Thorpe Farm
Ripon Farm Services are proud suppliers to
Barry Walker of Thorpe Farm
near Catterick so he’s on a
tractor for the season while I
crack on at home with Lucy
helping. Jennifer has a cattery
and also looks after a few dogs
too. She started kennelling in
2001. We have a few horses for
pleasure and we’re involved
with Hurworth Hunt. We also
look after cattle for agricultural
machinery man, Richard Bell.
It’s a harp back to the days
when the farm here had a dairy
herd.
‘I’ve been here all my
working life since leaving
school at 16 and took over
running the farm when we
lost my mum Olwyn, known
to everyone as Tot, in 2001.
I did a little bit of work with
Brian Robinson Agricultural
Machinery. Since the age of 12
I’ve always been interested in
fixing as much machinery as
I can and I love refurbishing
machinery through shotblasting
and re-spraying. I painted
up a lot of my dad’s vintage
machinery when he’d bought
them.
‘Dad’s passion wasn’t just
tractors. He was a champion
ploughman and in his house
were hundreds of trophies and
rosettes including the Yorkshire
Hedgecutting & Ploughing
Society U21 championship
trophy. I have the same
passion for ploughing and
have competed many times. I
won the Great Smeaton YFC
ploughing title six years in a
row and still enjoy ploughing
today. Tommy now carries on
the tradition that dad started
and managed a second place
in an open match reversible
ploughing competition recently.
That’s quite an achievement
as it is a very competitive class
at Amotherby YFC ploughing
match, so he’s well on his way
too. We both like our ploughing
and like my dad, we can’t stand
to see it not done right.’
The Great Smeaton Vintage
Working Day was a real family
affair. Barry’s sister, Janice
used to put the programme
together and everyone played
their part. Barry remembers it
with great affection.
‘The best memory for me
was the smell of the steam
engines all day. Thrashing
machine in action, steam
ploughing, the smell of the
coal and seeing the horses
ploughing were just fantastic
to watch and amazing that
it was all happening here. It
was mum and dad with David
Walker from Croft who started
the event and it spiralled
to attracting 2000 people.
Horses would come from as far
as Norfolk and it also ended
up being a fantastic village
produce day, a real attraction.
www.farmers-mart.co.uk Summer 2017 81