Creative thinking takes farm into art world

When Heather Hayward responded to a request for studio space from a local artist around five years ago she had little idea that Cold Harbour Farm near Bishop Burton would soon become a haven for creative people.

Heather and husband Paul had taken the decision to come out of dairy farming in 2008, bringing to an end well over half a century of milk production started by Heather’s father John Dunning, who still keeps a watchful eye on proceedings.

“The dairy herd meant a lot to John”, says Paul. “And I had milked all my life. But he understood why we came out. The biggest loss is the pride you have in running and maintaining a dairy herd, but there are lots of things you don’t miss.”

Paul manages the 750-acre farm that is predominantly arable cropping including wheat, barley, oil seed rape and vining peas. He also contract farms a further 450 acres with a team that includes two full-timers and a part-time man who was the dairy herdsman. The only livestock enterprise on the farm today is a suckler herd enterprise, plus Paul looks after a neighbouring farmer’s dairy heifers.

The refinement of the farm business to arable and beef from the days when they had pigs and dairy cows at Cold Harbour led to a number of redundant farm buildings. Paul and Heather had spotted the potential of converting them to offices but hadn’t considered a move into the type of centre they have now become.

“This courtyard had a range of uses from housing calves to pigs and through until foot and mouth disease in 2001 it housed pigs. We subsequently re-sited the pigs at a farm in Molescroft and apart from housing the odd calf these buildings became derelict.

“It’s hard to imagine now that these studios were once tether and farrowing houses. We put in planning permission some years ago but hadn’t done anything further. The time just after foot and mouth was particularly hard making ends meet and we had the dairy herd, the pigs and the arable business. Coming out of dairying was the catalyst for where we have got to now.

“Heather has driven what has become our move into the art world and we have built or rebuilt studios as people have come along. We’re presently at capacity, but we have plans for more as others approach us and where we once housed the dairy herd would lend itself to a very special centre.

“I didn’t suddenly come up with the idea that this would be a great place for artists,” says Heather.

“But it seems to have worked out that way. Peter Brown, the stone carver, was the first to come. He was the man who had been advertising for studio space and it has rolled on from there. We also must put on record our thanks to the Yorkshire Agricultural Society as we received great help at the start from their ‘Growing Routes’ programme.’

“What we have here is peace and quiet with nice views over the countryside. It is a lovely place to reflect, contemplate and create. It’s exactly what most artists want and because we are not based in some expensive area in a town we can offer a much more affordable rent.”

“The artists currently in residence here at Calf House Studios include the excellent watercolour artist Graham Chambers; Debbie March, who creates wonderful works of hand made glass; Claire West, who is an acrylics artist; and ceramicist Alison Brayshaw.”

Photographer John Denton is East Riding born and bred. He is a Master of Photography; a Fellow of the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photography and has become a leading light in the worlds of fashion, art, nude and bridal photography.

He is also the author of a number of books on his subject and with his wife Liz, who has a professional background in training and business management, they now operate one of the world’s leading photographic training workshops and studio development programmes from Calf House Studios.

“We had established a studio at Broughton Hall, near Skipton, which was a fantastic location, but we wanted somewhere local to us as we live in Tickton.

“It was my dad who saw an article about what Heather was doing and it is ideal for us here.

“When I first came I just thought ‘wow’ because it’s all about textures for me. All around I have the most amazing locations – the fields changing from season to season; the sheds; old brickwork providing more of an urban feel; it’s a photographer’s paradise.

“We have people come here from all over the world for training courses and they are in ecstasy with what they find. Some tell me that they have just spent a fortune trying to find a backdrop like the stuff we have here.

“It’s just a fabulous place to put the models for all the genres we shoot in.”

Tracey Spurgin has run her jewellery design business Craftworx from here for the past three years.

She spends a great deal of her time training in the art of metal clay jewellery with the emphasis now firmly on silver clay, producing works of purified silver.

But once again it is the location that makes all the difference to Tracey.

“This is my little corner of heaven. I had been teaching at Hull College and when the government’s agenda on adult learning changed I switched from interior designs and furniture making to teaching jewellery making.

“I had originally started with bead and wire jewellery and by chance I met Heather, who was one of the students. We started talking and in the course of the conversation I mentioned that I would like to locate a studio somewhere a little different to where I was.’

“We met again at a business networking meeting and Heather asked whether I might like to take a look at her farm. It wasn’t something I’d ever thought about but I immediately fell in love with the place and that was at a time when I was seeing it in its derelict state.

“The roof was hanging off and it stunk of pigs, but I knew it could make an amazing space and that’s exactly what it has proved to be. I now wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“All of the artists here meet up monthly too to share ideas, tell each other what seems to be going well for them and organise open days.”

Paul and Heather have a daughter Laura, 26, and son Adam, 24, both of whom are interested in the farm.

They will hopefully become the fifth generation to farm here since the Dunning family came to Cold Harbour.

Paul believes his son’s words when they were considering where they were heading 
were some of the most appropriate and although they didn’t bring about the studio complex they have inadvertently led to it.

“We didn’t put the decision about going out of dairying five years ago into Adam’s and Laura’s hands, but we did include them.

“We’d had plans to put up a new dairy unit for some years but Adam just said that if I wanted to build it I should go ahead, but not to build it for him. It was a very sensible thing to say.”

Calf House Studios will be hosting its annual open day on Sunday, May 5 at Cold Harbour Farm, just south of Bishop Burton.