An ode to my mother’s farm

I REMEMBER Woodston… If God has designed a ‘typical English setting’, it’s surely Woodston Farm in Worcestershire. The land to the front of the farm is flat, running down to the sparkling River Teme and beyond to woods; behind and to the sides, it’s gently hilly (300ft), suitable for slow, fat sheep. There are still some limes, or linden, on the rising land that gives the surrounding parish of Lindridge its name.

Once, Woodston boasted some of the finest hop yards in England, watered from the Teme. The hops have gone; the hop kilns remain, but are converted into apartments. Well, farmers