BACK TO THE LAND IN BRITAIN
(Page 3 of 9)
By the way, misconceptions about British weather seem to be
as widespread as those concerning open space in the United
Kingdom and a word is in order:
RELATED CONTENT
Summers in the British Isles better those of western Canada
where so many back-to-the-land folk are flocking nowadays.
Winters better those of all the United States save southern
California, Florida and the lower third of Texas. The
British climate, in other words, lacks extremes and the
United Kingdom is almost ideal for year-round habitation.
Granted that timing a vacation (when you have only two
weeks to soak up a year's worth of sun) can be a gamble in
the British Isles. Still for comfortable living, working
and farming . . . the climate is second to none.
Remember that 2,250,000 acres of wheat ripen annually in
Britain and many more acres of hay are harvested. Both
crops are difficult or impossible to produce in much of
British Columbia and other areas being considered by
back-to-the-land people:
For that matter, you can pick and choose your climate to a
certain extent in the British Isles. Consider, for
instance, the Island of Jersey. Jersey is part of Britain
but closer to France than England. It's a remarkably
beautiful spot and the island's long sunny summer and early
spring makes Jersey the "California of England" . . . or,
as Jersey P.R. men say, "Britain's South Sea Isle".
On the British mainland, the very best summer and winter
weather is enjoyed southwest of Bristol in the Devon and
Cornwall district. The land is flat-ish and the area
somewhat isolated (a Birmingham farmer sits at the center
of a web of national highways but roads in Cornwall lead
only to Cornwall). Due to this relative isolation, land
prices in the region are low and $200 per acre will still
buy a farm complete with house and attractive stone
outbuildings.
The land bargains in Devon and Cornwall may soon be eaten
away by somewhat more inflated "country retreat" prices
since the area is one of outstanding beauty. As it is, a
property of under 50 acres is usually priced with more
emphasis placed on the house and buildings . . . but the
per-acre cost of a larger farm doesn't really seem to take
the structures into account at all. The larger the farm,
the better the buy, in other words.
This rule of economics does not seem to prevail in Scotland
and Ireland . . . probably because there are few large
farms in either country. Instead, both Scotland and Ireland
have a strong tradition of very small farms akin to the
U.S. concept of the homestead. In Scotland these small land
holdings are known as "crofts" and their inhabitants as
"crofters". Prices under $150 per acre are common in both
countries.
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