A country life for me

BBC reporter Rebecca Wood has been leading two lives in lockdown, and from milking cows to herding hens, it’s given her a fascinating view of working on a Cheshire farm

- Rebecca Wood

It’s hard to imagine falling asleep now without the gentle hum of the parlour and the mechanised voice recalling numbers of cows waiting patiently to be milked. But since lockdown was announced that’s the soundtrack that has gently lulled me off to sleep – a world away from the hubbub and traffic my usual life in Birmingham offers.

I’ve been lucky enough to be on lockdown with my friends Karen and Tom Halton at their farm in Cheshire, which has meant combining my TV life with my love of the countryside.

It’s not totally new to me, I’m Cheshire born and bred and have grown up on the fringe of farming life – my dad, grandad, and my great-grandpa were all well-known agricultural engineers, the family business – Walter Wood and Son – based just outside Sandbach for years. My friends growing up were mostly farmers, I was a member of Young Farmers, but it wasn’t until Covid-19 struck that I ever milked a cow.

I’ve been coming to Halton Farms near Congleton for years now and I’m lucky enough to count Kaz and Tom among my closest friends. I’ve watched them tackle falling milk prices with gusto, reinvent working practices to ensure all the animals here have the best life they can, and trailblaze their way to the top. But in all honesty, although I knew they worked hard until I lived here I did not realise how hard farming is. Now it is seeping under my skin – much like the mud under my once-manicured nails.