Our Great Yorkshire Life review: The champion farmer who shows Clarkson and co how it’s really done, writes CHRISTOPHER STEVENS
Our Great Life in Yorkshire (Ch5)
Rock stars don’t have to apply. Real farming, it turns out, is not a suitable job for wealthy amateurs or faded celebrities looking for ways to fill their time before retirement.
Jeremy Clarkson’s show on Amazon Prime Video has fueled the idea that all you need to work the fields is a Lamborghini tractor and some help from famous friends.
It’s a bit of a laugh, with lots of banter and slapstick as you chase the piglets and fall backwards into a blackberry bush.
And it’s all set on a rural estate with a suitably evocative name, like Wobbly Bottom or Futtock’s Grange.
Modern media royalty and pop millionaires may get all the publicity, but the real work in the countryside is done by people like Stephen Short, steeped in four generations of farming tradition.
Modern media royalty and pop millionaires may get all the publicity, but the real work in the countryside is done by people like Stephen Short, steeped in four generations of farming tradition.
Clarkson keeps harping on how important farming is to the national economy, but for Britain’s small farmers it’s more personal than that
Stephen is a sheep farmer in the hills outside Halifax and, aged just 25, has achieved the Champion Rosette at the Great Yorkshire Show two years in a row.
He shared his expertise on Our Great Yorkshire Life, on the farm his family has run for more than 100 years.
“I never thought about doing anything other than farming,” he said. “That’s what I was born for.”
Of course, that means he can’t afford to have a bad year; there are no album royalties or after-dinner speeches to shore up his business account.
Stephen’s experience and knowledge are his only way to pay the bills.
Clarkson keeps harping on how important farming is to the national economy, but for Britain’s small farmers it is more personal than that.
In addition to his award-winning Hampshire Down sheep, Stephen breeds Charollais lambs to sell.
Over the course of three weeks, one male sheep “taps” all the ewes, and to keep up with his tireless progress, the ram wears a harness called a raddle.
It leaves a yellow stain on the back of every woman he serves.
If certain English footballers had to wear a raddle, perhaps they would behave better.
The cameras also followed Stephen to the auction, where he kept a close eye on a series of calves before selecting the one he wanted with an imperceptible nod to the auctioneer.
Actor Dean Andrews’ voiceover tried to keep track of how Stephen made his choices, but this kind of knowledge runs so deep that it becomes more like instinct.
“You pick it up naturally as you get older,” he shrugged, “just keep an eye on it and see what you can see.”
Jeremy Clarkson’s show on Amazon Prime Video has fueled the idea that all you need to work the fields is a Lamborghini tractor and some help from famous friends
Across the province, vet Peter Wright inspected a pair of rescued donkeys at a sanctuary before they left for a new home.
Peter was thrilled when he learned their names were Alf and Donald – the names of his employers when he first learned the job.
Alf Wight and Donald Sinclair were, as all fans of All Creatures Great And Small will know, the real names of James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon.
There’s more proof that you can’t beat tradition.