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Comment from the
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 Taking a delight in our rural ways
THIS coming weekend is the West Show. It is sponsored by the JEP - which shows that its heart is in the right place - and it is all about preserving something of the Island's rural way of life. Yes, there still is something of that, however diminished it might now be.
I like writing about agriculture and the countryside, and ways in which both can be preserved, simply because those are the topics that interest me. If, by contrast, I rarely if ever write, for example, about the finance sector, it's because I know very little about it - I'm sure it's very important, helps the Island considerably, and is something to be supported and applauded and all the rest of it. But don't tell anyone, but I'm afraid arithmetic and accountancy have never been shining talents or consuming interests of mine.
So, without in any way diminishing the splendid impact of finance, I do like occasions which state (or at least suggest): 'Jersey is not totally about hucksters and bagmen and money-changers; there is still a vestige of a rural aspect to it, and it still has a few agricultural enterprises, so let us hear, occasionally, about this other enduring aspect.'
I have a great affection for the West Show, having reported for the JEP on the old Three Parish Cattle Show, and attended the public meeting in St Peter's Parish Hall - was it 1997? - in which the idea of the West Show was discussed and agreed, and then later on sat for three years on the West Show Association committee.
It is a community show as well as a country show. I believe this year there are American lumberjacks doing their lumberjacking thing as an arena attraction, and in past years I remember mediaeval tournaments and Honda Imp motorcycle displays - none of which, granted, have ever had much to do with Jersey agriculture and rural life. But on the other hand it is not primarily a trade show, and it really does merit that familiar advertising slogan: 'something for all the family'.
At the event's core remains the cattle show, and activities derived from maintaining the countryside. Jersey's 'country shows' are one way of popularising farming and farming products and activities, and I would like to mention another way, the Fordhall Community Farm Trust in Shropshire, about which there has been much publicity recently, and which richly deserves public support.
In case you are not aware of the details: Fordhall Farm (140 acres) has been a family-owned, essentially 'organic' farm for the past 65 years. The late owner, Arthur Hollis, took over the tenancy of the farm as a 14-year-old in 1929 and ran it until he died in 2002. He was lucky enough to leave two children, both in their early 20s, who, unlike most of their contemporaries, did not want to desert farming, but have moved heaven and earth to buy the farm and thus to save it from industrial development. The Muller dairy company (as in Muller Rice and baby products) have a factory - one can only call it that - just down the road, and wanted to expand on to the Fordhall farm land.
There was no way that Charlotte and Ben Hollis could afford the £800,000 necessary to buy and save the farmland, but they didn't give up, they formed a 'community land trust' and invited subscriptions from the public. Against all odds, they have saved their family farm and its green meadows.
Thousands of people have subscribed, at the rate of £50 per share, to buying into the trust and becoming part owners of it. They have raised the amount of the purchase price by the cut-off date of 1 July and are in justifiable celebratory mood.
The Fordhall Trust is a co-operative; its profits must be reinvested and cannot be divided, and its assets are protected. Its rule document sets out: 'to ensure its farmlands are managed sustainably for community benefit with the appropriate management for access, and to research sustainable farming through community land trusteeship, public involvement and other methods'.
Charlotte Hollis has explained: 'Our shareholders have purchased a share for £50 which makes them part owners of the land. My brother and I lease the land back from the trust. So the land is community owned, with a very specific set of guidelines as to what can and can't be done with it, and we carry on as tenant farmers building on our dad's work. Each shareholder has one vote, regardless of how many shares they own.'
There are also around 200 volunteers, most of them from the local area, who have a variety of jobs and skills ranging from manual labour on the land to legal and estate management expertise. There is also a mentoring scheme for local 'troubled' youths to give them work in the open air with perceivable results to it, and encouragement of school-children to visit and to see where food comes from - not from the supermarket shelf.
Future plans include money-raising ventures such as a tea-room, farm-shop, butchers, leasing of buildings to help the local community, nature trail, and community allotments.
In short, an inspiring story. They have raised their initial £800,000 but as some of that is bank loan, they would like to convert that into shareholdings, so I am happy to give their website in case anyone reading this is interested in becoming involved: www.fordhallfarm.com
I cannot help feeling that in this story there are ideas that could be applied to Jersey. Indeed, there is an aspiration to turn Warren Farm at Noirmont into something along these lines. Community involvement in local agricultural enterprises - it might be the only way that in the long-term, farming in Jersey, apart from a few specialist agricultural businesses, survives.
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