Our role as stewards of the countryside…

The countryside isn’t just the place in which many of us reside, work in or enjoy spare time within, immersed in our hobbies whether that’s; horse riding, shooting, working dogs, fishing, off-roading, hiking, flying birds, the list goes on. It is an intrinsic part of our lifestyle. Without it, our way of life ceases to exist and I believe we all have a unique responsibility to protect and conserve it for future generations. We are stewards of our countryside.

Whilst many of us would refer to the collective of countryside folk as a community, and we are to an extent, the community is far removed from the way in which the countryside community operated in years gone by. Locality was at the heart and soul of any rural community, people supported local businesses and farms, and were proud of their surroundings, and as such they cared for them. Whilst similarly, skills and passions were passed down through generations within communities, knowledge was transferred and lapped up with farming being one of the prime examples of this with older generations teaching their sons and daughters the way of the farm, passing the gauntlet down as they did. For me, much of my equestrian knowledge was gained from hours upon hours spent with women much older than me, who passed on their experience. It is this, in part that helps to keep much of our lifestyle alive.

Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting we go back to the above way of life entirely.

For the traditional cowboys and cowgirls in the wild west, much of their way of life is diminishing and it is only through sheer love, passion and a deep respect for their lifestyle that it continues when far ‘easier’ solutions are available as 4x4s and off-road utility vehicles have been introduced. There is in fact only two working cattle farms (I could find) in the UK which still use horses to work their cattle; Sudbrooke Cattle Company in Lincoln and Meldon Farm in Dartmoor, home to Dartmoor Riding Holidays, who’ve diversified to support and preserve their all-but extinct way of life here in England.

Now, with the evolution of technology and transport, our world has opened up and in many ways our community has widened but, we still need to engage with it for it to survive. Increasingly, our way of life is under threat, not only through land lost to development and technological advances but also as opposition grows from those against farming and government policies like Labour’s Rachel Reeve’s crippling inheritance tax changes, consuming meat, traditional country pursuits like shooting, as their grip on our heritage fades, along with the decline of both rural education and awareness within main stream public life taking nose dives.

We are in the midst of a stark epidemic of disconnect between the public and the countryside and its associated way of life.

Tania Coxon, founder of The Country Girls UK, is one woman who understands the importance of community and the positive power it can yield, through her membership based community brand. Talking of its inception Tania shared with me how through her Instagram where she shared about on-farm pest control and management , “I received tonnes of messages from people explaining how they never knew farmers needed to do this, and so in response, I began creating educational content about why we do it, and the impact it would have on our bottom line if we weren’t to shoot the pigeons. Dozens of ladies would reach out to me after each video expressing a genuine interest in how they could get into shooting.” Tania explains at the time, she wasn’t aware of anywhere to signpost these ladies, and so set up a WhatsApp group to bring them all together, “within a couple of days the group had about 400 women in. I set it up whilst sat on the JCB in the yard, and it just kept pinging constantly. I put a message in the group shortly afterwards saying I was thinking of organising a shoot, who would be interested... and four years later here we are, now one of the UK’s largest women’s shooting communities.”

In the past we’ve traditionally lived within communities, from small villages working together as a team to provide and look out for one another, to tribal situations, but in today’s world we live in such an isolated and astutely independent way. Besides our immediate family or partners, we don’t really immerse ourselves in communities, though there does appear to have been a shift in recent years... especially as our way of life becomes increasingly under threat of change. “I’ll always remember, one member’s summary of her experience,” Tania begins, “she said she ‘joined for the shooting but stayed for the community,’ and that really embodies everything we are. Yes, people may initially come to us because they want to learn to fish, shoot or play polo,” Tania explains before continuing, “but actually, they stay because they meet their best friends.”

I think this it is an important point to touch on, as a ‘community’, and like many others, we are viciously defensive of our way of life, sometimes to our detriment. If we are not actively encouraging new people into our world with open arms, and minds, then how can we expect the countryside to survive, let alone thrive, during a time of our history in which our lifestyle and industries face so much oppression from the woke, un-educated and anti communities?

Crafting positive PR for the countryside is vital for protecting our lifestyle. Faye Archer of Kilchurn Marketing and I sat down to talk about this very topic. Highlighting how rural communities tend to shy away from celebrating the lifestyle, Faye says, “I think we feel like we have to hide under a bit of a bushel, as though we’re not allowed to talk about our passions. It seems we feel like we can’t without getting criticised despite having the most amazing stories to tell.”

