Whether winter-faded ferns, the spindly harvestman or the tyrannical stare of an irate chicken, through-lines from the prehistoric to our modern age are all around us in November, says John Lewis-Stempel

Life at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester is as jolly as ever after 180 years, but the diverse degrees on offer reflect the challenges of 21st-century farming. Kate Green charts a history of seismic change for the industry and Mary Skipwith talks to students past and present

Ellie Tennant’s article in your October issue, describing 10 stunning landscapes that inspired bestselling novels, reminded me of my time working in Falkland, Fife. In 2013, scenes for the television

Miss Julia White, horsewoman, sailor, farmer and haunter of my own farming life (such as it isn’t) first appeared in my life when I was 17, trying to get myself to agricultural college. Or was it when

“Breaking up is never easy, I know…” Good old Abba – always ready with an apposite lyric, though in this case I suppose it should be “Letting go is never easy” as I say farewell to the garden I have m

● A couple of miles inland from the ...