http://www.daelnet.co.uk/ A Week In The Country - a weekly column by John Sheard focusing on countryside and rural affairs issues from the Yorkshire Dales and beyond en-uk
http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_07012011.cfm Skipton High Street here in the Yorkshire Dales has been judged to be the best in Britain, writes our rural affairs commentator John Sheard. But like many market towns, its future could be at risk if the local council succumbs to the temptation of hiking car parking charges. Daelnet 2011-01-07 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_31122010.cfm Our rural affairs correspondent John Sheard, emerging from the gloom of an Arctic Christmas, polishes his crystal ball to predict what 2011 will bring for country folk and tries to look on the bright side of life. This, he admits, is not easy. Daelnet 2010-12-31 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_24122010.cfm In his review of the near revolutionary changes promised for Britain in 2010, our rural affairs commentator John Sheard reflects on the good things that should improve country life – and raises an eyebrow over political promises still to be kept Daelnet 2010-12-24 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_17122010.cfm Our rural affairs commentator John Sheard, pondering the prospects for success for this week's milestone Localism Bill, hopes it will succeed but fears there are troubles ahead in the countryside Daelnet 2010-12-17 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_10122010.cfm Two weeks of freezing hell may have some long term benefit for the countryside, suggests our commentator John Sheard, as official minds turn at last to rural England’s best hope for “green” electricity: water power Daelnet 2010-12-10 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_03122010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard has donned his walking boots every day this week to trek to his allotment. There was no gardening to be done under five inches of snow but he fears “his” wild birds are facing a battle for survival Daelnet 2010-12-03 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_26112010.cfm It’s that time of the year again and our countryside commentator John Sheard, who tends to do his Christmas shopping on December 24, recommends some gifts with a countryside theme for people who prefer to prepare somewhat earlier Daelnet 2010-11-26 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_19112010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, cross at being so rudely interrupted in his morning shower, is outraged at plans for a 10,000 head dairy farm in Lincolnshire and wonders if it is time to bring back the Milk Marketing Board Daelnet 2010-11-19 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_12112010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, once a committed supporter of the Forestry Commission but now somewhat more sceptical, ponders on what is happening behind closed doors in Westminster which makes it difficult to see the wood from the trees. Daelnet 2010-11-12 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_05112010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard will be lighting a bonfire this weekend, partly to remember the Gunpowder Plot, but more to mark the beginning of a new year in his allotment. It has been a tough year for green-fingered newcomers, he reports. Daelnet 2010-11-05 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_29102010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, a life-long lover of Britain’s waterways reviews plans to restore one of the Yorkshire Dales’ most important rivers which will take it back to the past to ensure a healthy future Daelnet 2010-10-29 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_22102010.cfm In a week dominated by Government cuts, our veteran countryside commentator John Sheard reflects on the good news: the return of the otters after we nearly wiped them out with hunting and bad science Daelnet 2010-10-22 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_15102010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard ponders on the future or rural policing when the cuts fall – and hopes that town-based bobbies learn some country ways Daelnet 2010-10-15 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_08102010.cfm In a week when the urban middle classes were in turmoil over proposed Government spending cuts, our rural affairs commentator John Sheard chooses to concentrate on a much more important subject for country folk: the future of farming and its role in the countryside Daelnet 2010-10-08 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_01102010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard welcomes a new scientific drive to finally tackle water pollution more than 250 years after the Industrial Revolution began to poison our rivers, streams and lakes Daelnet 2010-10-01 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_24092010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who this spring was deeply worried about the lack of honey bees on his allotment, is now enjoying a boom harvest thanks, he believes, to the humble and much misunderstood hover fly Daelnet 2010-09-24 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_10092010.cfm Whilst his wife’s apple and blackberry pie conveyor belt goes into full production, our countryside commentator John Sheard laments the lack of children playing out in the countryside and taking advantage of its free food Daelnet 2010-09-10 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_03092010.cfm Just before this May’s general election, our countryside commentator John Sheard wrote a column worrying about the domination of British politics by public school educated townies with Oxbridge degrees. Yet the star political performer so far has been a roly-poly Yorkshireman born in a Keighley council house Daelnet 2010-09-03 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_27082010.cfm The British Army is involved in yet another brutal war and our soldiers are dying on an almost daily basis. But today, our countryside commentator John Sheard examines a rarely acknowledged side to the army’s work – as a major conservation body Daelnet 2010-08-27 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_20082010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard