Spaces in-between
BBC Manchester: Farming in the fast lane
On the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire, slap bang in the middle of the motorway is Stott Hall Farm. Known to the truckers as ‘the little house on the prairie’ it’s possibly the most famous farm in the land. But what’s it like living there? Its sole occupant is Paul Thorp, a sheep farmer with just his dogs for company and 2,000 acres of land.
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Paul admits it can be a lonely place: “I guess you don’t want to be on your own all the time. It’s just a bit of a bleak place to bring somebody out in the wilds, all that traffic round you, and you’re a long way from anywhere – two miles from the nearest village. The postman only comes to the bottom of the hill and some days you won’t see anybody except those zipping past on the motorway – apart from people ringing you might not see anyone else to talk to.
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“It’s not a job, it’s a way of life,” he says. “You wouldn’t do it for a wage ‘cos you’ve to put too much time in just normal hours time - you’ve got to want to do it.”
“But on the plus side, I don’t have any commuting to do, I’m up in the morning straight out the door and to work, good views, nice scenery, you can see for miles, and watch everyone hurtling past and think how lucky you are that you’re not stuck in a car.”
(via rodcorp)