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‘Close Encounters of the Rustic Kind’ starts in the late 1960s and follows the progress of Will Evans who was raised in the south east of England just west of London.
He moves to the ‘wild’ north Devon countryside while still in his teens and fulfils a childhood dream by finding employment on a farm amongst a rural community little changed since before World War Two. His semi-rural Home Counties upbringing, however, had ill prepared him for the rigours and hardships of agricultural life on the fringes of Exmoor, and, learning on the job became a necessary day to day requirement in an unrelenting and unforgiving workplace.
The idyllic rural dream becomes a distant memory but he is captivated by the way of life revolving around the old fashioned village in which he lives and is constantly entertained by the innumerable larger than life local characters.
He gradually establishes himself after an ‘apprenticeship’ lasting several years and the country life anecdotes in the book describe noteworthy and singular events and situations encountered on his long and winding journey working on local farms and in the surrounding villages. Events that were often trying, invariably highly amusing and, sometimes, just downright difficult, but, they were nearly always enhancing experiences although perhaps not always appreciated as such at the time.
He progresses from being employed to being a farmer in his own right - a transformation which presents a whole new set of challenges which culminate in increasingly unpredictable circumstances both in his working life and personal life.
This whimsical and humorous book will enthral town and country dweller alike, shining a light on country living five decades ago when the world was perhaps just a little less complicated.
