THERE is a good chance that by the time you read this, my friends, the three little pigs will have had their house blown down, so to speak.

They’ll have ascended to porker heaven, leaving behind a legacy of the different culinary delicacies that are so familiar to our dining tables. We should all mourn their passing.

Many of you in the Kempsey area will know of the trio of Gloucester Old Spots that have spent a glorious spring and summer living in their bijou residence and grounds adjoining the river Severn.

Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind it myself now that it may be vacant, although I certainly wouldn’t fancy the inevitable outcome to such an extended holiday.

Anyway, one day this summer, as they lined up to have their backs rubbed, I met their keeper. He explained that the pigs were actually owned by a number of people in a sort of co-operative arrangement.

The ‘shareholders’ would all profit when that final day came and I’m wholeheartedly in favour of such ventures.

However, on a slightly different note, I must say that land share – a similar idea pioneered by TV gourmand Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall – also seems to have been a great success.

Many people in Britain’s inner cities have taken over derelict or unused land and planted vegetables.

Not only does this put fresh food on the table but a sense of community is also fostered.

Activities such as this and the Kempsey pigs project are all examples of ordinary folk rolling back the frontiers of the State and using their initiative to make things happen.

In turn, this leads to happier lives when individuals discover that they can actually have some control over their destinies.

Those three little pigs did not die in vain.