The sleepy, unspoilt parish of Edgmond, which includes the hamlets of Adney, Calvington, Caynton, The Buttery, Edgmond Marsh and Sidlington (‘total population 2,062’, according to the latest census), lies on the edge of the fertile north Shropshire plain—rich, lush land that stretches away flat in every direction.
Apart from a slight disturbance in 1066, when a Saxon called Leuuin was forced to hand it over to Roger de Montgomery, a rumour that Ozzy Osbourne was living on the High Street during the 1970s and having the lowest temperature weather ever recorded in England (in 1982), it’s fair to say that not much has happened in the area since it was first settled and farmed some 4,000 years ago.
Indeed, from the picturesque 13th-century church, the friendly village shop and the general air of peace and quiet, you might never guess that it is home to Harper Adams, without question one of the country’s most interesting and important agricultural institutions.
How interesting and important can an academic institution that is devoted solely to agriculture actually be? The answer is: extremely. Thanks to the combined challenges of climate change, sustainability and food security, there’s an urgent need not only to provide the next generation of farmers and agronomists with all the knowledge and practical skills they require, but also for research and development.
There are, in fact, more than 70 British universities and colleges offering tertiary agricultural, veterinary and food science qualifications. Each has its own philosophy, expertise and traditions, so choosing between them is no easy matter. Yet, in any discussion about this area of learning, the name Harper Adams comes up repeatedly.
Denne historien er fra July 29, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra July 29, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
