101 ways to be a farmer’s wife
Last updated 09:00, Friday, 30 May 2008
Christine Brass, 55, is a weddings and events organiser at Sharrow Bay hotel on Lake Ullswater and does jobs on the farm such as book-keeping.
She lives on Barnskew Farm near Penrith, with husband Fenton, where they breed cattle. They have three children: Jamie, 37, who works on the farm, Joanne, 35, and Charlotte, 28.
Christine was approaching 50 when she decided she’d like to try working off-farm. After a stint at a local deli she saw the Sharrow Bay job advertised and applied.
“I was a 50-something lady and my only experience of weddings was helping when my two daughters got married.” But she had worked as a co-ordinator at Pentalk, and credits this with giving her the confidence to apply.
Even so, she was “absolutely amazed” to get the job, and three years on is still delighted. “It’s a very happy place to work, and very involved. For weddings I meet the bride and groom, show them round venues, and organise everything from flowers to photography, to room allocation and dietary requirements. I sort out anything they want really. We also do corporate events and deal with companies from around the world.”
Christine’s new career is testament to the huge changes in the farming world. “A few years ago you were a farmer’s wife, and wouldn’t have considered going out to work. Or if you did people would be asking, ‘what’s wrong with her?’
“But it’s much more common now and many of my friends have got jobs off-farm. It is an extra income. Now that we are older our children are taking over our jobs so it allows us to work elsewhere.
“Foot and mouth was the catalyst I think. It changed our outlook. We had to earn money other ways and also realised there was more to life. I meet people from all over the world and I love my job. Sharrow Bay is a beautiful place to work and it’s a wonderful drive into work every morning.
“Overall I think women working elsewhere is absolutely a positive thing. Before we would struggle to get a holiday but with an extra income you don’t feel too guilty if you treat yourself now and then.”
Rachel Ewbank, 40, has been a clerical assistant at Lowther Endowed School for the past two and a half years. She has lived at Tarn Hill Farm for 11 years with husband Colin, 41 and their two children Adam, 11, and eight-year-old Harry.
“I used to do secretarial work and this has been a nice way to get back into work. It’s a good way to earn a living and also to see what the children are up to. It’s a lovely school.” Back at the farm Rachel feeds the calves and helps Colin with milking. “I work three days a week so on free days I might move cattle, clean up and do recycling, which is very time consuming. I also do the book-keeping, pay all the bills and the VAT.”
Rachel’s farm didn’t get foot and mouth but as with farms across the county, they were still badly affected.
“We didn’t get it but still struggled for a couple of years because of restrictions. Although we live in a rural area, there are not a lot of farmers now because so many went out of business after foot and mouth.
“It also affected the children. We were isolated for 10 weeks and I think it affected my youngest son because he was very slow at speaking, though he’s fine now. My mum delivered food to the bottom of the farm and we would go down and collect it in a wheelbarrow. We hadn’t been farming for long here, as we’d recently moved up from Essex, and we desperately didn’t want to lose stock. Looking back, I don’t know how we did it.”
Rachel grew up on a farm near Kirkby Stephen, helping to feed the calves and pick potatoes with her friends during the half-term holiday. She has seen many changes, not least in the role of women. “My mum stayed at home; there were four children to bring up. Women just didn’t go out to work as much then.
They were needed to help at home. Back then there were more men working on farms, and women provided the meals for them. But times have changed. Now there are less workers on farms but also my husband is a modern man, who can of course get his own food!”
Angela Cleasby, 61, lives on Linden House Farm in Temple Sowerby with husband Michael, 64. Both of them have diversified in terms of work; as well as their farm Michael runs a small building business and Angela is a dancing tutor. She has taught Highland dancing in Cumbria for the past 25 years.
“I think women going out to work these days is necessary. Many wives will be financing a lot of the household. That’s the way it is now.” As well as farming her husband is a joiner by trade, and their extra skills give them flexibility. “If farming is not doing as well we worry to a lesser extent. That’s the beauty of being self employed; we still have plenty to do.
"Although during foot and mouth we were at a standstill and my husband couldn’t get customers for his building business. That episode affected us badly and though we got financial compensation nothing can compensate you emotionally.
“Our son William would like to be full time on the farm, but that’s not so realistic because of the way things are now.”
Angela grew up in Eastriggs in Dumfriesshire and did Highland Dancing as a child.
She has never advertised and has kept going through word of mouth, teaching children from the age of four to teenagers. “It’s quite a big commitment, and most of them do it for years.
"They get a lot out of it; they perform at events throughout the county and also in places like care homes. It’s lovely to see them enjoying it.”
Louise Rawling is a photographer by trade but has also worked in farming for nearly 30 years. She lives on Hollins Farm in Ennerdale with husband Will and Sam, 25, who farms and has just become the Cumberland representative on the British Wool Marketing Board. They also have a daughter, Jane, 23.
“I’m a photographer’s daughter and I don’t remember not being involved with photography, going in dark rooms and so on,” she says. Louise got a job on the Times & Star then became self-employed, doing assignments for corporate companies and now mainly does weddings. She also teaches photography nightclasses in Cockermouth. On the farm she does whatever job needs doing, and has just finished lambing.
“I married Will 26 years ago and you can’t be married to a farmer and not get involved. I like farming, I love the animals and being outside.
“I cut back on photography when the kids were born. It is a wonderful job but the family and farm took priority, though I continued doing weddings.
“People book weddings months and years in advance, so it’s easier work to organise.
“It was unusual for a woman to be a photographer when I started out, and I remember trying to prove myself, to show I was as good as them.”
And just as she has always worked off-farm, she has found this a common set-up for other farming women in her area. “Most of my farming contemporaries have had jobs off-farm, or if not off-farm then they run bed and breakfasts. I think it’s quite common, and now it’s even swinging the other way, with women running the farm and men working elsewhere.”
