Country diary 1972: a visit to an outlying farm

2 March 1972: Scattered far and wide across the area are examples of names bearing the suffix 'cott', meaning outlying farmNORTH DEVON: Examples of farm names bearing the suffix "cott" - for instance Buzzacott, Lovacott, and Pippacott - are scattered far and wide throughout this region. We approached one of these cotts down a long, angled lane which, leading only to a farm, is not maintained by the highway authority: no electric supply wires follow the hedges. A horse's shoes were imprinted among the packed earth and stone of the surface. On the hedgerow, the ash twigs stood gaunt against a grey sky: we stopped at the gateways to look across the valleys at the erratic hills whose colours were very subdued, a flock of peewits battled overhead against the raw easterly wind.Soon we were in the shelter of the farm in its dell and were being taken to the stable to see the new horse. The grey gelding could not know how well he looked against the pure white of the whitewashed walls and the intense dark of the creosoted woodwork. When he had finished munching hay he threw his head forcefully over the half-door and surveyed the scene. That agreeable combination of odours produced by the deep fresh straw, the warmth of the horse's body, and a whiff of ammonia, filled our nostrils. The horse which would be used, among other things, to collect supplies from the village shop, was a symbol of independence. As in Saxon times when that suffix denoting "outlying farm" was first used, so today. As we retraced our steps towards urban amenities, and the prospect of a power cut, the farm faded in the evening mist and we could hear its household generator chugging reassuringly. Continue reading...