The countryside holds a special place at the heart of British life and culture. Rolling hills, winding lanes, patchwork fields, walks in the fresh air and cosy pub lunches. Our countryside is dramatic, beautiful, often wet and cold. And although most Britons now live in urban cities and towns, the countryside remains for most people an idyllic place, a place where one can live and relax. Added to that image are the words of the nostalgic and rather nationalistic ‘green and pleasant land’ from...

The countryside holds a special place at the heart of British life and culture. Rolling hills, winding lanes, patchwork fields, walks in the fresh air and cosy pub lunches. Our countryside is dramatic, beautiful, often wet and cold. And although most Britons now live in urban cities and towns, the countryside remains for most people an idyllic place, a place where one can live and relax. Added to that image are the words of the nostalgic and rather nationalistic ‘green and pleasant land’ from the song ‘Jerusalem’ and we can sum up our relationship to the countryside.

But of course, there is a rural population who work the land and farm who are not only the backbone of rural society but have the honour of being the custodians of the land. And when we say the word ‘farmer’ we inevitably think of a male farmer with a wife collecting eggs, managing the household and cooking on an Aga.  Indeed, farms were once always passed through the family within the male line, but 21st century women are now just as keen to take over. Of Britain’s 180,000 farmers, 17% are female, according to NFU figures, and Minette Batters, a beef farmer from Wiltshire is the first female president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales in its history. And this new breed of young women are redefining what it means to be a farmer with female students now outnumbering men almost 2:1 on agriculture and related higher education courses, making up 64% of the 2017-18 cohort, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. And in many countries around the world, farmers are more likely to be women than men, especially in the developing countries. Empowering women is often seen as critical in rural economic development.

Sheep have been resident in the UK since Roman times, and became hugely important when wool, meat, milk and skins formed the basis of medieval trade.  Our film is set in Northumberland, an area of outstanding beauty, and here the Northumbrian sheep are inseparable from images of the landscape, whether on the remote hills or on more sheltered grazing lands.

 It is estimated that there are around one billion sheep worldwide. The UK is home to 25% of the EU sheep flock, and 3% of the global flock, producing one third of EU sheep meat and currently is the sixth biggest producer worldwide. The months of March and April are peak lambing time in the UK and a very busy time for farmers as they need to keep an eye on them day and night especially If a lamb is large or in a difficult position. Arriving in the cold world, it comes out with both front feet pointing forward with its head resting between its forelegs and, like in humans, when a lamb is born, it is important to establish a bond between the ewe and the lamb quickly.  As Miss Anderson says in the film 'You only get one chance to get the lambs alive’ so, as a farmer at this time of year, she sleeps in her clothes. Dedication, determination and passion indeed.

Tyne Tees Television Northern Life news magazine was a regional news programme on Tyne Tees Television, which aired from 6 September 1976 to 2 October 1992. The programme was broadcast at 6pm on weekday evenings, and ran for 30, 35 or 60 minutes at various points in its run.

https://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/know-your-sheep/sheep-facts/https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/forgotten-heroes-of-agriculture-399979

https://ww https://modernfarmer.com/2019/06/there-are-more-women-farmers-than-ever-but-they-make-less-than-men-why/w.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49322620