Your Stories

Jean, now 78-years-old, grew up in Long Lee near Keighley but moved to Currer Laithe Farm, half a mile away, 50 years ago. The 16th century farm which had belonged to her grandfather was at that time a ruin.

"There were no windows and nettles grew up the wall," she recalls. "We had no electricity and there was no road down to the farm."

Jean has written four books on her life

"We also took on my grandfather's debt which we had to clear. But we were a team to be reckoned with! My father, mother, older handicapped brother - who had cerebral palsy - and younger sister had to survive, but we were so well equipped to do it."

"We could build, we could roof, we could do the plumbing. My mother made the carpets from old coats cut into strips of material. We decorated, painted and did all the upholstery ourselves."

"We've laid the wooden flooring in the lounge and together we built the quarter mile road down to the farm. We took a sledgehammer to the boulders, evened it out and laid gravel on top."

"We really had to make do and mend. It was do it yourself - or not do it at all."

Jean attributes her 'can do' attitude to the way she was brought up. She was taught responsibility from an early age, looking after her handicapped brother and milking cows by hand at the age of eight. Her survival skills were learned as a Girl Guide; her mother taught her how to cook and her aunt how to sew.

When her father died from cancer 30 years ago, Jean gave up her job as headmistress at the village school in Kildwick to work on the farm full time. Soon after the funeral a letter arrived from the Ministry of Agriculture saying it would be advisable for farmers to diversify.

Jean says: "They offered help if anybody wanted to convert their farm premises into holiday accommodation. That was the beginning of 30 years of welcoming people into our home."

Jean says she has led a wonderful life at Currer Laithe Farm. She's even written four books about her life, the latest - which she says is her last - is called We'll Blow with the Wind.

As Jean and her sister Margaret have no family to pass the farm onto they have covenanted the property to the National Trust. But, in the meantime, they both still do almost everything themselves on the 200-acre farm. 

They continue to take in guests, many of whom come back time and time again. They are in the middle of decorating one of the guest bedrooms and Jean plans to lay the carpet herself. 

So while we learn how to survive in these leaner times, Jean has already been there and done that and she stands out as a role model for us all.

"We'll Blow with the Wind" by Jean Brown is published by Palatine Books.