Sand, sea, caravans, a receding coastline – that's what the eastern edge of Holderness is known for. Trees and woodlands? Perhaps not, but one farmer has found solace in developing with conservation and nature in mind, rather than diversifying into an ice cream parlour or a farm shop.

Nearly half of his land is down to woodlands of some form or other. Sometimes he goes brambling, or just admires the height of his willow – or gets away from it all by visiting his own secluded lake.

John Hepworth is one of farming's unique personalities, with a smile as wide as the Humber and a wicked ability to wind people up. He has perfected this with bureaucrats and councillors over the years, something which he clearly revels in.

He farms at Braemar Farm, Rolston, a mile south of Hornsea and is very open about his own shortcomings both in farming and woodlands. "I'm not a very good farmer and thank heavens I'm not because if I had been then I wouldn't have had so many people coming to record mammals, dragonflies and all manner
of wildlife."

Once you explore it a little you find out just how different, distinctive and beautiful his farm now is – particularly with the lake.

It is a hideaway, something which you would never believe was there, and clearly an immense source of pride to John. "I've been up the scale and down, farming-wise. Now we only have 135 acres and nearly half is down to some form of woodland, but this is just a wonderful place to be."

The catalyst was in 1972. That was when he bought Broomhill Farm, adjacent to Braemar. "When we bought it, the council made me plant an acre and a half of woodland because the buildings were on a hilltop and a bit of an eyesore. I usually protest about anything I'm told to do – and I did, but in the end I did it, very reluctantly.

"But it was to provide a shelter belt too. We had put up some sheds there and the shed roofs had been blown off every year as it was so exposed. The shelter belt soon became established
and the roofs didn't blow off any more."

This was to be the start of what is now a beautiful friendship between John and nature. In 2006 his work was honoured when he received the Royal Forestry Society award for Best Young Woodland in Yorkshire out of 400 entries. "When they came to see me, to give me the award, one chap told me I should plant the rest of the farm with trees.

"My son, Chris, has always said that planting trees on the best land in Holderness is such a waste but I'm a non-conformist and this is now where I get my enjoyment. I'm really enjoying working with woodland and nature far more than I ever did when I was farming.

"I'm not going to find oil and gas on my land but one day there will be a lot of woodland to chop down. Wood chip is now at £60 a tonne and will only go higher as we look to other fuels in future."

John used to be a dairy farmer as well as retailing his own milk. "I loved being a dairy man and a milkman. When we went into retailing we were so successful in the first three months that we had achieved what we set out to do in the first two years."

It was in 1989 that he made his next move into woodlands. "I was going to drain a field that used to flood like mad. Then I thought it would cost more to drain it than to plant trees on it. There was a lot of money around through the Woodland Grant Scheme at the time and I received a substantial grant, so we put five acres in. Farmers don't make good foresters and I'm no exception – but we set about planting. We went away for the weekend,
having planted many of them, came back and the hares had eaten them!"

John contacted husband and wife tree specialists Leiff and Oliver Marriott of Grimston, near Aldbrough.

"They are two of the best woodland professionals in Europe and they gave me tremendous help and encouragement. They took me under their wing and it is because of them that I fell truly in love with how to grow trees properly – and I have been attending woodland meetings ever since."

He is now a committee member of the Royal Forestry Society's Yorkshire branch and in June this year he hosted part of a day of the Society's annual visit to two woodlands. "It was the first time in 25 years that they have come out into East Yorkshire and I shared the honour with Rise Park."

John's woodland operation is now 60 acres and a large proportion of it is willow, as well as all manner of trees including oak, ash and elm.

"I was bitten by the willow bug. I went to a meeting and was the only person to sign up to growing it as a crop, but I try to practise what I preach through the size of my mouth and I truly believe in willow.

"I made the decision three and a bit years ago when wheat was £50/tonne. At that time I was having to pay my son to plough, contract and do all the land work and wasn't getting anything back. One year I had 15 acres of wild flowers because I didn't want to give Chris the money just to exercise his machines."

He confesses that he wouldn't have done any of it without grants. "While the Farm Woodland Grant was on it was right to do. I wouldn't plant a tree if there wasn't a scheme if I live to be 600. I do it because I love it, but I also do it because that is where the money is.

"I had some foreign students over and they hooted with laughter when they saw I had guards around some of my trees. They told me that they would get full of mice and snow. I told them that I put the guards on to spray around them. They said that before they planted trees, they sowed the ground with white clover. They told me that if you can get an establishment of white clover, then you can plant trees without having any guards.

"It's one of the many lessons I've learned along the way, and I've had to learn a lot. Like everyone else
there's still so much to learn too – but hopefully now they won't laugh at me again, except if I say something funny which I want them to laugh at!"