Clarkson's Farm: Why Jeremy Clarkson is unlike all the other celebrity farmers

Reading for pleasure has never ever been a part of my life. There was always so much to do on our farm, and I loved all the things that we’d get up to, so books – apart from the ones which we had to read at school – were pretty much off the agenda. They still are.

We had about two hundred acres of arable and livestock, and there was another 1,500 acres of woodland to manage – in all weathers. A truly diverse mix, with the addition of gamekeeping.

It would have been about seven miles to the nearest library, so that wasn’t high on the agenda – and a travelling library was unheard of.

In fact, as I remember it, there was one bus into Scarborough on a Wednesday, and the return bus from Scarborough was on the Saturday, so it was utterly useless, to say the least. I don’t regret a thing about those days, because, quite apart from instilling a love of wildlife and nature, it also gave me a strong work ethic, for which I am eternally grateful.

I think I was married to Christopher, my husband, and about 23 years old, when we first went away on a break – it may have been to Northumberland, but it’s hard to remember much about it.

I always painted, right from being a youngster, and enjoyed it a lot, but it was Covid, and the lockdowns, which gave me the opportunity to explore my talents, and the impetus to carry it all through.

I’ve been listening to:

There’s generally the radio on in the background as I’m painting or preparing – I work a lot from photographs I’ve taken.

It’s Radio 2, like as not, but there may be some classical. I like a bit of variation, I don’t go and listen to one genre for hours on end, something has to suit my mood at the time.

And, in the evening, Christopher and I often have The Archers as company. The storylines in the last few weeks have been really full-on.

On TV, I’ve been watching:

Clarkson’s Farm – unlike all the other ‘celebrity farmers’ who just have a smallholding and a bit of a dabble – he really seems to be understanding the land. They just play at it, he’s involved in the real mucky side.

And it shows how much red tape and rules and regulations he and real-life farmers have to observe. Clarkson tells it like it is, and he, like so many other farmers, is hindered by too much red tape, and far too many rules and regulations.

I get very cross when I see farms being hamstrung and hindered. It’s the same with what’s left of our fishing industry, and I think that there’s only one regular boat that goes out from Filey now?

What a terrible shame.

The live performance I’d recommend is:

If, like me, history fascinates you, there’s a treat waiting at a show called Kynren, which is up by Bishop Auckland, and it runs through the summer months and into September. It’s 90 minutes long, and it takes the audience through centuries of our heritage – Romans, Vikings, Anglo Saxons, right up until the present day. They call it “an epic tale of England”, and that’s precisely what it is, a vast pageant.

For me, the Bonze Age has always been a period I want to explore – when my mum and I used to go for walks across the fields, we were always discovering little arrow heads and other artefacts turned up in the soil.

I try never to miss Digging for Britain on TV – here are objects which connect you intimately with real people, and our direct ancestors.

My next boxed set or streamed series will be (or was….):

Happy Valley, with the wonderful Sarah Lancashire, anything that is history related. I always wonder what the ladies at the hairdressers think of me, because they are constantly asking “Did you see X, or Y the other night”, and I’ll reply, “no, but there was an amazing programme on the Egyptian dynasties”, and I’ll get some very strange looks.

The App I couldn’t be without is:

Marine Radar. I’m a proud member of the National Coastwatch Institution, and I do my shifts, keeping an eye out for people on the water – from kayaks to huge sailing vessels. Marine Radar is invaluable.

What is right at the top of your “To do” Bucket list?:I’m more than happy with my lot – but Christopher and I wouldn’t refuse a few months in New Zealand, for its mountains, coastlines and sheer beauty. Think of the painting opportunities.

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Open studio (at 19, Fir Tree Drive, Filey, YO14 9HQ) June 8 and 9, from 10am until 5pm each day.