More of the Canterbury Festival

The day I returned to Garrington my sister Anne had a cataract operation in the morning. Niece Helen came down from London to transport her. Anne is already noticing what a difference it makes - she can read the newspaper again. That evening I heard Sir Vince Cable a previous British cabinet minister and previous head of the British Liberal Democratic party give a talk "The Chinese Condundrum: Engagement or Economic War" based on a book he recently published. He was very realistic about the economic power of China and the importanace of maintaining that relationship. He said that he thought Britain should allow the 5G that Huawei has been involved in the UK as he had been reassured in cabinet that the national security controls were in place. He was not supportive of the US having bullied the UK to ban Huawei 5G. Later that evening I watched a comedy show by Mick Doran, Principal Percussionist of the English National Opera. It was titled "An A to Z of Orchestral Triangle Playing". A very entertaining commentary on classical music, conductors, players and of course the Triangle. The following day Anne came with me to hear "The Kingdom Choir" a gospel choir that came to instant fame after singing at the wedding of Harry and Megan. It was fun to see them get all the mostly grey haired audience in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral standing up, clapping and swaying to the music. For me I thought from a musical perspective that there are probably better gospel choirs to be heard particularly in the southern US. When visiting the Cathedral we always go and "Say hello to Granny" where her ashes were buried in the Cathedral memorial garden. The wooden horse was built in 2018 to commemoreate the 8 Million horses that were killed in WWI.

Back to the farm

This is the 55th time that I have stayed at my sister's farm Garrington,Littlebourne near Canterbury. She has lived here for 57 years. It has been most interesting to observe the changes over the years. When my brother in law David first farmed I think they had about 250 acres and about eight men who worked on it plus a group of women who were transported from Dover to work in the Hop Fields. The family own now about 800 acres. However my nephew Robert manages about 3100 acres on six farms. This is done with five full time equivalent workers (including Robert) plus huge machinery. The complexity of this management is amazing and I greatly appreciate each visit a snapshot of what is involved from Roberts perspective. The farm is mostly arable - wheat and barley but also break crops like rape seed and beans (that put Nitrogen back into the soil). They have a small beef herd and all sorts of interesting activities like pheasant raising, bee keeping, solar panels (that produce revenue, about six farm cottages (that produce revenue), chickens, a vegetable garden, grain storage, horse riding (my sister plays an important role in reporting on what is happening on the fields) etc. This year with David having broken his hip and suffering from early dementia I am playing more of a supportive role to my sister than usual inclding chauffeur when requested. Farming is a very complex life and I greatly enjoy learnling more each visit before returing to what seems a simpler life!