Author: Andrew Mitchell

Where does your recycling go?

Another unusual farm diversification project…but Chris and Simon Mountain’s East Midlands waste management and recycling centre has been so successful that they now rent out the family farm and have essentially diversified out of farming all together. It all started at the end of the 90s with two skip lorries (which they inherited when someone… Continue reading Where does your recycling go?

You can lead a horse to water…

Having heard about a hydrotherapy centre for horses in Nottinghamshire, we went along to see what it was all about. Right in the heart of the Vale of Belvoir, Emma Hawthorne runs Flawborough Equine and Hydrotherapy Centre, which specialises in offering treatments to aid the recovery and rehabilitation of horses.  Emma had always worked with… Continue reading You can lead a horse to water…

Arrow Farm Shop

We popped into hundreds of farm shops on our travels, ranging from lean-to sheds to supermarket-style food emporiums, so we were really pleased to add a proper family-run farm shop visit to our itinerary in the last week of our Marathon. Dinah and Richard Blagg opened Arrow Farm Shop on their farm near Worksop in… Continue reading Arrow Farm Shop

Malton Relish

Following on with our entrepreneurial theme, Sophie Legard opened the doors to her new delicatessen and catering business on 12th December and we went to visit her a few days later to find out how she was getting on. Previously, she worked as a cook at a local prep school but had always dreamt of… Continue reading Malton Relish

Drinks at RAF Leeming

Opportunities like this one don’t come around very often. When an article came out about our Muddy Marathon in Country Life, we got a phone call from one of the boys from RAF Leeming inviting us to come and look round the base and go to Happy Hour in their mess. How could we refuse?!… Continue reading Drinks at RAF Leeming

Fencing in Yorkshire

It was easily the coldest day of the year when we spent the morning on a Yorkshire farm with fencing contractor, Wilf Standeven. Wilf grew up in Yorkshire and after a brief stint in London was drawn back to the countryside, where he started working for another fencing contractor. After gaining valuable knowledge and expertise… Continue reading Fencing in Yorkshire

Ample Bosom

When Sally and John Robinson were looking for new ways to diversify on their farm near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, Sally came up with the idea of selling bras and lingerie on the internet and, in 1999, she launched the wonderfully-named ‘Ample Bosom’. It was certainly one of the more unusual farm diversification projects that we… Continue reading Ample Bosom

SLOE motion

Those of you who were coming to see us at the CLA Game Fair this year might remember that one of our sponsors was Yorkshire-based sloe gin company, SLOE motion.  Since we were in the area, we thought that it would be nice to pop in and say hello to Jonathon Curtoys, the owner, and… Continue reading SLOE motion

Being Model Fisherwomen in North Yorkshire

Whilst in Yorkshire, we were invited down to Raygill Fisheries, in the heart of the Dales just outside Lothersdale, to take a look round and do a spot of fishing.  Previously a lime quarry, Bernard Clement bought it in 1987, landscaped the site and began to stock trout. Twenty years later, they have four lakes… Continue reading Being Model Fisherwomen in North Yorkshire