Farming Life
“We don’t own the land, we are just the custodians”
was something which was said by more than one of the
farmers we spoke to when we were researching this
scrapbook. The landscape of the Forest of Bowland is
composed of farms of different sizes and types from
upland hill sheep farms to lowland dairy and beef farms.
All these farms are looked after either by individuals or
whole families, often with two or three generations
working together. All of them work long hours, in all
weathers and for unpredictable rewards to maintain this
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for this and future
generations, both for residents and for visitors.
Farming practices have changed in the last 50 years and
there is an increasing awareness of conservation and how
it can fit in with modern farming methods. So many
challenges have been weathered and overcome and the
following pages show some of the changes over the past
50 years.
Sheep on the fells