Down On The Farm

http://www.lissaalexandraphotography.com/

Castle Farm is a family run farm situated in the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside.

Sowing The Seed

Originally located at Kellingley Farm, in 1956 the compulsory sale of farms to form Kellingley Colliery meant pastures new were required for the Brown family. So the search began, and every Saturday three generations would pile into the family Austin to drive around Yorkshire in search of a farm for their relocation.

After an extensive search, they found the perfect location 35 minutes up the A1, and the Brown family moved to Castle Farm on 6th April 1957.

Grass Roots

Belonging to the three generations of farmers, Richard moved to the farm at the age of 7. After learning the family trade from a very young age, Richard came to the helm in 1971 alongside his Father, Jack. He is now in sole charge, and over the years has ploughed his own furrow in the world of agriculture.

Richard met his wife Elizabeth at the local Young Farmers group whilst he was Chairman and she was Secretary. They went on to have a brood of 4 daughters (what every farmer dreams of!) and the girls have been supported in following their own paths. In recent years, his second and youngest daughters have assisted on the farm, with sheep shearing being a particular favourite. As the result of Richard damaging his Achilles tendon just before the lambing season in 2013, Rebecca joined him on a more permanent basis after finding that she quite enjoyed working on the farm.

Richard and Rebecca

Current Crop

The land has grown various arable crops over the years and is currently harvesting malting barley, (Marris Otter and Venture) both winter barley crop varieties, a spring barley crop (Golden Promise), winter wheat and wild flowers. As part of the harvest, hay and straw are also produced and enjoyed by many a local animal.

The Flock

The farm is also home to a flock of 140 Suffolk cross Border Leicester sheep. Lambing commences in the spring after the two lucky boys, Thor (a Texel tup) and Harry (a Charollais tup), have had their pick of the ewes!

Also to be found on the farm is Floss the Border Collie sheepdog, Delilah the Pygmy goat, a multitude of cats (of varying degrees of tameness) and a bounty of wild birds.