I'm sorry, Lizzie but, having had a bottle or so of wine, I have to laugh at the implication of Charlie boy being the saviour of the British countryside. Not to put too fine a point on it - been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

To start with, I've been a member of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust for over 30 years, since the time when I bred Gloucester Old Spots. In those days, at the drop of a hat, we'd borrow a trailer, coax a couple of recalcitrent pigs into it and head off in the mud and rain to some local country show to display our beloved animals to half a dozen bemused farmers. I know how hard the local organisers struggled in those days to get across the message that rare breeds were important. OK, well done Charlie for getting on the band wagon - but we did all the hard work.

As for those people who have been fighting for the British countryside for decades, what about Oliver Rackham, Richard Mabey, my late friend Roger Deakin, Robert Macfarlane, The Campaign for Rural England, The Woodland Trust, Common Ground (who introduced the idea of an annual Apple Day, community orchards, local diversity etc.), England in Particular....the list of people who fight at a local level for the British countryside that they love is endless. Yeah, good on Charlie for jumping on the bandwagon but there were those of us campaignig before he came along and we'd be campaigning whether he was there or not.He is NOT the saviour of the British countryside and those who live and work in it - that battle has going on for a long time and will continue whether he's involved or not.