The Practical Guide to Buying and Running a Smallholding in Wales
paperback ISBN: 978-0-7083-2138-6
More and more of us are dreaming of escaping the rat-race and embracing the ‘good life'. But could you really do it, and what might lie ahead? Liz Shankland's practical manual book is a no-nonsense guide to buying and running a smallholding in Wales, aimed at would-be downshifters, wherever they may live.
This book takes the reader step-by-step from choosing the perfect property right through to raising livestock for the first time. It's a one-stop shop for all the information you will need to get you up and running and on the road to self-sufficiency. Whilst an excellent resource for those thinking of embarking on the ‘good life’ anywhere in the UK - or further afield - this book is essential reading for anyone considering a move to rural Wales. It explains how Wales can be different - in terms of the language, culture, government, the education system and the official bodies which oversee farming and food production.
The author, Liz Shankland is a ‘townie’ who grew up in Merthyr Tydfil in the heavily industrialized south Wales valleys and had no prior knowledge of agriculture before taking on her first smallholding eight years ago. She and her husband Gerry Toms learned as they went along, often by the mistakes they made. They have reared a wide range of livestock, including rare breed pigs, wild boar hybrids, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and turkeys, and have recently ventured into breeding pedigree Tamworth pigs and competing at agricultural shows.
The author has been a journalist for more than twenty-five years and writes and broadcasts extensively on agricultural and countryside matters. For the past six years she has been writing a weekly feature in the Western Mail – the national newspaper of Wales - aimed at smallholders and country-lovers. Some of her most popular features are included in this book. She is also a regular contributor to popular publications for downshifters, including the market leader, Country Smallholding magazine.