11 minutes | Sunday, 12 November 2023
Hill farming is a way of life and, although the hill farmer in the north of England has changed with the times, the traditions remain strong and the dramatic upland landscape is eternal. In Hill Farming in the North of England , photographer John Bentley has had access to the world of the hill farmer. Hill farming is round-the-clock work, season to season, still predominantly done on family farms. In this book farmers at work are shown through the seasons of the year, which dictate the farming calendar, from providing winter feed for the livestock – mostly sheep and cattle – to shearing, haymaking, lambing in the spring and ‘tupping’ in the autumn, and going to sales, shows and sheepdog trials. It is a visual portrait of a remarkable way of life and part of our farming heritage. Look through these photographs and you will quickly see the unique challenges of hill farming in the stunning but often harsh landscape of the north of England.