Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen is used to sharing the ins and outs of her farmyard life with the public, as she stars in the Channel 5 series that follows her and her husband Clive Owen, and their children, around their farm.
The Yorkshire Shepherdess chatted to Ben Fogle on his Return to the Wild series and the programme featured a touching moment where Amanda revealed the heartbreak she had over the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 2001.
Ben travelled to Amanda’s Ravenseat Farm in the Yorkshire Dales to catch up with the Owen family.
Amanda began: “I think at that point, it would be the time when we felt the most isolated and the most remote.
(Image: Channel 5)
“To look out the bedroom window and to see the Cumbrian sheep being gathered in and taken away to get slaughtered and realising that we were just that one step away from losing everything, just horrendous.
“We lost a third of our flock because we send sheep away during the winter to kinder climes.
“So all the sheep that we sent away never came back.
(Image: Channel 5)
“And people say, ‘Well you know, you can replace the sheep just buy some more.’
She continued: “But it doesn’t work like that around here, the sheep have always been here.
“If we leave the sheep stay, it’s the whole pedigree, it’s the hoofing system how they have the homeland instincts on their patch.”
Breaking down, Amanda said: “It would have been a disaster. Even now, it brings a lump to my throat thinking about it, it was terrible.”
(Image: Channel 5)
“It still haunts you?” Ben asked and she responded: “Yeah, it was terrible, it really was.
“When I came here to live I brought with me one turnover crate, two sheepdogs and a handful of sheep. And of course, they were there as well so I lost them.”
Ben added: “That was your life, your livelihood, everything you aspired to own.”
(Image: Instagram)
Amanda continued: “Absolutely I mean people say, ‘Well you can’t know each one of these sheep on an individual basis,’ because you can’t we have a lot of them.
“But it doesn’t mean that you don’t have that same affection for them.
“If you weren’t bothered about them then you couldn’t do this job, basically.
The Yorkshire Shepherdess added: “You’re always striving to do your best.”
(Image: Instagram)
Amanda then got emotional talking about the subject, as she apologised and told Ben: “Sorry about that,” and Ben interjected: “Don’t be silly.”
He went on to say: “It’s still really raw, the fact it can still bring tears to her eyes is testament to how it destroyed so many lives.
“A lot of us just think, just replace the sheep it’s fine just bring some new ones in but it’s not as simple as that, that goes beyond my own comprehension.
“Those flocks, those herds couldn’t just be replaced they’ve been built up over centuries.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
