Sindles Farm 2

As a farmer I was once satisfied to be a part of the countryside, helping to fill the national, European and international larder after the Hitler War had ended. Now European food producers have become so efficient that not only has the larder been filled, but it is starting to overflow down the sides in embarrassing streams.

I must always have had a keen interest in living things. For 30 years of my working life I spent all my time cosseting and cajoling just one or two species of both plants and animals to produce much-needed human food, as well as providing a living for my family. That still continues, but with the additional difficulty that my two sons are now grown up and married, so that three families wish to live from a farm business which will have to change its emphasis as little-understood new schemes and lower prices push us into an uncertain future.

I make no claim to have sensed earlier than others the widespread interest in environmental issues which are becoming commonplace in the world today and which affect food production techniques in so many ways. But about 10 years ago I found myself wanting to understand more of the colourful and intricate natural history background to my work and how the different areas of the farm contributed to the landscape, of which I was an ignorant custodian.

I soon learned how the past and present use of different parts of the farm and its neighbourhood exerted and still exert a profound effect on the wildlife that is present. This led me into local history as well.

One thing that I have discovered is the value of accurate records. When The Environmental Research Fund (TERF) suggested publishing what I had recorded so far, with the unstinted help of amateur and sponsored specialists in the natural history field, I felt that the opportunity was too good to miss. Here, at least, was a chance to get down on paper what was found on an ordinary Sussex farm in the mid-1980’s. The record shows that while changes have occurred, there remains a wider range of plants and animals in the countryside than is often allowed by our critics. I also hope that this record will provide a base from which changes monitored in the years ahead can be evaluated.

I have added a chapter on some historical matters. Much more research can be done in that sphere but will have to wait until I can claim some form of retirement, when I may find the time needed to trace the various sources that are available.

Published 1889 ISBN 0 9514846 0 5

SINDLES FARM