Farming Through The Seasons: 'Quietly brilliant' film celebrates Yorkshire's hill farmers

Stephen Bostock and nephew Dave Fullerton share the hardships and joys of their working life at Hall Farm in Gammersgill in Coverdale.

Manchester-based production company Film on the Brain made a short film for each season of the year, capturing the men working in a stunning landscape of barns, drystone walls, flower-rich meadows and moorland. These have now been edited together to make one 27-minute film called ‘Farming Through The Seasons’.

The film was commissioned by the National Park Authority as a way of supporting hill farmers to make their voices heard during a period of time that the government is calling an “agricultural transition” for England.

Member Champion for the Natural Environment at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Mark Corner, said: “We want those upland farmers that are really looking after this landscape to be heard in the national conversation about the future of farming. The film has no narrator, only the gentle twang of Stephen and Dave as they explain their traditional practices and share their feelings about farming through the seasons.

“The sound work is the other aspect that makes ‘Farming Through The Seasons’ quietly brilliant. You can hear the rain pelting into waterproofs as the farmers repair the drystone walls in the spring; you can hear stone on stone as the wall is put together again.”