Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2007 | Page 97

FOOD & DRINK

life

Photo: Left Louise Hart, Jill Cawood, Jenny Simmons

Girl Power!
By Louise Hart

As you enter the farm office at
Three Gates you are welcomed by a
friendly bustle of people, the smell of
freshly baked scones and the noise
of the kettle clicking as it boils.
The phone rings and you
hear “Sorry, Mr Cawood isn’t
available”. Even after over 30
years of farming Jill still has
to explain that it is she, not
he, who wears the boots.
“Oh, I don’t mind” Jill replies,
“it’s an easy mistake to make”
but you soon realise that with
over 160 milking cows in the
herd and another 150 following
heifers on the farm as well
as Jill and her daughters,
there is a definite lack of
Testosterone floating around.
Jill has four daughters, two of
whom work with her on a daily
basis. Jill laughs aloud at the
suggestion that it’s all tea and
chat in the house. She admits
that sometimes the clashes are
catastrophic, but the good thing
is that she’s taught the girls not
to sulk, so it’s never too long
before the kettle goes on again.
The farm diversified in 1989
and ‘Calbourne Classics’
was born. Now the business
boasts an extensive portfolio
of National Great Taste Awards
for the clotted cream ice cream
and hand baked cakes. With
the pedigree status of the herd

– it is the only RSPCA Freedom
Food Accredited on the Island
– there’s plenty more scope
for expansion, and the plans
are very exciting. Three Gates
opened it’s own farm shop this
year as well as facilities to serve
hot snack lunches, cream teas,
coffee and cakes. Along with
their involvement in Farmer
Jack’s Farm Shop life is never
dull around Jill and her girls.
Jill’s daughters, Jenny and
Louise head up the sales
and marketing areas of the
business. They have both
worked away and come back,
proving the Caulkhead theory
that like salmon, true Islanders
come home to spawn. They
each have a young family, and
fully appreciate the flexibility
that working on the farm offers.
It’s very refreshing to know the
circle of life continues down
on the farm as you see Jill’s
grandchildren race excitedly
into the calf unit. The only
strange thing you note is the
songs the children sing “The
Farmer wants a Husband”
and “on that farm she had
a cow………..E I E I O”

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