More than 80 years ago, a boy was born to a couple in the mining village of Welbeck in Nottinghamshire, England. The boy’s father drove the steam trains at the colliery and it was perhaps there that the white haired boy began his love for all things steam. However, his future was not to be down the pit but at his uncle’s small holding in Long Bennington, just inside the county of Lincolnshire. His uncle was also a wheelwright and as the boy became a lad, his willingness for hard work of all kinds shone through. In the meantime he excelled at school and was the first to go to the local boy’s grammar and then onto agricultural college.
He wanted to become a farmer and in so doing met his wife, her father a sheep farmer in Lincolnshire. He borrowed a small amount of money from his uncle to buy a piece of land and began to realise his dream. Pigs, sheep, cattle, hens, barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar-beet...he raised them and grew them all, alongside his wife, who worked as hard as he…. The small holding grew over the years to become a substantial arable farm on the flatlands of around Long Bennington…and the children arrived, first three girls and finally the long awaited boy, playing and working whilst their parents worked hard on the land…and hard they did work…holidays were a rarity until older age, entertainment was found there on the farm and in the village…ponies, cats and dogs came and went, and gradually the family moved to a bigger home, still in the same close-knit community.
The man became chairman of the parish council, the schoolboard, the village hall committee…always at hand to help and offer advice…so much so he was awarded the MBE by the Queen…a man of few words but with a big heart, respected by all. Also an entrepreneur, always on the alert for new business opportunities…one example being the feed mill he bought and eventually rebuilt, to be run by his son…a carbon copy of his dad!
 And all that hard work has been rewarded by seeing his family grow up …a family story like many others…made up of good times and bad, sacrifice and reward, success and failure, illness and health…a good story, the rich tapestry that is everyone’s life… and how would you draw your life? What would it look like?
Thanks Dad, you’re an inspiration!