lower banks farm
Flying herd the
cruise control
to success
Chris Berry talks with the Farrars
of Lower Banks Farm, Huby.
How many pupils do you
know who were ‘bought’
out of school? That’s what
happened to Richard Farrar
many years ago.
“I was a pupil at Whitcliffe
Mount Grammar School in
Cleckheaton and we farmed
at Cow Close Farm, Wyke. My
dad paid a token amount to
the school to take me out early
at about 14-15 years old,” he
told me.
But it didn’t do Richard any
harm. Today, he still farms with
his son, Matthew at Lower
Banks Farm, Huby near Poolein-Wharfedale.
“I’ve been a dairy farmer all
my life right from the days
when we milked cows with
bucket units in the cowsheds
and cleaned them out by
hand shovelling muck into
wheelbarrows,” he said.
The reason for the move from
Wyke to Huby, in the shadow
of Almscliffe Crag, around 40
years ago came about when
the roundabout of the M62/
M606 was built.
“It was compulsorily
purchased so my parents,
Lorna and John, didn’t get too
much for the land, plus it left
us with two strips of land with
which we couldn’t do anything.
My dad had rented another
acreage nearby so he,
my mum and my
two brothers
stayed at
Wyke
and he
purchased
this farm
for me. The
move was a
big wrench at
the time because
I had been chairman
of Bradford YFC and had
played hooker for Cleckheaton
RUFC. My wife, Margaret
Richard & Matthew Farrars
and I started straightening
up what was a bit rough and
ready when we arrived, but we
have never regretted
a minute of it. We
have some
lovely friends
and are
very much
part of the
community.
I have
always
believed that
dairy farming is
not the be all and
end all, and that you should
have time to enjoy other
things. I enjoy snooker and
Matthew
8
Dec/Jan 2015 FarmersMart
dominoes in the village and am
chairman of the village hall.
“Dairy farming has proved a
sound basis for us and we now
have 150 milking cows and
the farm that originally started
with 95 acres now runs to 300
acres, part-owned and parttenanted,” he explained.
Matthew always wanted to
farm and studied at Askham
Bryan College on day release
while working alongside his
father. He told me why th