CLAIRE FRENCH
Home Farm
When I was asked to interpret the theme ‘Home’ I thought about it long and hard. Half of my family is from Yorkshire and despite only having lived there myself for 9 years of my life going to Yorkshire always feels like home to me. Then I spoke to my cousin, Becky.
We are often focused on making a firm division between our work and home lives. In today’s world we often talk a lot about work/life balance - but what about those where there is no delineation?
Ian and Rebecca Webb are a young couple, with a young family, who run their own small farm in Yorkshire. Apart from the occasional bit of casual labour, they do all the work themselves and there is no separation between finishing work and going home. Ian often works 14 hour days but tries never to miss bath time and bedtime of his two little ones, even if he’s heading back out again afterwards. On the day they had their wedding blessing, Ian wax delivering calves during the party.
The farm was bought by Ian’s grandfather and father, but after losing both his parents by the time he was 12, he had to move away to live with family and the farm was rented out. After attending agricultural college, he fought to get it back and then has spent years trying to build it back up again. The children spend time with him on the farm, everyone is involved.
It is their past, their present, and their future and most importantly it is their home.