We’ll talk your ear off
TURNS out the staff of COUNTRY LIFE can be quite interesting when we want to be. Editor Mark Hedges can currently be heard extolling the virtues of the countryside in Winkworth’s latest Property Exchange podcast, presented by Anne Ashworth. ‘It smells a bit, but don’t tell the locals—they will see you out,’ he warns. Other top tips for anyone moving into a rural spot include never getting grumpy when stuck behind a tractor and volunteering at the village fête. He adds that: ‘People don’t want to know how much you earn. Your cleaner will have seen your bank statement and told everyone anyway.’
On a more serious note, Mr Hedges says politicians who lack understanding about the countryside’s importance are its biggest threat. ‘COUNTRY LIFE did some research that showed two-thirds of people want to live in the countryside. Only 18% do live there,’ he notes. ‘The Government doesn’t think it will win an election in the countryside, but there is a real passion and interest and momentum of feeling from people that the countryside matters.’
Last week, Women Who Work in Fieldsports (WWWF, founded in 2022) launched its new membership scheme and our Managing & Features Editor Paula Lester was the first guest of honour on the organisation’s new podcast, a series of interviews of women in the fieldsports sector. ‘I so enjoyed chatting to the WWWF team,’ she comments. ‘As a gamekeeper’s daughter, with
