Why Scarborough farmer and livestock haulier Pat Foxton has a 'beef' over bank closure

But it is down the road at Malton where Pat has been venting his spleen recently and having spearheaded the local livestock market’s still hopeful move to a new out-of-town location, his new target is his local bank.

Pat says the closure of the Halifax branch just last week and current demise of local banking availability in market towns needs addressing.

“My beef is I was never asked if I wanted it to close. When I found out it was going to happen in November last year and read their brochure I just found it a pack of lies. People still want face-to-face banking and to get advice from local bank staff, and just because 46 per cent of Halifax customers bank online, the brochure says, it does not mean they want to lose their local branches.

“When another branch of Halifax closed I am told 60 per cent of those customers that used it came to Malton. That must prove people want face-to-face banking.

When Malton Livestock Market eventually makes its move Pat hopes there may be a case made for the Halifax having an office there.

“I’ve spoken with the team that ran the Halifax in Malton – Andy, Anthony, Lesley and Beth – who have been fantastic. I’m guessing there’s little chance but I’ll keep saying my piece.

Pat’s much more hopeful about the future of North Farm with his family’s involvement.

“I came to North Farm in 1977 with my wife Moira. We married in 1972 and have a son James who lives in Kenya and daughter Lorna who lives here with her husband Chris and their son and my grandson Patrick. Everyone contributes.

“I applied for the tenancy, which at the time was a Duchy of Lancaster farm,” says Pat. “My dad, Fred, was a farmer and a butcher, his dad was too, in Tibthorpe near Driffield. I liked some of the butchering side but not dealing with the customers which was the most important bit.

“I studied agriculture and management at Bishop Burton College where I met Moira. We first moved to Wetwang. We brought some pigs we’d had there with us to North Farm, which ran to 300 acres when I took it on as a tenant, but when the Duchy put it up for sale I bought it and over the course of a few years sold land to bring it to the 100 acres we have today.

“We went over to a dairy herd of 100 cows and came out of dairying in the latter part of the 90s, transferring into suckler cows. That’s when I started the haulage business because one or two people who’d been in haulage had either retired or passed on.

“I was a one-man band, one truck business, Patrick Foxton Livestock Haulage looking after farmers that had stock to go to or come back from Malton, York, Ruswarp, Thirsk, Selby and occasionally further afield to Carlisle, Kirkby Stephen, Penrith.

Pat found that his haulage business gave him the opportunity to expand his cattle trade without expanding his numbers on the farm.

“I had about 40 suckler cows when we were at our height. I also bought suckled calves. Another income was hiring stock bulls out, which were purebred Limousin, Simmental, Charolais, Angus or whatever someone wanted. Hopefully I never saw them on farm. I’d pick them up on my travels and they just went straight out on hire. I picked up a good reputation as people would ring and say they’d seen my stock bull at so-and-so’s farm and could they hire it.

Today’s farming operation at North Farm is a combination of arable cropping, cattle and sheep, whilst also a combination of experience and youth with both Patricks. Pat says his grandson’s involvement is a source of pride.

“We had gone out of sucklers when things got a bit tight – but we’d kept some heifers and with Patrick being keen we’re just on calving those heifers now. He does an awful lot of work here before he goes to work elsewhere, working for a family farm locally. We’ve currently got about 50 cattle and 90-odd sheep.

“Our arable cropping is 30 acres of winter wheat and the same again of winter and spring barley, plus 20 acres of potatoes, and then grass for grazing and mowing. We had some land in the ELS and we have some in an SFI scheme.

Lorna and Chris have been responsible for the biggest transformation at North Farm over the past decade. Lorna offers what they call Stylish Stays Yorkshire across two and soon to be three holiday accommodations and tells of how it all came about.

“North Farm has been home for me for nearly 50 years. I went off and had an early career in horse racing, including Point to Pointing and National Hunt before going off to

read agriculture at Newcastle University and then marrying Chris.

“We were looking for somewhere locally in the mid-2000s and between us all we decided there were some very nice traditional buildings here in the courtyard that would bring about a house for us, an office and holiday cottages.

“Fifteen years ago we took on the total redevelopment of those traditional farm buildings in a very sustainable fashion, using lime mortar, lime finishes inside, lime plaster with the whole idea of keeping the breathability of the building.

“For Yorkshire we were early adopters of polished concrete floors. To us it was a no brainer. The barns didn’t have foundations particularly, which meant we could create, clad, and put in underfloor heating. I think a lot of people thought we were crackers and had only seen it on such as TV’s Grand Designs but it has been fantastic.

“We have another barn, that we have been transforming, that we’re about to open up as a third holiday cottage and will be our flagship, Whisper Gill, joining Breaday Gill and Folly Gill. We have insulated the cottages with woodfibre, hemp and sheepswool. We are particularly environmentally conscious.

Lorna sees what they are all doing at North Farm as the way forward, including her other son Charles who currently works in hospitality and is looking to start a new business on the farm.

“We are based just inside the North York Moors National Park and we’re transitioning to regenerative agriculture, with wild bird crops, nectar rich fields and greater enhancement of wildlife and biodiversity. Our visitors love to see the swifts, swallows and house martins.

Pat is proud of both Lorna’s Stylish Stays and Patrick’s eye for business start-up.

“Patrick’s doing really well. He’s started a haylage, hay and straw business and has found a niche making and selling small bales. We may not have a Halifax in Malton any more but I’d bank on my family every time.