THREE years since the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease new life is being breathed into an area so devastated by the crisis it was dubbed Death Valley.

The small villages of Grosmont, Cross Ash and Pandy, near Abergaven-ny, suffered four confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth during the 2001 outbreak.

At the time, local farmers called the area Death Valley because of fears that it would become a mass of empty fields as the contagious disease swept through.

Now it is being revitalised - thanks to the hard work and determination of the local farming community, and an influx of newcomers to the area.

During the foot-and-mouth crisis more than 60,000 animals were slaughtered in Gwent, comprising: * 5,971 cattle * 53,124 sheep * 3,853 pigs * 27 goats

Dave Probert, the former county chairman of the National Farmers Union, said: "Things are finally beginning to stabilise.

"Farming has gone through a rocky time, foot-and-mouth affected a lot of farmers in a lot of different ways.

"Afterwards some farmers sold up, some diversified and some changed their systems. For those who re-invested in stock it's taken a few years to re-establish."

Gordon Nechvatal, his partner Frances Cloud and their five-year-old daughter Maggie moved to Waen Farm in Cross Ash, near Abergavenny, just over a year ago.

Mr Nechvatal, 46, a city management consultant, de-cided to give up his high-powered London existence for the relative calm of an organic farm in the countryside.

He now has 200 acres of land, 150 sheep and 15 cows to tend, seven days a week.

He said: "I had no experience of farming but I saw it as a challenge. Some people say I'm brave, others say I'm stupid. But since we moved l continued on page 5