'We're questioning whether our son will be able to take on our farm on the M62'

It’s unfortunate that hay making has fallen at the exact same time as the little guy’s end of school year exams begin, meaning there’s been many arguments in our house.

Desperate to be a part of the team, he loves any sort of tractor work and will happily sit for many an hour in a hot, dusty cab wrapping bale after bale till the early hours of the morning.

Sitting down to revise for his exams is very low on his priority list and he is counting down the days to the summer holidays.

June is a crazy month, where back to back horse shows see us travelling around the country in a bid to secure the golden ticket to Horse of the Year show.

The agricultural shows stretch from the Royal Three Counties down in Malvern to Cheshire, Lincoln and the Royal Highland in Edinburgh, to name a few.

However, we pick and chose which ones to compete at; cost, time away from work and school means we don’t attend them all.

But primarily we don’t want to put our ambitions above the welfare of our ponies. Travelling takes a lot out of them and just like us, they too need a break and chance to relax.

Both the equine and agricultural sector is currently under huge scrutiny with pressure from animal rights groups to end what they see as exploitation.

Our traditional rural shows that have been a part of our lives for generations are under threat from idealists who have little to no understanding of livestock and their care.

It’s an incredibly difficult period we all find ourselves in, one full of uncertainty and crippling workloads. Many discussions have been had recently in our household, some heated, some tearful.

Tenant farming is never easy and no matter how water tight you think your tenancy agreement is, there are undoubtedly many loopholes.

We find ourselves frequently questioning our future and certainly that of John-William. Stott Hall has been a big part of Paul’s life, almost thirty years have been spent working the land and tending livestock.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow to accept that you own none of it and have little say in the farm’s future. My heart aches for the little guy; his love for the place is immense.

From the sloping ceilings and wonky walls of the old house to the stone barns perched on the slopes and all the wonderful wildlife that share this characterful spot with us.

To him it is everything; his home, his future and his escape from what he finds to be an increasingly difficult world to live in. His port in a storm.

We soldier on, continuing as we always have, ignoring the wave of change which is now gathering momentum, seemingly unstoppable and quite oblivious to the damage and heartbreak it brings to our door.