| Synopsis: |
Born in 1923, John Butler recounts some of his earliest memories from the 1930s to the present day. Indeed, he has lived a varied and unusual life, with his beloved Alice, to whom he was married to for 60 years, until she passed away. He describes the Great Depression before WWII and explains the growing importance of the agricultural industry throughout the war, including what the services of The Young Farmers' Club, The Home Guard and the The Woman's Land Army meant to the local community and more importantly, the country. After the war, the story moves to another stage of John's life, where he sets up his own business exporting livestock to South Africa and having settled on a farm in Mozambique, he was later called upon to work as a missionary.He illustrates his devotion to the rebuilding of a local church with the aid of the local community, passing farming skills on to the locals, so they could maintain the mission's land. He also expresses his shock at how the local black community were treated compared to those of the Europeans.Returning to the UK, facing financial hardship, they eventually took up residence in a property, overlooking Cardigan Bay, where they undertook a pig-breeding venture, and it was here that they lived out their final working years, before retiring to the picturesque village of Selattyn in the Shropshire Hills."Highway to Destiny" is a charming story from an author, who not only narrates his life, but shares his profound and philosophical views and proves that with hard work, life can be rewarding. |