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THE Alderson / Donald family have farmed here for six generations since the 1840 ’ s ; Judith and Helen are the current custodians of Gibbs Neese , however a generation was skipped due to the fact that Judith ’ s grandparents , in true farming tradition , wouldn ’ t retire . In fact , they stayed on the farm until her grandfather died in his 90 ’ s . Judith ’ s father has another farm , which is part of the nearby Raby estate .
Even though Judith trained as a nursery nurse she has always wanted to be a farmer , spending both her childhood and subsequent years helping on
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the farm . Husband Brian is a draughtsman for an Irish company designing industrial pipelines . He does lend his support and help when required , but the true farmers are Judith and Helen . Helen ’ s boyfriend Dave , who works
‘ when Judith took over the buildings wereall traditional and in need of mordernisation and additional cattle buildings ’ |
for AWSM contractors and contract farmers , maintains the farm ’ s machinery and assists with the many maintenance and building projects on the go at any one time .
Judith took on the tenancy twelve years ago . Her Grandfather been the previous tenant spent his full 90 years on the farm . They had Swaledales and bred Mule gimmers and had a suckler herd .
When Judith took over the buildings were all traditional and in need of modernisation and additional cattle buildings With two girls still at school and Brian at work there was plenty of work to keep
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Judith busy . As well as setting about the upgrading of the farm , improving and increasing livestock numbers . Heifer calves were bought at Leyburn and off a local dairy farmer and reared up for cows so are quiet to handle . The seasons and weather dictate what must be done . Suffice to say , Judith and Helen have worked tirelessly from day one on the livestock and land . Brian and Dave have been a big help with the infrastructure .
They entered into a high-level environmental scheme and are tied into it until
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