Bristol's last working traditional farm features on Countryfile

Bristol's last working traditional farm features on Countryfile

Posted on: 18 Jan 2022

Take a look inside one of Bristol's last surviving farm's battle against urbanisation.

 

Catch the latest installation of the BBC's Countryfile featuring Yew Tree Farm, the last traditional working farm with a Bristol city postcode located in Bedminster Down, just four miles from the city centre.

 

Locked in a battle for survival, the episode follows owner Catherine Withers as she details the struggle to protect her heritage, also exploring the ecological value of the farm against the backdrop of the climate crisis.

 

Head to BBC iPlayer here to watch the full programme.

 

 

Catherine and her family have farmed in Bristol for 500 years, moving to Yew Tree Farm in the 1960s. As the future of the farm looks increasingly uncertain, she is determined to defend her heritage.

 

During the programme, Catherine says: "I'm wedded to this land. I feel so so embedded in it - it's part of me ... I'm a small chapter in this farm's history and it can't go on my watch."

 

Just a century ago, there were 28 working farms in the Bedminster Down area, today there is just one. Bristol is the fastest growing city outside of London, and as it continues to urbanise, green belt land is increasingly targeted for development.

 

Catherine grazes livestock on 13 acres of privately owned land which is now marked for housing. If the proposed homes were to be built, Catherine says that she wouldn't be able to run the farm: "We couldn't continue if there were 200 homes built here. It would be untenable."

 

Elsewhere in the programme, Avon Wildlife Trust's Grow Wilder project, which aims to put farming back into the heart of communities, is featured. The initiative provides ecological education, teaching the value of wildflowers and sustainable food growing.

 

Find the episode on BBC iPlayer here.

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Article by:

George Boyle

 

 

George is a journalism graduate and writer passionate about music and culture. Get in touch via email at george@365bristol.com