Close Encounters of the Rustic Kind II: More Retrospective Rural Recollections

‘Close Encounters of the Rustic Kind II’ – ‘More Retrospective Rural Recollections’ continues the story of Will Evans’s progress in a rural world where farming and rustic living were still far removed from life as we know it in the third decade of the 21st century.

Will Evans’s first book, ‘Close Encounters of the Rustic Kind’ became an ‘Amazon #1 Best Seller’ for category ‘Biography Reference’ in May 2022.

In the first volume, he moves to the ‘wild’ north Devon countryside while still in his teens and fulfils a childhood dream by finding employment on a farm amongst a rural community little changed since before World War Two. His semi-rural Home Counties upbringing, however, had ill prepared him for the rigours and hardships of agricultural life on the fringes of Exmoor, and, learning on the job became a necessary day to day requirement in an unrelenting and unforgiving workplace.

The idyllic rural dream becomes a distant memory but he is captivated by the way of life revolving around the old fashioned village in which he lives and is constantly entertained by the innumerable larger than life local characters.

He gradually establishes himself after an ‘apprenticeship’ lasting several years and the country life anecdotes in the book describe noteworthy and singular events and situations encountered on his long and winding journey working on local farms and in the surrounding villages. Events that were often trying, invariably highly amusing and, sometimes, just downright difficult, but, in retrospect, they were nearly always life enhancing experiences.

In this second volume we follow Will’s progress from being employed to being a farmer in his own right – a transformation which presents a whole new set of challenges which culminate in increasingly unpredictable circumstances both in his working life and personal life.

As with the first volume of true stories, this whimsical and humorous book will enthral town and country dweller alike, shining a light on country living decades ago when the world was, perhaps, just a slightly less demanding place to live in.


“Captivating! Highly amusing and witty recollections take you back to a countryside of decades ago – in fact, the last century! Rustic characters from a lost world spring from the pages to delight with their eccentricity and enigmatic philosophies. A real page turner!”