ponders the dark side of the global economy and fears that a drought in Russia might be yet one more threat to one of his favourite institutions, the English country pub Daelnet 2010-08-20 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_13082010.cfm Our long suffering countryside commentator John Sheard, who for 20 years has been asking the public to differentiate so called “food scare” facts from uninformed near hysteria, laments the latest row over cloned beef and its non-existent links with GM foods Daelnet 2010-08-13 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_06082010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard has been warning for years about the growing dangers of the killer weed ragwort, which is spreading like wildfire. Can it be tackled by the Big Society? Daelnet 2010-08-06 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_30072010.cfm This has been a disappointing year so far for butterflies, our countryside commentator John Sheard believes. Yet this is the week of the big butterfly count: will it give us important clues to our future relationship with Mother Nature? Daelnet 2010-07-30 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_23072010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard was planning to write a column about what he thought was a booming kestrel population when out came a report saying the bird was in steep decline. But are the farmers really to blame? Daelnet 2010-07-23 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_16072010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard confesses to a personal anathema towards agricultural shows born out of hard personal experience but admits that the success of the Great Yorkshire might force him to change his ways Daelnet 2010-07-16 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_09072010.cfm A countryside quango set up by Labour and scrapped by the Coalition issued its death bed last words this week, reports our rural affairs commentator John Sheard. In doing so, he says, it leaves an important legacy for the future treatment of our countryside, its people and the businesses which still flourish there Daelnet 2010-07-09 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_02072010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, sickened but not surprised by England’s football fiasco, believes that our countryside is on a winning steak, starting this week when the first matches were set to the bonfire of the quangos Daelnet 2010-07-02 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_25062010.cfm Our rural affairs commentator John Sheard, a long time consumer of locally produced food, feels that the most serious item of news this week was not the Budget but a survey which says that 40,000 Brits die early ever year, poisoned by junk food Daelnet 2010-06-25 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_18062010.cfm It was been one of the better weeks in the countryside, reports our rural affairs commentator John Sheard. At last, a Government quango has shown a a dash of good old fashioned common sense – and the bees have returned to his allotment Daelnet 2010-06-18 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_11062010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who once had a cherry tree in his front lawn, asks why the price of this oh-so-English fruit is so expensive and put it down to that old enemy, the Common Agricultural Policy Daelnet 2010-06-11 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_04062010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, whose one and only cat turned out to be a ruthless killing machine, praises the ornithologists who, after years of obfuscation, have finally admitted that pet cats are a major threat to our song bird population Daelnet 2010-06-04 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_28052010.cfm Britain has been chopping back its tree cover for 3,000 years, reports our countryside commentator John Sheard. Now, at last, we are beginning to take the necessary steps to make amends both here and abroad Daelnet 2010-05-28 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_14052010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who had a love-hate relationship with London for almost 30 years before finally heading North, reflects on the vast differences in outlook today between the metropolitans and their country cousins Daelnet 2010-05-14 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_07052010.cfm Jaded from months of political turmoil, our countryside commentator John Sheard seeks some peace and quiet whilst the votes are being counted, and searches for the perfect stress relief: a stroll amongst the bluebells Daelnet 2010-05-07 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_30042010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who took two weeks off in South East Asia to escape most of the general election drivel, urges country folk to vote even though he himself distrusts all three main party leaders Daelnet 2010-04-30 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_23042010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheared, who had taken a post-Easter break to visit family in Singapore, found himself stranded by the volcanic eruption which caused chaos in international air travel. There are many worse places to be stuck, he says, but he still longs for the Dales Daelnet 2010-04-23 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_16042010.cfm Our veteran countryside commentator John Sheard, who covered his first general election in 1959, admits to a cynical streak a mile wide when it comes to political claims and suggests ways in which country folk might sort the true wheat from the statistical chaff Daelnet 2010-04-16 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_09042010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, whose mind is truly boggled with the news that the arrival of spring can now be viewed on line from outer space, plumps for the old fashioned away and celebrates the return of one of his garden favorites, Jenny Wren Daelnet 2010-04-09 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_02042010.cfm Countryside commentator John Sheard, trying to escape the election fever which is gripping politicians and the media - but not the general