My name is John Belcher. I have lived and farmed in the parish all my life. The home farm is at Nell Bridge and that is where my two brothers David and Geoff live. We are very much a family farm employing only my son James and nephew Mathew. We also farm at Deddington, Bloxham, Adderbury, Kings Sutton and Warkworth Hall Farm. Warkworth Hall was my grand parents old farm so we were pleased to have the opportunity to take it over about six years ago.
As a result of the Aynho Community Action Plan it was considered that a farmers diary might be of interest to the village. The Parish Council asked me if I was interested and I said I would be happy to give it a try.
I hope to give a simple guide to what has happened during the last three months, also comments on the weather, and the odd country saying.
Hopefully this will make your country walk or drive more interesting and create a good relationship between us all.
OCTOBER 05 to AUGUST 06
The diary returns Again a long delay. No excuses come to mind. Perhaps the social calendar and work are taking up too much time. As I get older it all seems to take longer. I was getting very little feedback until I attended a farmers wedding. (Local farmers son marrying local farmers daughter). A number of guests told me how much they enjoyed the diary and wondered why I had stopped writing it, so here I go again. The Weather: Unbelievable. After the very helpful summer (2005) weather wise it just kept going. Even in the middle of February it was not like winters were in my childhood days. So what happened to that very severe winter that the forecasters were predicting? We are way down on rainfall, which is very worrying, No floods, no February fill dyke, the meadows are dryer than I ever remember them at any time of year. It will catch up. When it does it will not be pleasant for the outdoor workers. "As the days get longer the cold gets stronger".
