'Good life' of farmer is celebrated

John Seymour is said to have inspired The Good Life

Smallholders all over the world are to raise a glass of home brew in memory of the farmer who inspired the BBC comedy series The Good Life.

John Seymour, author of The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency, died aged 90 at his farm near Newport, Pembrokeshire, earlier this month.

Members of the online community, acountrylife, will share their memories of him on the weekend during an 'internet wake'.

They will start logging on at 2000BST on Saturday with a 'glass of home brew in hand.'

He was a man who lived and loved both well and dangerously Will Sutherland

Editor Carolyn Ekins is also asking members to share any photographs of Mr Seymour, a man she describes as the 'father of self sufficiency', during the event.

Disillusioned city dwellers

Mr Seymour wrote 41 books although it was The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency, first published in 1975, that made his name.

Translated into many languages, in it he advocated a lifestyle lived as close to nature as possible.

It became a vital guide for disillusioned city dwellers seeking a more fulfilling existence in the countryside and sold over 600,000 copies.

His writings and broadcasts on BBC radio are widely regarded as having inspired comedy The Good Life which starred Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal as middle-class suburban couple, Tom and Barbara Good.

They decide to go back to the land and turn their Surbiton home into a self-sufficient farm-cum-allotment, growing their own food, keeping animals and making their own tools and equipment.

During his later years, London-born Mr Seymour was a television commentator and outspoken environmental campaigner.

Magnetic appeal

He founded the School of Self Sufficiency with his friends Will and Angela Sutherland in 1993 at Killowen in Ireland.

He had also lived in South Africa, Suffolk and Ireland and was given a green burial after dying peacefully at his Preseli farm.

Students still travel from all over the world to experience the Seymour lifestyle and philosophy at first hand.

His friend, Will Sutherland said: "He was a man who lived and loved both well and dangerously.

"The great thing about John was he lived life at 110% and he was a very gifted communicator with an incredible magnetic appeal.

"His books spanned a wide range of subjects although I don't know what he would make of an internet wake as John never really got to terms with computers.

"But he would certainly have approved of the idea of people having a glass of home brew as he did not want anyone to be sad when he died."