Rural Britain is a wonderful assortment of farms, estates, hamlets, villages, forests and moors, lochs and valleys. Our stunning scenery, close communities and wonderful rural businesses provide an idyllic lifestyle for many, but rural life can also throw up some pretty unique challenges.
The Rural Scene (the Scene & Herd rural blog and news updates) looks at what’s new, what’s relevant, what’s tasty, what’s fun and what’s challenging about life in the Great British Countryside. We offer an insider insight into rural Britain, highlighting some of the exceptional people, businesses and innovations we believe that everybody should know about.
What is needed to keep Scottish farming competitive, and who should lead on that work? Alison Milne co-owns Crafty Maltsters, a barley malting plant on her family's farm in Fife. This episode starts as a chat with Alison about her work and ends with this big question, that faces the whole industry and sector.
READ MOREWhile Father’s Day is traditionally a time for celebration and gratitude for the fathers and father figures in our lives, I understand that it can also evoke a mix of emotions, perhaps bringing to mind cherished memories of fathers who have passed away. If this is you, I send love. If you are lucky enough still to have your father with you, perhaps it’s on your mind around Father’s Day that he’s getting older or that his memories and stories won’t be around forever?
READ MORERebecca Smith's first book is Rural: The Lives of the Working-Class Countryside. As a forester's daughter, Rebecca grew up in tied housing on a Lake District estate, then became a journalist, broadcaster and author. Rural is an often personal, always unflinching, exploration of life in today's UK countryside.
READ MOREWhether it's a collaboration that doesn't quite fit with your brand, a job applicant that doesn't have the required skills or a project that you simply don't have the capacity for, at some point, all businesses have to say “no”. It's not easy but it is an essential time management technique that brings you closer to your goals.
READ MOREBarley is by far Scotland's most important crop and the world's fourth most important cereal crop. Anna hears about Dundee's new International Barley Hub, a centre for research excellence within the James Hutton Institute. We also meet Alison Milne who grows and malts barley at Crafty Maltsters in Auchtermuchty, and Professor Wendy Russell at the University of Aberdeen's Rowett Institute.
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Anna Davies: Email: anna@sceneandherdpr.co.uk
Ross (Monty) Montague: Email: monty@sceneandherdpr.co.uk
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