A Start in Smallholding by Alan Beat - The Accidental Smallholder

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Many people harbour the dream of escaping from an urban rat race and moving away to a country smallholding, where a slower pace of life beckons. Alan Beat made that move with his wife Rosie and their two young children in 1987 after four years of planning. This book is their story.

Alan recorded their early experiences, as they happened, for Home Farm magazine (now re-named Country Smallholding) through a series of articles entitled "Tales from the riverbank".

Each original article now forms the basis of a chapter in this book, with some additional new text for continuity. The temptation to modify and update this core material has been firmly resisted so that it retains the fresh perspective of the novice that becomes so elusive in hindsight.