public - discusses the mysteries of Easter: how its date is fixed and, this year, the puzzle of snowdrops still in flower as the first cherry blossoms Daelnet 2010-04-02 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_26032010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who thought for a while that the Government might at last be beginning to understand the importance of food and its production, despairs at the latest quango report which, be believes, is as plausible as the legendary pie in the sky Daelnet 2010-03-26 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_19032010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who thought for a while that the Government might at last be beginning to understand the importance of food and its production, despairs at the latest quango report which, be believes, is as plausible as the legendary pie in the sky Daelnet 2010-03-19 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_12032010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who has spent hours disentangling his trout flies from clumps of Japanese knotweed on the banks of various North Country rivers, wonders if introducing yet another alien – a sap-sucking bug – to tackle the problem is a move we might rue in the future Daelnet 2010-03-12 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_05032010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who is still in mourning for the stately elm tree, delights that – once again – amateur enthusiasts are taking part in a nationwide drive to bring life, and knowledge, back to our precious woods Daelnet 2010-03-05 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_26022010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who interviewed the present Duke of Devonshire when he lived in the Yorkshire Dales, and who met his father several times, does the unfashionable thing and begs him not to give up his title Daelnet 2010-02-26 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_19022010.cfm Our somewhat bemused countryside commentator John Sheard reports more good news for the third time in a mere five weeks. Should we take the cynical view, he asks, because a general election is a few weeks away – or has Whitehall finally woken up? Daelnet 2010-02-19 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_12022010.cfm Like everyone else in the Yorkshire Dales, our countryside commentator John Sheard is getting fed up with this long harsh winter. But here, he praises the work that Jack Frost is carrying out in his allotment and, hopefully, on our farms too Daelnet 2010-02-12 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_05022010.cfm A government inspector will report by the end of this month whether the Yorkshire Dales should have an unwanted wind farm that will dominate the area for miles around. But our countryside commentator John Sheard believes that the Government’s plan to build 6,000 inland windfarms in the UK is based on panic caused by bad science Daelnet 2010-02-05 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_29012010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard reports on yet another important countryside co-operation between one-time vocal opponents and hopes that this might be the silver lining behind the recession and the tough times ahead Daelnet 2010-01-29 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_29012010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard reports on yet another important countryside co-operation between one-time vocal opponents and hopes that this might be the silver lining behind the recession and the tough times ahead Daelnet 2010-01-29 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_22012010.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard pinches himself to report two items of good news for farmers, growers, horse riders and the equestrian industry but wonders why it has taken so long? Daelnet 2010-01-22 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_15012010.cfm As the snow on his car finally melts, but only to leave his back lane like an ice skating rink, our countryside commentator John Sheard recalls his childhood winter in 1947 and compares our modern day reactions to the present cold snap Daelnet 2010-01-15 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_08012010.cfm As Britain faces five months of electioneering, our countryside commentator John Sheard makes a vow to avoid politics until a general election is finally announced and write about things that really matter in the countryside – like fishing, for instance Daelnet 2010-01-08 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_01012010.cfm With some difficulty, our countryside commentator John Sheard looks back on the Noughties, a decade in which rural affairs took a seat right at the back of the class, and seeks out the few good bits which might, he hopes, auger well for the future Daelnet 2010-01-01 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_18122009.cfm Although he will spend today in hospital as a result of an injury sustained on his allotment, our countryside commentator John Sheard will pass the holiday period hoping that members of his family will have picked up the none-too-subtle hint about what he wants in his Christmas stocking Daelnet 2009-12-18 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_11122009.cfm Our countryside correspondent John Sheard, somewhat startled at finding himself in agreement with a politician on rural issues, wishes that more MPs with common sense would speak out against the “green” dreamers of Whitehall Daelnet 2009-12-11 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_04122009.cfm Most people have forgotten the near hysteria that gripped the nation a decade ago as the Millennium approached, says our countryside commentator John Sheard. Many of the grandiose projects to mark the year 2,000 failed. But here in the Yorkshire Dales, the Millennium spirit still marches on. Daelnet 2009-12-04 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_27112009.cfm The build-up to the devastating floods in Cumbria began fifty years ago, says our countryside commentator John Sheard. A culmination of natural causes led to the so-called “once in a millennium” events in Cockermouth but the seeds of disaster were sown on the high fells in the 1960s. Daelnet 2009-11-27 