Back to the land

In 1973 Kath Holden helped found a small commune based on a 135-acre dairy farm in West Wales. She went on to become a smallholder in the same area and disputed her entitlement to common grazing with local farmers, recalling earlier struggles for common-land rights. Later in the decade she volunteered on a farm in the USA, which offered sanctuary for people with mental health difficulties recovering from being in hospital. Inspired by these experiences, she went on to work on one of the earliest city farms in London, making links between city and country by bringing children from Islington to her former home in West Wales and animals from the farm back to the city. Now a retired historian and co-chair of the West of England and South Wales Women’s History Network, Kath will reflect on these events and the green and community politics that inspired them.