The Farmers Mart Oct-Nov 2019 - Issue 65 | Page 22

22 NORTH MOOR FARM area, nowadays sadly there are only two. Eventually the partnership split up over various differences, and so the milk round was sold in order to raise the cash to buy his uncle out. Both Steven’s father and grandfather were totally against borrowing money. Steven has always had a love of farming and animals and used to help out all the time on the farm, however he has always had a fascination for making things and doing things with his hands, so on leaving school he did an apprenticeship at FRED SHAW & COMPANY (TINSMITHS) LIMITED in Huddersfield, learning all aspects of sheet metal work making ventilation fittings and guards for textile machinery, ladles and funnels for use in dairies and even ice cream containers. Steven worked on the farm doing bottling for the milk round early in the mornings before going to work, as well as making his own cream and skimmed milk. With his newly acquired skills and apti- tude for metal work, he frequently helped repair equipment on the farm to save them buying new which would have been a stretch back then. His father bought him a stick welder off John Hillam and really, from that day forth, the welding and fabrication began. By that time, he had joined the farm full time along with his younger brothers as they left school. L DRIVER & SON | Haulage Contractors | OCT/NOV 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk Steven had an aptitude and joy for working with metal and very soon he wasn’t just making and repairing on the farm, the inevitable request came in from nearby farmers, “Could you make me this; can you make me one etc”, which was very gratifying, although the fabrication etc did take him away from farm work. However Steven, loving the farming life, resisted doing the fabrication full time until he was 40. After the milk round was sold, the farm was producing milk and selling in bulk market. It was beholden to the unpopu- lar Milk Quota System which ultimately forced them to come out of milk by 1999, by which time the dairy side had been run down and the now established suckler herd was being increased. The situation had also not been helped by the fact that farm land was hard to acquire locally, so expanding the dairy herd was never pos- sible. However, with the change from airy to suckler herd and the growing needs of the fabrication side, both Steven and Paul realised they weren’t doing the farm justice and it was difficult to sustain a living for all three brothers. Younger brother Richard had already been working for contractor Mark Royston for ten years on a part-time basis, originally doing just tractor driving, there was plenty of regular work working on water treatment plants, so it made sense for Richard to move to full time, Paul to manage and work on the farm and Steven to go full time on the fabrication side. Plus the fact there are no sons that wish to take on the farm. Steven started the fabrication side initially just doing repairs and maintenance, servicing pre-cast equipment for Naylor’s and White’s – anything from brackets to full mould repairs. Nowadays, Steven and his engineer, along with son Lewis who returned to the farm after a five-year period living and working in Ireland. Lewis is a chip off the old block, he also served an apprenticeship with Fred Shaw’s as well as enjoying the fabrication business. So, the move for Steven away from the farm made further sense as Lewis has no interest in taking it on; also Steven’s other son Matthew is a power transmission specialist kenyon paints Pleased to be associated with Hirstle Fabrications and offering: Curtainsiders and Flatbeds UP TO 44 TONNES A reliable service from a family business | COVERING THE UK & IRELAND | From pickups through to artics Proud to be working with Steven Hirstle Call us on 07778 854850 or email [email protected] • Farm Building Maintenance Paints • GRP Roofing Systems • Cabin Paints • A Solution to Rust • Agricultural Plant and Machinery Paints www.kenyonpaints.co.uk Tel: [phone] | email [email protected] | Regent Street Oldham OL1 3TZ for a global pump company, Altra Industrial Motion, based in Huddersfield. This doesn’t stop either Steven or Lewis giving Paul a hand, particularly as Steven still has that love for farming. Hirstle Fabrications can and does tackle anything from repairs to all manner of fabrication, from bespoke trailers, spe- cialised brackets and fittings, to bespoke shipping containers. At the moment, they are producing some bespoke shepherd huts. They do a lot of work for generator companies making diesel tanks and exhaust pipes. Basically, anything non-standard they can do. So, now back to the show – how did it go – well, I have just spoken to Steven and, to coin a Yorkshire phrase “He is Chuffed to Bits”. For a one-day event it was a great success; close to 70 vintage tractors with drivers attended, the bands Helter Skelter (a rock and party band from Huddersfield) and Paddycraic the Irish Band, went down a storm. The family team were spread fairly thin, however, so many people gave up their free time to help the day run smoothly. It took some time for Steven to thank everyone in person; they even had help from the ladies of the local Yorkshire Bank branch. All the attractions promised turned up, including Rob Masters, a local contractor who had the very popular Vintage High Striker – lots of young farmers looking to prove they were the strongest (and some older ones). The see saw competition on one of Hirstles trailers proved both hilarious and popular, and