At The Field’s Edge: Adrian Bell and the English Countryside

Adrian Bell was farming and writing during a period when the English countryside underwent its most significant transformation for hundreds of years. His work, spanning sixty years from 1920 to 1980, not only documents this agricultural revolution, but also warns of the effects it will have both for the environment and for society. As these consequences dominate the English countryside today, Bell’s views have relevance and importance to its future management. At the Field’s Edge appraises Bell’s prescient but still timely observations about the ecology, economy and culture of the British countryside, and introduces his beautifully crafted prose to a new generation of readers. Though he has been largely neglected until now, Bell’s voice is one we should listen to, not least because he is one of our greatest writers about farming and rural life. If we pause at the field’s edge with him for a moment, we get a lesson not only in aesthetic appreciation, but also a message about what is disappearing from the countryside.