In general, I quite enjoyed reading this rather stylish and romantic account of Lewis-Stempel's project to turn an arable field into a sustainable wheat and wildflower field. His idea was to employ traditional and regenerative methods (including re-introducing bird and wildlife species) to achieve his final goal of producing a crop of wheat-sheafs. His desire was to to see just what could be done in a small area of land (15 acres), and just how much bio-diversity could be regained in the space of his short tenancy of two years. His latest work, La Vie, (2023) describes his experience in 'la France profonde'. [7] Personal life [ edit ]

Such vulnerability is unable to survive in the modern landscape of mass farming and incessant chemical sprays. Our overworked and abused farmlands have long been avoided and abandoned by wildlife and birds who have gradually lessened or even disappeared with the removal of old traditions. That John Lewis-Stempel is one of the best nature writers of his generation is undisputed." ( Country Life) The Running Hare pub is in St David’s Park, Ewloe, North Wales. You’ll find us just off the A494, close to Junction 33B of the A55 (North Wales Expressway). We’re also close to the B5125, handy for families visiting from Mancot, Sandycroft, and Dobshill. Smashing bit of nature writing. John Lewis-Stempel rented a field, with permission to turn it over to wildflower cultivation in its first year, and documented the diverse wildlife it attracted. Fans of Lewis-Stempel's bestselling Meadowland will find here the same easy-reading prose fuelled by daft-as-a-brush enthusiasm and embellished with lyrical flourishes ... the mud-spattered details of a farming life lend The Running Hare a unique realness." ( Mail on Sunday)However, this book brings with it much hope; that old traditions never die and can be resurrected amongst our polluted rolling hills. It is confirmation that Nature is a miraculous living being in her own right and that she will flourish when we take the trouble to learn her ways and how to work with her through the seasons. A stirring rural fantasia...Lewis-Stempel's heart and mind are absolutely in the right place. I salute him and I adored his appreciation of the quirky detail." ( The Times)

Nothing beats a classic British Carvery. Ours is served fresh and features succulent slow-cooked meats, home-made Yorkies & veg that changes to suit the season! Happiness can truly be enhanced by soil - scientists at the University of Bristol report that a specific soil bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae activates a set of serotonin releasing neurones in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the brain - the same ones targeted by Prozac. So your mood can genuinely lift, just form working with, or walking over soil.Six Weeks: The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War: The Life and Death of the British Officer in the First World War (2011) I love books that share stories of working with the land using traditional farming methods that take us closer to the natural world and all that thrive there. This is healthy work that engages and benefits our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional beings, and whole-being. These stories and insights provide invaluable knowledge and a rich resource of information for anyone with a desire to work in harmony with the land. His column on nature and farming in Country Life won him Magazine Columnist of the Year in the 2016 BSME Awards. [3] His monthly column in The Countryman magazine began in March 2023.

Englightening and stylish...Readers who enjoyed the author’s last book, Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field, will find much in the same vein here: a mix of agricultural history, rural lore, topographical description and childhood memories. I learned a good deal.... Lewis-Stempel is a fine stylist, adroitly conjuring scenes in which “medieval mist hangs in the trees” or “frost clenches the ground”..." (Sara Wheeler Observer) He describes beautifully the changing of the seasons and the habits of animals such as the hares that make their home in his field. The book is a superb piece of nature writing." Along the way we learn a little about seemingly everything rural - agricultural history, scientific studies of bird and wildlife decline, botany, modern agriculture, Lepidoptera, Shakespeare, agrarian poetry, and the history of English hedges, just to name a few. One field, naturally sown and tended, attracted wildlife to it that were completely absent from the surrounding agri-cultured, chemically-induced fields. Hares, red-legged partridges, rabbits, pheasant, many different birds and insects were all drawn to Flinders, a field that the author tended with love and farmed with old methods rather than spraying with chemicals. Amongst the wheat, he sowed an abundance of wildflowers, horrifying neighbouring farmers who termed them ‘weeds’. Agriculture has decimated British nature so I admire anyone who makes an effort to reverse the process, even in a small way.Nearly 3.5) This is the record of a year of old-fashioned farming: Lewis-Stempel rented a several-acre field called Flinders, planted wildflowers in with his wheat and corn, and plowed it himself. Not a pesticide in sight. He attracted hares and other mammals, as well as numerous species of birds – all in all, much more life than your average field farmed by modern methods.

He describes beautifully the changing of the seasons and the habits of animals such as the hares that make their home in his field. The book is a superb piece of nature writing." (Ian Critchley Sunday Times) As we read The Wood through the eyes of a Master Woodsman so we read The Running Hare through the eyes of a skilled Farmer and Landsman bringing forth a wealth of sacred knowledge that will serve us well into the future.The diary form of The Running Hare facilitates impressionistic and spontaneous prose as the rural year unfurls. Problems queue up for recognition, of course, but Lewis-Stempel ploughs on (sorry), sowing, among other things, to encourage the eponymous hare. And the animal comes. “Have hares, have our national landscape.” It is interesting to learn about the search for various types of traditional farming equipment, repaired and used at each stage of the wheat growing process, from ploughing the field, sowing the seeds, harvesting, transporting and storing the harvest at the end of the season. It is good to know that quality tools built to last a lifetime are still around and will find a place in our lives again. During the height of pesticide spraying in the 1960s hare numbers in the UK crashed by over a million. There are now approximately 730,000 hares left. Whether your bringing the whole family or enjoying a night off from the kids, we have plenty of options for everyone.How about trying one of our show stopping burgers such as the Ultimate Spicy Beef Burger? Or, If you fancy a pub classic, try our hand-battered fish and chips. He has written on a range of subjects from Native Americans to fatherhood, but specialises in military history and natural history under his family name. He is a former columnist for The Sunday Express (for which he still writes features), and currently a columnist for Country Life and The Times. His Times column, Nature Notebook, focuses on both nature and farming across the UK. [2]