There is nothing quite like visiting a traditional hill farm. Rain or shine, there is something undeniably unique about the landscapes and those who farm it.

Many of these farms have a rich history too, and this is something photographer John Bentley wanted to capture and preserve.

A keen photographer since the 1970s, John has been looking to find the right story to collate into a photographic collection, and it was northern hill farms that gave him that inspiration for his new book: Hill Farming in the North of England.

He says: “The project grew out of early work I did photographing livestock markets, some of which go back to the 1970s and 1980s. The markets project gradually broadened to include agricultural shows and, in particular, small-scale sheep shows in the north of England. I was quickly captivated by these events that were attended almost exclusively by farmers and no one else. The favourite for me is the Tan Hill Open Swaledale Sheep Show, which takes place in makeshift pens on moorland next to England’s highest pub, the Tan Hill Inn – several pages of pictures of this marvellous show are featured in the book.”

John is not from a farming background, but he has, he says, always had a keen interest.

He spent time as a child on his cousin’s farm in Nottinghamshire – he even recalls seeing a threshing machine working on the farm, ‘before they got their first combine harvester’.

He says: “I saw the farm go from a very mixed enterprise in the 1960s to a virtual sugar beet monoculture by the 1990s. My working career included teaching at Harper Adams University for 13 years, so I certainly got to know a lot of up-and-coming farmers.”

His latest collection has been a long time coming; the fruition, almost, of various projects he has enjoyed in the past. These projects are also where he made many vital contacts.

In 2017, John got involved in a project called ‘Voices from the Land’ run by The Farmer Network. The goal was to provide a snapshot of farming life in the Yorkshire Dales at that time.

He says: “This involved me photographing the Calvert family at work in upper Swaledale during lambing, and later shearing their Swaledale sheep. I really enjoyed this and was pleased with the resulting pictures; I wanted to do more. I then started making contacts with and visiting individual farmers. I also started going on communal sheep gathers to take photographs of the work over the seasons.

“Other contacts were made by just chatting to farmers I encountered on walks – like Peter Redhead at Coniston, who kindly offered to let me come on a fell gather. There were others who I chatted to at shows and mart sales, like Clive Mitchell at Holmfirth, who invited me down to his farm to photograph preparations for tupping with his Lonks, Derbyshire Gritstones and Whitefaced Woodlands. John Dawson, who has appeared in The Yorkshire Dales and Lakes TV series, had me over to photograph scanning of ewes for pregnancy. Special thanks also goes to Linda Allan at North of England Mule Sheep Association, who helped with a number of contacts in the realm of the North of England Mule. One of these was Geoff Wharton at Murton, near Appleby, who proved a great choice to photograph when he won first and second prizes for pens of Mules at the famous Alston Moor Show and Sale at Lazonby Mart in 2021. It was also rather moving to find two farmers who were retiring and selling-off livestock and equipment after very long careers spent in sheep farming.”

Upland farmers have, over the years, faced a variety of challenges, as well as come under fire for their environmental contribution and landscape management. But these communities have survived through many tough times, and that resilience is something to showcase.

The book highlights the art of hill farming as well as those challenges, and includes images of many farmers, gathers, shows, markets and sheepdog trials. It also focuses on the landscape, including photos ofJohn’s home in the Yorkshire Dales, the Howgill Fells, Cumbria, plus parts of Northumberland and Durham.

“I have tried to capture the diversity of the hill farms in terms of the landscape, farming methods, breeds of livestock and the individual farmers themselves,” he says.

“I really hope I have captured the essence and spirit of what it is to be a hill farmer at the present time.

“I knew very little about hill farming before I started, but over the period of the project I have learnt a lot from talking to many different farmers in various localities, plus also doing a lot of reading-up. I have tried to gain first-hand information about different breeds of sheep and their management, and I certainly now understand the fierce partisan loyalty of various farmers to their chosen breed of sheep.

“Sheep breed loyalty is rather like the way some people support particular football teams. I also now greatly appreciate the importance of the small family business and the way centuries of knowledge and tradition is carried forward. The levels at which technology is embraced vary, but what makes a farmer successful is essentially their knowledge of stock rearing and the environment they farm in.

“It is interesting to see the sheer diversity too. For example, take the Swaledale and a rare breed like the Lonk. There are a multitude of breed-specific shows and sales of Swaledales over the north of England and Northern Ireland, whereas the main annual show for Lonks takes place in the corner of a field in Lancashire and is almost like a family affair. I find this all very down-to-earth and something to cherish in an age where small family businesses are under siege and we seem to be dominated by big multinational enterprises, and so much of people’s lives is now online.”

John found these farmers very welcoming and willing to share their story and knowledge, which was something that surprised him. The preconception is that our industry can be quite reserved, but John ‘found that there were a great many who really wanted to tell the public what they do to produce food for the nation and care for their livestock and the environment’. 

Many of those John spoke to also strongly felt that their industry was underappreciated.

“I think there are widespread deep concerns about the future of upland farming within the industry post-Brexit,” he says. 

But the upland areas of the North gave John everything he needed photographically; the views made for one aspect, but the people made for another. He hopes it will provide wider society with an insight into the lives of the people who are a vital part of farming’s infrastructure.

He says: “I do hope that my book can help promote a better knowledge and appreciation of what the farmers do; present them as human beings making an honest living in a difficult world. I hope the book helps readers understand the economic, social and environmental importance of hill farming, including the role farming plays in maintaining actual rural communities at a time when holiday homes with absent owners proliferate in the countryside.

“This is a photographic book, though, and I just hope that readers will enjoy the pictures and being introduced to some of the farmers, livestock and countryside in these wonderful parts of upland Britain.

“I now have rather a lot of sheep-related knowledge for a layman. Suffice to say, on a country walk I was explaining to a friend – probably in too much detail – about a particular breed of sheep we encountered. He looked at me worriedly and asked if people avoided me at parties.”