Meadowland

It is always a pleasure reading about something that is written with such passion. The balance between farming and a love of nature is often a tricky and imprecise area, whatever your thoughts on either subject, the author maintains a clear understanding of how he, and his farm, fits in to the ecology of the meadow. He is very knowledgeable and extremely passionate about the flora and fauna, this coupled with an easy writing style meant that the book was easy to read. Personally prefer woodland and not a big fan of sheep but, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Personal and universal, well-written and informative with a strong narrator's voice guiding the reader over the meadow, brimming with life. One of the best books about the natural world I've ever read. The author's writing is quite magical; transports readers into the field through the months of the year. Exquisite. Plan to order a few more as gifts.

This is a very enjoyable piece of nature writing with great detail and an engaging style. It was easy to identify with the author and to like him and his family. It is reminiscent in some ways of Ronald Blythe. The meaning of the land to those who farm it comes through clearly.

A very affectionate account of a year cultivating a meadow and observing its wild life of all kinds. I have bought several copies to give to like-minded friends

Poetic and descriptive, and excellent read.

Eclectic, soothing, and beautifully written little journal captures an English farmer's daily musings regarding his farmland's meadows, their history, and the flora and fauna inhabiting them.

I LOVED it. Reminded me of my childhood Summers, spent in the fields surrounding Oxford. Thank You J Lewis-Stempel for this lovely book.

Lyrical, beautiful prose and so much more than just a tale about an English meadow. A joy to read.

This was a real joy to read and the last two weeks I have found myself swimming effortlessly through the pages of meadowland's succint & lyrical prose. Ive never been one for reading diary format but John Lewis-Stemples meadowland works to give a reasonably detailed & poetic seasonal account of his herefordshire meadow, haymaking, and all its inhabitants that cross its path from the gentleman in velvet blacksuits (moles) to the old boar badgers that trample the meadow at night...'the high stars are limitless' he writes, '& surely it is impossible that such a staggering show is not for my benefit. And the stars come out tonight for me. The horses grind their teeth while eating, and take extraordinarily long pisses. The sheeps eyes glisten green and jewel-like in torchlight. Back in the house, I hunt out a verse from Thomas Traherne (1636-44), the hereford-born metaphysical poet, Traherne believed that man falls from a state of innocence because he turns from nature to a world of artificiality and invention. In centuries of meditation he advised you never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself flows in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars, till you so love the beauty of enjoying it you are in earnest to persuade others to enjoy it too.'I think it would be hard pressed for any one brought up in the British countryside not to fall in love with this book in fact anyone that comes from a country with seasonal change would surely resonate with these timeless descriptions of the passing of the seasons regardless of the differences in their flora and fauna.So why the three stars then? Well for all the beautiful prose this book has to offer it does however tend to lack any real substance at times and on occasion reads more like a coffee table book, or maybe its because i've just been spoilt with Michael Mccarthys Superb 'The Moth Snowstorm' and the stark beauty of Amy Liptrots 'The Outrun' which are both books of a similar genre.Still it was an enjoyable read and one i'd recommend if you enjoy British nature writing.

I took a while to get immersed in this book, but I am glad that I did. So much of it has triggered memories from my teens.I wasn't certain what to expect, but I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I have got out of this book. It is well written, but in an almost gossipy style. It's as if I'm sitting drinking coffee with the author as he chats about his day. I have been bringing memories back from the fields near my home (now sadly long gone under housing) and can easily see the meadow, indeed I can almost smell it! Although I do not know the area, I have spent time a little to the north, and can see in my mind's eye the nearby mountains, and the beauty of the night sky, so sadly unavailable to most of us. However, even without experience, the reader will create wonderful images in their mind as the descriptions are so clear.I love the snippets of information casually dropped into the descriptions, as well as the lines of poetry scattered through the text. Indeed, I can think of nothing to criticise about this utterly delightful book.I highly recommend it.

A friend told me about this book and said how much she enjoyed it. I read it and was not disappointed. The chapters are divided by the months of the year about the life of a meadow. It is lively and informative. The author narrates not only about nature which he knows very well, but also about the history of places, in Herefordshire where he lives. He shares personal events - sometimes dramatic.I would recommend this book for anybody who is interested in wildlife.

I doubt if I have enough descriptive words in my vocabulary to give this book the full praise it deserves but here goes:I found this beautifully descriptive book such a joy to read. The author John Lewis-Stempel is such a master of poetic prose, that at times I was brought to tears by the sheer beauty of his descriptions and observations of the flora and fauna during a year in the life of a meadow on his farm on the Herefordshire border.The book is interspersed with poetry, folk lore and historical snippets of country living and farm life, I suspect that quite a bit of research has gone into producing such a masterpiece but the author is obviously a very well-read chap and much is drawn from his own love of the land, memories and considerable knowledge and experience.We have birds - their mating, feeding and migratory habits and patterns; wildflowers beloved and necessary to all different types of butterflies and bees. Foxes, with whom the writer appears to have mixed relationship and a grudging admiration for, but if they mess with his chickens 'I am an Old Testament poultry-keeper. I say a life for a life, and have a gun that speaks death'Voles and other types of small mammals including hedgehogs and anything living that inhabits the meadow throughout the year. Mouldywarps, which are moles by another name. All have a role, a part to play as an occasionally anthromorphic character in this life and death meadow saga.I could quote huge sections of this book to illustrate the beauty of it but will just include one21 MARCH Heavy rain. The horses in House Field stand back to the rain, the sheep and their lambs are either under the hedges or tight against the bales. The red-tailed bumblebee must be glad of the house that it has taken from the mouse. In Lower Meadow I see a small flock of forlorn redwings, the thrush with the fetching cream eye-stripe and orange flanks, in the hazel. At my approach, up into the air they go, slipping left, slipping right, drunkenly unsteady. They loiter for a day. On the 23rd I hear redwings ‘zeeping’ in the starred night when I’m checking the sheep. Next day there are no redwings on the farm. They have gone north, to home in Scandinavia.Sigh! Beautiful.I'm looking forward to reading John Lewis-Stempel's latest, recently published book 'The Running Hare' that I pre-ordered and it arrived by post the other day.

One of his better books. Lots of interesting facts about the countryside told in an equally interesting way. But I do find his constant use of words I’ve never heard of irratating when simple every days words we all use would be better and more in context. The author seems to want to impress us with his knowledge of the English language but we don’t buy this type of book to be lectured at do we?