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Andrew Elsden - stories, tales , rural and social and business issues past and present as I see them.
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Jan 29, 20223 min read
They Call Me Mr Tibbs - a lesson in bias.
As you look at some of the scenes in the recently deceased Sidney Poitier’s great film In The Heat of The Night you can see the...
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Jan 24, 20229 min read
Fraud and the Vulnerable
“There is a sense the victims of fraud feel abandoned.” Victims Commissioner Dame Vera Baird. (BBC Radio 4 MoneyBox 22Jan 2022) The crime...
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Jan 20, 20223 min read
Poverty of Journalism.
It was James Gordon Bennett, the editor of The New York Herald that said, “ Many a good newspaper story has been ruined by...
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Jan 13, 20222 min read
To Plough the Headland and be Damned
Today I read a tweet from a farmer on the Lincolnshire Wolds showing his uncultivated field margin with the words, "Great over winter...
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Dec 29, 20212 min read
A PROJECT FOR THE UNIVERSAL BENEFIT OF ALL FARMERS
First of all I thank my great Irish friend Jonathan Swift for his inspiration. Having done so much to serve and instruct the agricultural...
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Dec 27, 202112 min read
THE FLOWER PICKER'S LAMENT
On December 18th 2021 I read an article by Rachel Stevenson in the Observer with the headline, “Millions of daffodils will rot if Brexit...
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Nov 24, 20213 min read
THE CRASH OF ENERGY PROVIDERS - LESSONS NOT LEARNED.
The failure of many energy Companies in the UK is being attributed to the hike in energy prices. However, this is a half-truth. The cause...
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Nov 18, 20219 min read
THE MIXED FREEDOM OF THE MOTOR CAR AND HOW IT IS DISAPPEARING.
In my home town of Spalding as a child in the 1970’s I saw a great growth in car ownership as it became an item only a few could afford...
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Nov 10, 20217 min read
Words from 2014
In 2014, I was an Agricultural Bank manager for a high street Bank. I was asked to write a personal report on how I viewed the...
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Nov 7, 20214 min read
WHAT ABOUT A SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE COUNTRYSIDE?
I am becoming very tired of all the people shouting about farming having to be sustainable and the countryside having to be managed...
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Nov 1, 20214 min read
TOO MUCH PRESSURE GROUPS - THE PROBLEM WITH ANGER
So as COP26 meet in Glasgow Greta Thunburg has sought to invoke anger to promote change. Is she right? Even though I personally feel she...
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Oct 13, 20219 min read
Piggin Questions
It is with great horror that I perceive the task of healthy pigs being culled on farms for economic reasons. It is bad enough for a...
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Oct 8, 20213 min read
HS2 - a matter of value
HS2 the great rail link between London and the Northern Power House that is Manchester has hit many headlines but above all else the most...
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Oct 2, 20214 min read
A Defence of the Good Name of Meat. (Or the Revenge of the Carnivores' Carrot)
In 2000 the great visionary, the late Marquis of Bath stated that , “Once scientific research had come up with the means of producing a...
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Sep 1, 20214 min read
Are Alpacas Commercially Viable?
In May 2012, Dianne Simmons, the first known person to catch TB from alpacas in the UK said, " I fear petting zoos could be riddled with...
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Aug 19, 20214 min read
No English Required!
And the Lord looked down on the people of Shinar and said, “ Come, let us go down there and confuse their speech, so that they will not...
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Aug 3, 20213 min read
Words - the importance of words in environmental arguments.
Many environmental arguments rest upon questions of value rather than principle and logic. We see this in many areas whether it be GM...
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Jul 26, 20211 min read
The Improper Gardener's Club
Apparently the world of horticulture and gardening is fraught with judgemental people calling gardeners out as not being "proper"...
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Jul 26, 20212 min read
Jeremy Clarkson's predecessor - Henry Williamson
As we saw the success of Amazon Prime's new TV series "Clarkson's Farm" showing the reality of farming in the UK it reminded of a man...
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Jul 12, 20212 min read
Archaeology and the importance of knowing which way a cow stands to have a piss.
Many years ago a family of farming brothers in Cambridgeshire had the opportunity to cash in on their land by having it developed for...
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