Andrei Spence • Devon Tour
Devon rules supreme
The Chairman’s Tour to Devon in early June showcased the area’s rich history, agriculture and culture. Andrei Spence reports
Devon Garden Party Over 200 Club members, local MPs, politicians, dignitaries, Devon figures, and some from over the Cornish border, enjoyed a splendid garden party at Chairman John Lee’s Coombe Barton home. As we enjoyed John’s sumptuous hospitality, in beautifully laid out gardens overlooking the rolling Devon countryside, the sun shone and the harpist played – and all suddenly seemed very well in the world!
08 • The Farmers Club Summer 2022
IT was with great pleasure that Chairman John Lee hosted 37 Farmers Club members to Devon to taste the area’s diverse historic, agricultural and cultural heritage. Our first visit was to the Meteorological Office, founded by Vice-Admiral Robert Fitzroy in 1854, following his captaincy of HMS Beagle on her famous journey around the globe. The advance of Numerical Weather Prediction techniques in 1922 harnessed maths and physics to make better forecasts, which computers put into practice decades later, with supercomputers now delivering seamless weather and climate modelling. We were superbly hosted by Sean Gumberton, Head of Environment and Energy, Sarah Johnson, Head of External Relations and Dr Pete Falloon, Head of Science and Climate Change who explained in some detail the effects of the warming planet and climate change with particular reference to agriculture and farming with the effects of flood, drought and longer term modelling giving a fascinating glimpse of the very real challenges that could face the industry over the coming decades.
Ronald Dart in 1971 with a p-y-o business, sons Michael, James and Paul developed the ethic of providing locally grown, sourced and fresh produce, which now includes their own Pebblebed vineyard, a herd of Ruby Red Devon cattle, and an award-winning farm shop supporting 214 food and drinks companies across the southwest. The pace of the tour was maintained as the coach moved to Clinton Devon Estates, Devon’s largest private landowner, originating with the Clinton Barony over seven centuries ago. Today, less than a third of the Rolle estate, as it was in the midnineteenth century, remains in the Clinton family’s ownership. However, the 22nd, 23rd and 24th generations of the family remain actively involved in its stewardship. John Varley OBE Estates Director and Leigh Rix Head of Property and Land (both Club members) led our tour, including an extremely innovative climate mitigation project at Budleigh Salterton, as seen on BBC Countryfile.
The visit included a tour of the Operations Centre to see forecasts being generated and the library where we were shown the original forecast used for the D Day landings. A truly superb visit, although rather sobering in its content.
To address the threat of a catastrophic, unplanned breach of the embankments, Clinton Devon, with the Environment Agency and East Devon Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust, created a £15 million scheme to help 150ha of Otter Valley adapt to climate change and, at the same time, create an internationally important wildlife reserve.
At Dart’s Farm, we saw a truly diverse enterprise built on the benefits of eating locally produced seasonal food. Started by
A managed “realignment” will see the 1812 embankments breached to allow land to flood at high tide, creating 55
