted

A while ago I told you the shelves of Waterstone’s drew me to Graham Swift’s Waterland, the eels on the cover catching my eye as much as the title. As I say, it has been a while as it is a long read at nearly 500 pages.

Did I enjoy Waterland? I think the answer is, in part. It is no easy read, far from chronological and there are some diversions which made me wonder whether Swift sometimes wrote under the influence. I am glad I read it, but I am most glad that, thanks to the advice of another Swift fan, I was pointed in the direction of his book of short stories, Making an Elephant.

Ted Hughes

I think it is fair to say, in easy to read chunks, Swift is far more accessible in this format but most especially we learn that he is a fly fisher who, after youthful dabbling, came to it as a passion in later life, something to which many of us would incline a nod of recognition. In Fishing with Ted, Swift relates how he regularly fished with poet laureate Ted Hughes, mostly in Devon and was taught some semblances of skill by none other than friend of this parish, David Profumo. The book is definitely worth the price of admission for these two chapters alone. Here is a taste of what to expect:

Fishing, if you think about it in a certain way, is a fairly silly, childish activity, absurdly pursued by some till their dying day, a thing of no virtue or importance. This doesn’t stop it offering up to fishermen moments of ineffable triumph that imprint every flash of their glory permanently on the brain, or moments of abysmal disaster that will never, ever be forgotten or exorcised. Such dramatic highs and lows life itself doesn’t necessarily or so reliably or so intensely provide.

2025 online booking going live

If you are already thinking ahead to fishing next season you should know that all our diaries will go live for online booking at 5pm on Friday December 20th.

However, ahead of that we do have Abbots Worthy (Itchen), Barton Court (Kennet), Eric Hope (Lake District). John Bailey (Wye), Kimbridge (Test) and Mulberry Whin (Driffield Beck) available to book now along with all the cottages, lodges, courses, private tuition and family days for 2025.

Use this link to check dates and use the pulldown to specify Rivers & Stillwaters, Cottages & Lodges or Courses & Tuition.

Quiz

The normal random collection of questions inspired by the date, events or topics in the Newsletter. It is just for fun with answers at the bottom of the page.

1) What do the initials COP, as in COP 29, stand for?

2) On which London street did a 6 day IRA siege with 2 hostages start on this day in 1975?

3) What is the name of Clarkson’s sidekick in Clarkson’s Farm?