The countryside and its rural communities contribute so much to the wider economy and society, why is it then that we feel we almost need to suppress who we are and quell our pride and passion for our lifestyle? Faye comments, “some parts of the British media do a good job at making us feel guilty for our way of life and its practices. We can’t seem to tell our side of the story.” Something which is an additional challenge if the media is bias, though our news outlets should not be, we all know how misleading it can be and the power of influence it yields.

“The British Horseracing Association (BHA) have done lots for horeseracing,” Faye begins, “though when the antis targeted the Grand National in 2023, the media were quick to talk about the welfare risk and publicised the fact that four horses died over the four day festival,” something which PETA inaccurately claim as having died within the race itself. The media were hot out the gate publishing these click-bait, heart-wrenching headlines, yet as Faye highlights, “what they didn’t cover was the improvements that were made to the jumps or the ground to make that year’s event safer.”

I was curious as to why that might be... It appears to me, that we as a community are not very good at barking back. Is that because we are afraid to? Are we afraid of the possible backlash we might receive and the potentially negative impact it might have on our lives or business?

Despite being an intensely proud at the core, stoic community, one could be forgiven for feeling this way following the stories of activists vandalising property, releasing and endangering animals as well as confronting individuals. To wish to actively avoid such treatment is not hard to comprehend, though what can we do from a positive PR perspective to further protect and preserve our lifestyle? “Getting more positive stories into the media is absolutely one thing,” Faye explains, “but I think it is about telling our own personal stories within our own lives too.”

The Clarkson’s Farm Effect:

Storytelling is my jam, I could harp on about the power of it all day. One such individual doing an incredible job at storytelling at scale, which is having a positive impact on our rural communities is Jeremy Clarkson through his Clarkson Farm series.

Having shared his experience of starting up a farm and navigating the associated peaks and troughs, literal and figurative, the industry and countryside has felt a knock on effect off the back of Amazon’s hit-series success. Through the humorous (and relatable for many of us) documentation of events on the farm and various interactions between Jeremy, Lisa, Kaleb, Charlie and Gerald, the team have successfully increased the wider public’s awareness of the realities, complexities and challenges farmers face amassing millions upon millions of views.

In an article The Grocer published online, they reported that for online retailer Ocado, sales jumped significantly across meat, fish, fruit and veg from their ‘Best of British’ aisle, following the return of the show.

Change and evolution though, is required for survival, and that has to be true for our way of life too.

With wildlife being the heart and soul of our countryside, it needs protecting and it needs a voice. The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) acts as such. For nearly 100 years the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has been a champion for wildlife through an evidence-led approach to conservation. From waders to woodland birds, upland and lowland game management to farmland ecology and moorland conservation, wild salmon to mammals and invertebrates - the breadth of research carried out by the GWCT makes it unique.

Through sound advice and support the GWCT helps farmers, land managers and conservationists across the UK succeed in their mission to enhance the British countryside. The GWCT believes that wildlife can thrive if we focus on integrating it alongside other land uses, and that game management can be both sustainable, improve biodiversity and aid species recovery. More than 70% of the UK is made up of farmland - by following GWCT guidelines, farms have shown they can double their songbird numbers and remain just as productive as before.

It is not only individuals that have a responsibility as stewards of the countryside, brands and businesses do too, for it is them who often have significant influence over the consumer. From fundraising campaigns from staple country brands such as Le Chameau who have raised over £44,000 for The Royal Countryside Fund through their ‘Imperfects Campaign’, or INEOS Grenadier’s support of the Atlantic Salmon Trust and the Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust, who have partnered together for the creation of a short campaign film as part of Project Deveron, featuring Jim Murray, an ambassador for the Atlantic Salmon Trust and founder of Activist Anglers.

Farlows is a British brand that’s been giving its customers the edge since 1840. It’s rooted within the countryside, its rich history and traditions, and along with its sister brand Sportfish, actively supports a number of angling and wildlife charities, including working closely with the above mentioned Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Our countryside and way of life isn’t going to preserve itself on its own. Together, we can make a difference, be proud of our lifestyle and step into our role as stewards of the countryside.

This blog forms part of a wider piece within In The Country Volume Two: Edition One which is available to purchase here.