England's Green and Pleasant Land

There was a time when the estate of Pilsdon Manor stretched right across Marshwood Vale, one thousand verdant acres of it. Many labourers and their families must have been dependent on their work upon this land, farming, keeping livestock, managing woodland. Their lives would have been intimately linked with the seasons and the weather. When Percy and Gaynor Smith bought Pilsdon Manor in 1958 for five thousand pounds and formed the Pilsdon community, its land extended to no more than ten acres, its former possessions now a patchwork of sprawling farms and tiny hamlets.

To Everything There Is A Season

Six whole months ago I joined the Pilsdon community. The Earth has spun halfway round the Sun in the meantime. Spring has sprung, Summer has been summoned and Autumn is beginning to Fall.  An entirely new person has since been ushered into life in the form of baby River. Thirteen entirely new piglets have also been welcomed to planet Earth although sadly their mother had to be taken to the abattoir yesterday as she had developed a malignant tumour on her udder. Twelve lambs have been born, lived their lives, been dispatched and are now in the freezers. One bullock was slaughtered in May and has since been consumed, four remain out in the fields looking over their shoulders nervously.  The vegetable garden has blossomed, bloomed, fruited and in large part been harvested and filled our collective stomach.

I Had a Little Drink About Six Months Ago

Me in my pre-Pilsdon days

When I describe what life is like here to my friends back in the city they generally seem quite envious, up to the point that I mention that it’s an alcohol-free zone. They then tend to react with a mix of shock, pity and admiration, asking me how I’ve managed to survive for more than a few days and shaking their heads at the absurdity of them even imagining placing themselves in my wellies.

 

Our House, In the Middle of the Countryside

In the past week there have been no less than two momentous occasions in which people gathered to commemorate and celebrate certain Pilsdon residents moving into their new homes.