Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay? is an ode to rural life, charting traditions of the past, how they were lost and why we need to reconnect.
Robert Ashton explores how our relationship with everyday items has evolved over the last two centuries, providing a unique insight into how life continues to change in rural Britain. Where are the people who grow barley, milk cows and produce wool? How have their farming methods become less ethical, sustainable and natural over time? And what are we doing today to reverse that change?
Inspired by George Ewart Evans's Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay, Ashton gives voice to local people and travels rural Suffolk in search for innovation, interweaving his own personal connection to Evans and to the land. Part memoir, part social history, Ashton's thought-provoking book is a manifesto for why, against all odds, we need to step back in order to progress.