When I was in the senior forms at grammar school I had a bout of reading a genre of novel, popular in the ‘thirties, the focus of which was the state of the English countryside. This was exemplified by the work of A.G Street (Strawberry Roan) and Adrian Bell (The Cherry Tree). I wonder whether these writers are ever read these days …. or whether anybody has ever heard of them. Indeed, back then they were probably well and truly out of fashion. I got into this material through my father, and not because schoolboys in the late 50’s were generally reading them.*
For some reason over the past few days I have been deeply into a state of pessimism about the condition of the world in general. This was sparked in part, I believe, by the statement of a scientist that he believed that it is already too late to preserve the planet in a state conducive to human habitation. Thinking about this, for some reason I cannot fathom, there came into my mind an incident which I believe is towards the end of one of Street’s novels. A farmer who is one of the central characters of the tale declares that his ambition is to leave the land in better heart than when he took it on. I found myself asking whether any farmer today, even if it should enter his or her head to express such a desire, could ever entertain any realistic expectation that such a goal could be achieved.
*I still have a copt of Bell’s Cherry Tree, which had been given to him as a 21st. birthday present by his brother, my Uncle Dick.