The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2019 - Issue 63 | Page 40

40 BLEAK BANK FARM JUN/JUL 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk MAINTAINING AND CONTINUING THE DAWSON LINE AT BLEAK BANK FARM Chris Berry talks with John & William Dawson near Clapham. ‘MY wife Judith had a successful career in banking until I rescued her and gave her some of the debt of the farm,’ says John Dawson of Bleak Bank Farm near Clapham on Yorkshire’s western fringe. ‘The farm lives up to its name so much that we have thought of changing it to Bleaker!’ John is a positive-thinking, forward-look- ing farmer with a smart sense of humour who still enjoys his dairy herd of 70 Holstein Friesians and ensuring the future of Dales- bred sheep and production of Mashams. ‘There used to be ten farms between Ingleton and Clapham that all produced and sold milk. There are only four of those ten now left and we’re the only one still selling milk. We’re quite a high farm for dairy cows at 850ft with Ingleborough close by running to 2200ft. When the sheep are on Ingle- borough for the summer our smaller hills around the farm lend themselves to grazing for the cows.’ Bleak Bank’s farmed acreage now runs to around 300 acres overall, which has been built up gradually after John’s great grandfather Edward Dawson arrived as tenant in 1920. ‘Edward bought the then 75-acre farm in 1927 for £2,700 and people said it was a financial disaster, but we’ve been here ever since and now with our son William we’re into the fifth generation. John William Dawson, my grandfather, farmed with his brother who worked on the railways until he passed away and it passed into grand- dad’s sole ownership. My dad Edward came along in 1930 and his brother William in 1931 and when my granddad died in 1970 he left the farm jointly to Uncle Bill and my dad, known as Teddy. In the 50s granddad had bought land next door and occasion- ally when land came up it was added along the way throughout the past decades.’ ‘Dad passed away ten years ago. He and Uncle Bill had been forward-thinking in making sure the farm could carry on in ‘ There used to be ten farms between Ingleton and Clapham that all produced and sold milk. There are only four of those ten now left and we’re the only one still selling milk ’ the next generation as he and mum had nine children of which I’m slap bang in the middle with four brothers and four sisters. Bill had none. They organised that the farm would go to the farmers – myself and my brother Matthew – as there was no way it would have survived if everyone had want- ed their slice of it. To their credit everyone understood there would be nothing to have a slice of if that had been the case and we all get on, they come and have a brew.’ ‘Tragically we lost Matthew to cancer in 2000 and the farm now belongs to myself and Judith. We came to live here in 2001 and have two children – Hannah (24) and Wil- liam (22) who now works alongside me.’ John’s cows and sheep enterprise that so many farms used to have in this area is now almost a thing of the past in and around Clapham and he tells a familiar story. ‘Without our farm payment we would be under pressure because the amount it provides is more than our profit without it, but at present the way things are it is viable for myself and William. Judith is an account- ant for a local company, which brings in another income.’ John is a fan of high nature value farming and and any future schemes must recog- nise the effort, dedication and knowledge that goes into managing the uplands to provide public goods