A SOUTH Shropshire farmer has turned his attention to the written word with the publication of his new book.

Roger Evans, from Lydbury North, has his 'A View From The Tractor: Wit and Wisdom from the Nation's Favourite Dairy Farmer' published by Merlin Unwin which is based in Ludlow.

Mr Evans gives his daily account of rural life and what makes life tick in the real countryside from the point of view of a dairy and poultry farmer.

This includes writing about his aggressive cockrel called Neville who appears to delight and infuriate in equal measure.

"He is quite good at attacking, he sneaks up on you and he has been known to knock over unsuspecting grown men, including me, as they carry a couple of buckets of milk," writes Mr Evans.

"It's all worthwhile in a way, because he attacks the unsuspecting visitor, he's had several salesmen and who knows he might get a farm assurance man one day."

He also writes about the challenges and rewards of keeping sheep.

"There's something about a sheep that makes it always test you," he writes. "It might do that by just getting out of the field where you wish to confine it.

"It might present you with two fit healthy lambs with ease, but it much prefers two lambs that are jumbled up together, heads and tails all this way.

"Sheep constantly challenge you and, in a perverse way, overcoming those challenges brings with it much of the satisfaction.

"The ultimate sheep ambition is to die, so just keeping it alive is part of the challenge."

Mr Evans' books have sold more than 10,000 copies and last year he was featured in the Daily Express and Daily Telegraph.

In addition to this he has also written a regular column in Dairy Farmer for the last 25 years.