´óÏó´«Ã½

On 'All Things Considered' this week (Sunday 18 July at 8.30am, repeated on Thursday 22 at 5.30am) Roy Jenkins and a panel of guests discuss Rural Life and Ministry.

For some of the thousands who will be flocking to Llanelwedd this week, the Royal Welsh Show will be an opportunity to touch a dream. Life on the land, all that fresh air, back to nature - it is an idyll, which can still have a powerful draw for those who've only ever lived in towns and cities, and sometimes it tempts them to sell up to pursue the dream.

But farming has nearly always been a tough life. For all the technology now available, it's still at the mercy of the elements, vulnerable to devastating diseases and subject to international competition, changing government policies and the profit-cutting power of supermarkets.

So why does life on the land remain so attractive to those who've only ever been to the countryside on holiday? How do rural communities cope with the continual challenges? And what's the distinctive role of Christian churches in addressing some of those pressures?