Lifting The Latch

For nearly eighty years Mont Abbott lived and worked on the land around the parish of Enstone in Oxfordshire. Through a series of taped conversation, Sheila Stewart helps Mont to "lift the latch" and take the reader back into a forgotten world of street fairs, shepherding and the daily life of the rural community. At time uproariously funny, Mont introduces us to a host of memorable characters, from his indomitable mother to Gil, who became Queen Mary's footman. But this is no nostalgic look back at a rural heaven: the tough working conditions, personal tragedy and the constant struggle against poverty cannot be ignored.