The Patterned Land

Roger Smith looks at the problems facing farmers in the UK

- Roger Smith

AS I REACHED the top edge of the forest, a view opened up. I found myself looking down at a patterned landscape of arable and livestock fields punctuated with small woods and copses. It was a harmonious scene, pleasing to the eye, and one with which we as walkers have all become very familiar.

Landscapes such as this have been shaped by agriculture and forestry for many hundreds of years. They have developed a distinctive character in many areas which is instantly recognisable. You have only to think of the long drystone walls and river meadows of the Yorkshire Dales or the intricate pattern of small enclosures on any map of the Cotswolds to recognise this.

Well tended and maintained landscapes like these are a pleasure to walk through, but it is not exaggerating to say that they are under real threat at the moment. This particularly applies to smaller farms; in their recent report, 'Uncertain Harvest', the Campaign to Protect Rural England estimated that a third of all farms in England under 50 hectares have disappeared in the last 15 years.