I have just returned from a couple of hours blackberry picking, a most pleasant and rewarding occupation on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.

What astonished me was that me was that no one appeared to be doing the same.

When various charities are appealing for funds to help feed the poor and the food banks are appealing to us all at supermarkets to donate tins, etc, what has happened to people’s initiative to feed themselves with nice jam and pie fillings through the winter?

They could also be picking nuts and berries to make a more interesting diet and, what is more, all this is free if you live in an rural county like Wiltshire.

I ask myself if people living in 2014 have left their agricultural roots so far behind, several generations ago, that they no longer think of the bounty on their doorstep.

Kind regards,

Councillor Bill Moss