There is a side to rural life that rarely makes the photographs or the headlines: the women who help hold it all together.
Women who can drive an Argos, handle an off-road vehicles, turn their hand to a bit of ghillie work and be ready to respond when something goes wrong. Women who understand the realities of working on the hill, the weather closing in, the light fading and the worry that comes with waiting for someone to get home safely.
And then there is everything else. The dogs to walk, the household to organise, the cupboards to keep stocked, the bread and scones freshly baked, the wild fruits gathered and turned into jam. The colour pots of flowers by the front door, the chilled beer in the fridge and a warm welcome at the end of a long day. None of it particularly glamorous. All of it part of the fabric of rural life.
Many of these women are the steady support behind partners whose work, particularly in country sports, brings its own pressures and challenges. They adapt, learn, get stuck in and quietly get on with it, often without much recognition. I know, because I’m one of them.
Today, on International Day of Rural Women, spare a thought for the rural women across the world whose contribution doesn’t always have a job title or appear on a balance sheet, but whose skills, knowledge, care and resilience are woven into the life of the countryside.
We are part of the story, too. 🌿