” What’s Old is New Again”

**Early 19th Century Knepp Estate Castle**

Dear Reader:

Some of you might have caught this interesting CBS televised story yesterday or heard about it elsewhere… but I found it so fascinating… I started pulling more information as soon as it went off the air.

I had heard the term ” re-wilding” before … coming from real estate communities where buyers can keep their property as natural ( no constant mowing or other standard upkeep) as possible/with fewer restrictions. They are presented as ” natural communities. ”

But in this instance… this all-out ” re-wilding” ended up saving animal and insect species on critical extinction lists! ”

By year 2000 this 3,500 acre farm estate in West Sussex, inherited by ” Baron” ( appearing to be the last one) Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree… was losing money ” hand over fist.” He had inherited it from his grandparents in the 1980’s.

He had tried everything he knew to do… bigger farm machinery, new varieties of crops, milking parlors, and the newest fertilizers and pesticides. Nothing had worked and after seventeen years… he was steeped in debt… something drastic had to change! After much discussion, Charlie and Isabella decided to quit farming as usual and instead ” put nature in the driving seat.”

Sooner than anyone could imagine …nature returned in full force bringing wildlife of every kind with it. Nightingales, turtle doves, and purple crown butterflies ( on extinction list) whose caterpillar stages ate the dreaded thistle-the nemesis of farmers.

The ever-changing pastoral landscape became home to wild herds of Exmoor ponies, Tam Worth pigs, longhorn cattle, Fallow deer and white storks who returned to nest in trees -first to nest in Britain in over 600 years-they taught their young to fly at Knepp.

Soon Charlie and Isabella opened safari rides and lodgings for tourists … bringing in much needed revenues-about a million dollars annually!

The emerging wood pastoral landscape brought back hawks … looking more like the days when Knepp was a medieval hunter forest.

… And then just when I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore… three years ago Charlie and Isabella reintroduced some farming elements to co-exist beside the natural state.

**Like nature Charlie and Isabella keep changing their beloved castle and estate with the times. ( their goal… finding the perfect balance in nature and life. )**

So until tomorrow …” He Who Lives in harmony with himself, lives in harmony with the universe!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

**Rutledge and Lachlan in front of Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s ” Summer Cottage” The Breakers- ( looks as hot in Rhode Island as here)**

**Tomorrow… a Promise of Four Possible Blooms!**

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”

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