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_20112009.cfm This has been a week when some politicians – Tory ones at that – have deeply offended rural voters, says our countryside commentator John Sheard. But next week, a scheme is launched which raises a glimmer of hope for peace in the long-running war between farmers, bureaucrats and environmentalists Daelnet 2009-11-20 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_13112009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard delights are large-scale operations to re-generate England’s woodlands –and congratulates the amateur volunteers and the charities that make such work possible Daelnet 2009-11-13 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_06112009.cfm Farm livestock has been given a bad press in recent years as being major causes of greenhouse gasses, says our countryside correspondent John Sheard. But new scientific research, and a controversial new book, suggests that raising livestock on traditional pastureland is in fact a boon for the environment. Daelnet 2009-11-06 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_30102009.cfm Our rural affairs commentator John Sheard, who has been lambasted many times for his criticisms of what he calls the “global warming band wagon,” fears that it is being use as an excuse for an attack on the countryside and its people. Daelnet 2009-10-30 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_23102009.cfm People who love the English countryside, and in particular its wilder areas, owe a huge debt to our hill farmers, says our rural affairs commentator John Sheard. Daelnet 2009-10-23 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_16102009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, shocked at plans to make every household in Britain have six waste bins, worries about his wife’s begonias – and discovers why his favourite trout stream is bung-full of old tyres Daelnet 2009-10-16 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_09102009.cfm A flash of deepest scarlet before his very eyes made our countryside commentator John Sheard a happy man this week. A brief encounter with a butterfly, and a glorious September, made up for one of the most miserable summer for years Daelnet 2009-10-09 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_02102009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who has done his best to ignore the political conference season, wonders why it is so often left to the Royal family to speak up in the interests of country folk Daelnet 2009-10-02 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_25092009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard applauds plans to get more people out walking in the country and public parks but says that the countryside must be respected – and that our parks should no longer be “no go” areas after dark Daelnet 2009-09-25 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_18092009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who has rambled on the Pennine Way as well as in print, admits to an ambivalent view towards ramblers. The majority are nice people, he says, but contends that their biggest organisation has become a guerrilla army in the class war Daelnet 2009-09-18 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_11092009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who from time to time leaves the comfort of the Yorkshire Dales to visit family in Indonesia, takes a – hopefully – light-hearted look at sci-fi plans to halt global warming by exploding artificial volcanoes and asks: why bother when Krakatoa could save us the trouble. Daelnet 2009-09-11 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_04092009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, a lifelong fisherman and waterways lover , reacts with alarm to allegations that the Government’s house-building programme, allied to massive population growth, is sentencing some of our iconic rivers to a slow and lingering death – including the Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales. Daelnet 2009-09-04 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_28082009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard believes that four seasons is enough for Britain – but suspects they are slipping up the calendar. Daelnet 2009-08-28 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_21082009.cfm Countryside commentator John Sheard, who fears for the future of once common birds like the cuckoo and the skylark, welcomes the news that British scientists and bird watchers have joined a worldwide campaign to prevent bird species going extinct Daelnet 2009-08-21 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_14082009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard admits to feeling somewhat smug after listening to this week’s Government appeals for us to waste less food – but thanks his Victorian granny for the lessons which now slash his food bills Daelnet 2009-08-14 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_07082009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, worried about the strange swings and roundabouts summer in his allotment, wonders if one of the answers to his problems is a plastic box set up this week on a London rooftop. Daelnet 2009-08-07 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_31072009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who has fished (briefly) in Canada whilst worrying about wolves and bears in the woods behind him, discusses the latest "green" craze: the releasing of wolves and beavers to join the escaped boars at large in the English countryside Daelnet 2009-07-31 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_24072009.cfm Our rural affairs commentator John Sheard fears that the English countryside and its way of life are under the greatest threat since Hitler’s thwarted invasion in 1940. This time, however, the threat comes from its own government Daelnet 2009-07-24 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_17072009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard ponders on the diplomatic row caused when Prime Minister’s wife Sarah Brown sent back veal dishes at G8 banquets in Italy. She may have been half right, he says, but such gestures by well-meaning do-gooders here in the UK have robbed young male calves of a short but happy life Daelnet 