Farms and Fortunes

The writing of this story began some years ago as a record of my life for my grandchildren to read should they become interested in our family history.Beginning in 1939 until my seventieth year in 2009; my childhood in the Somerset countryside on a small mixed farm; my failed architectural ambitions, and my successful career as a Wiltshire arable and beef farmer, and a witness to the technical advancement and the galloping mechanisation in agriculture.The story includes my involvement in several farms and eventually joining Lloyds of London as a "Name".Inevitably it includes my interests in world affairs, aircraft and military flying and my opportunities to travel and meet other farmers in their own environments.I describe my wife's tragic mental illness and the usual ups and downs of an interesting and busy life.My son now owns and manages an arable farm, together with a commercial grain storage enterprise.At completion I was persuaded that the story was "an interesting and historical document" and should be published as such.So here it is.