The Isle of Wedmore and the surrounding flatlands are rich in history and tradition, a tucked-away corner of the UK where age-old customs are honoured and the rumble of the tractor is never far away.
In the centre of Wedmore village, an information board describes how King Alfred the Great made peace here with Guthrum the Dane in the ninth century, a concord that may have led to the first united kingdom of England.
Glance at the Cheddar Valley Gazette and it is clear how central farming remains. A few pages in, a spread tackles agricultural subjects from the impact of Brexit to how to shut a footpath across your land (plus a technical piece with a grisly picture about monitoring the contents of cows’ stomachs).
You might think the Isle of Wedmore and this northern stretch of the Somerset Levels would be happy hunting ground for the Conservatives, who have generally been able to count on the farming vote.
But times are changing. In previous articles during this series, the Guardian has come upon Tory doubters in unusual places within the constituency of Wells, from the cathedral croquet lawn to the communities of retirees in the bungalows in Burnham-on-Sea. But surely the farmers are rock-solid true-blue?
Rob Stitch, who has a dairy herd on Cheddar Moor, paused from his labours to share his views. A Tory politician had flagged up Stitch as a good subject, presumably thinking he would toe the party line. He didn’t.
“I’ve always voted Conservative but I’m fed up,” said Stitch. “We’re being stopped from making money. Nothing’s changing.” The Lib Dems, who are working hard to overturn a Tory majority in Wells, can count on Stitch’s vote.
Stitch’s grandfather began farming on the Levels with 14 cows. His father increased the herd to 150 and Stitch doubled that. But this year the farm has been struck by bovine TB and they have lost 195 animals to the disease. It is a huge setback.
Stitch has been paying off the mortgage on Moor View Farm since 2006. For every cow lost to TB, Stitch said he was £300 out of pocket. “I’m literally back to where I started,” he said. Stitch had to lay off one of his three sons when finances became tight.
“The government isn’t doing enough about TB. There should be more badger culls. They are quick to take cows out but they are not doing enough about the source,” said Stitch.
Despite receiving EU subsidies, Stitch voted in favour of Brexit. “I don’t think it can get any worse than it was. The subsidies we get are bugger all. They need to pay a fair price on what we are producing. Then we wouldn’t need subsidies.”
Still, Stitch is prepared to overlook the Lib Dems’ pledge to hold a second EU referendum and is impressed by the party’s candidate, Tessa Munt.
“I’m behind Tessa. I think she has got a lot of interest in farming. She is willing to have a go and try to help. When I got shut down with TB, Tessa turned up on my doorstep asking if there was anything she could do. No one else did that. No one else bothered.”
Up on the Isle of Wedmore itself – so called because it was surrounded by water before the land was drained – James Hole farms with his father Stephen. Like Stitch he voted to leave the EU but is not impressed that Theresa May called a snap election rather than getting on with the Brexit process. “They’re not governing, they’re running around on buses trying to sell their stories. That’s sad.”
The price of milk is the big issue for Hole, who has helped coordinate Farmers For Action protests. In the summer, when the grazing is good, he estimates it costs between 20p and 22p to produce a litre of milk. In August last year the Holes were receiving just over 16p. Since then, the price has risen but the business is still tens of thousands of pounds down. Someone recently left a gate open and 200 of the Holes’ cows ended up on a playing field. “The policeman said he was worried someone was trying to steal them. I told him nobody would be stupid enough to do that – there’s no money to be made from a dairy herd.”
Hole is more keen to get capable people rather than a particular political party into power. “Red, green, blue, it doesn’t matter to me. I just want good people in place.”
The Tory candidate in Wells, James Heappey, lives just across the moors from the Holes. Heappey’s campaign has been blighted by the revelation that he told a Scottish schoolgirl to “fuck off” after she said she would vote for independence if there was a second referendum. He insists it was said jokingly.
But even before that gaffe, Hole was not inclined to back Heappey. “I will vote for Tessa Munt. If you phone Tessa up, you get an answer. You need people who will get things done.”
The Tories are still confident of holding the seat – Heappey says they work harder and more effectively than the Lib Dems – but there were glimmers of hope for Munt in the local elections. She won the county council seat in the city of Wells, beating the leader of the Tories, John Osman. (Placards for Osman can still be seen dotted around; Heappey ones are harder to find).
Tessa’s daughter, Emma Munt, did well in the King Alfred ward, which includes Wedmore, more than doubling the number of Lib Dem votes her predecessor gained in 2013. She later went on to Facebook to say she agreed with much of what Jeremy Corbyn said but urged Labour voters to lend their votes to her mother to stop the Tories.
It does help that Munt is rooted here. Her partner is a Levels beef farmer and cider maker – though she is a vegetarian and teetotaller.
In the village of Meare, between Wedmore and Glastonbury, Matthew and Annabelle Chapman – newcomers to farming – were delighted when Munt knocked on their door to discuss their worries about school funding, traffic, the NHS and patchy broadband.
The Chapmans moved from Bristol to Somerset two years ago and run a smallholding on the banks of the River Brue where they rear pigs, chickens, ducks and quail. They sell sausage rolls and Scotch eggs at farmers’ markets and also take in holiday guests.
The pair horrified their city mates by voting to leave the EU, both saying they thought things needed shaking up.
Chapman said he had voted Labour and Tory in the past but – like Stitch and Hole – was planning to vote Lib Dem this time. “I think Tim Farron is a nice chap. I don’t think he’d be up for negotiating Brexit – Theresa May would be better at that. But we need to stop her getting a landslide.” He was appalled by Heappey’s gaffe. “That was just horrible. We’ve all got to work together, be inclusive.”
Speaking to this trio of leave-voting, Lib Dem-supporting farmers, it is striking how upbeat they are despite the challenges facing them. All say they love what they do and despite financial travails are investing in the future.
Chapman was feeding the couple’s British Saddleback sow, Blossom, with leftover fruit and veg donated by fellow stallholders at Wells farmers’ market. “My hope is that Brexit will make us reassess how we do some of the most basic things like feeding ourselves and looking after each other,” he said. “Perhaps it will make us find better ways of working together.”