2009-07-17 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_10072009.cfm THE LAW, it is said, is an ass, which gives the phrase a sort of rustic ring although it is a very long time indeed since an ass was a common sight in the English countryside. But this week, two legal decisions produced contrary opinions on this verdict.... Daelnet 2009-07-10 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_03072009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who has waited some 15 years for the return of the salmon to the upper reaches of the River Wharfe, wonders if the latest moves by Defra on water quality might finally achieve the dream... Daelnet 2009-07-03 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_26062009.cfm COUNTRYSIDE commentator John Sheard touches upon the touchy subject of methane production and marvels at a Canadian research programme designed to produce a new breed of cattle which might help save the planet – by burping less... Daelnet 2009-06-26 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_19062009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, just back from four days in posh Spain, ponders on the holiday decisions that millions of Brits will make this summer: vibrant, noisy and expensive Spain or the peace and quiet of the Yorkshire Dales... Daelnet 2009-06-19 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_12062009.cfm This is Daelnet's 400th Week in the country column, almost eight years of reporting on the state of country life, all of it spent under a Labour government of mainly townie MPs. Despite that - or perhaps in spite of it - life in the countryside is getting better, claims our commentator John Sheard... Daelnet 2009-06-12 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_05062009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard despairs at the ignorance of some urban children about where their food comes from and welcomes this weekend's decision to throw open the farm gates to townsfolk visitors Daelnet 2009-06-05 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_29052009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, a keen allotment holder, relishes the fact that vegetables have been on show at this week's super-posh Royal Chelsea Flower Show, traces the history of the allotment movement - and advises would-be grow-your-own enthusiasts on how to get the local council to provide allotment land... Daelnet 2009-05-29 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_22052009.cfm In a week when our countryside commentator John Sheard spotted the first mayfly of the year, he records with satisfaction the long-overdue recognition of the importance of insects in Mother Nature's scheme of things Daelnet 2009-05-22 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_15052009.cfm MONDAY morning is not my favourite time of the week - a feeling no doubt shared by millions - but this Monday started in the pits and went down as I continued to read the never-ending-saga of the rape of the Mother of Parliaments by the very people whose job is supposed to be protecting her honour. Daelnet 2009-05-15 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_08052009.cfm As county council elections loom, our countryside commentator John Sheard ponders the strange fact that it is Labour controlled counties which raise much of the 250,000 pounds a day in fines imposed on motorists caught by speed cameras... Daelnet 2009-05-08 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_01052009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who covered his first national park committee meeting 50 years ago, reflects on the 60th anniversary of the creation of the first national parks, and says that it took almost 40 of those years for planners to realise that local residents had rights too... Daelnet 2009-05-01 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_17042009.cfm Next week, Chancellor Alistair Darling will present arguably the most critical Budget since the end of World War 11. He is being asked to help save small rural businesses by giving them business tax relief - but our rural affairs commentator John Sheard doubts whether he has the will or the wherewithal to do so... Daelnet 2009-04-17 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_10042009.cfm HOTELIERS, restaurateurs and publicans are looking forward to a boom Easter in the Yorkshire Dales as millions of Britons who normally go abroad stay at home, worried by the credit crunch and the plunging pound. It should be a good time for children and wildlife - but be on the look out for criminals... Daelnet 2009-04-10 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_03042009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, who has long relished the serious side of the cheeky chappie chef Jamie Oliver, praises his latest stand against the con-trick known as the Common Agricultural Policy, but worries more about Yorkshire Dales hill farmers fighting strangulation by Brussels red tape... Daelnet 2009-04-03 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_27032009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, worried about the decline in many garden birds - including the robin - has found a new source of interest at his allotment: the mass arrivals of the long-tailed tit... Daelnet 2009-03-27 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_20032009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, normally a stalwart supporter of wildlife in all its forms and of mammals in particular, just adores the suggestion that beavers should be re-introduced to Britain, but suggests it would be totally inpractical because of their one very bad habit... Daelnet 2009-03-20 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_13032009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard, whose first contact with Yorkshire Dales quarrying began in near disaster, hopes that a top conservation award will save a 230-year-old quarry from closure by complaint... Daelnet 2009-03-13 10:00:00.0 http://www.daelnet.co.uk/news/weekend/weekend_06032009.cfm Our countryside commentator John Sheard fears for a secret place and a favourite wild fruit, the bilberry, which along with the oak, the beech and the rhododendron is under attack for yet another foreign invader. He asks: When will we ever learn... Daelnet 2009-03-06 10:00:00.0