Coming up on this episode of White Wine Question Time. It was like literally put on the map. You can stop here for a cup of tea. I mean, it's not glamorous. There's no expressos or anything exciting. And if you don't like currents, pick them out. You know, that's the kind of welcome that you get. Jog on, go to the nearest establishment. It sounds very unfriendly, but it suits. I can't believe you're 51 and you're still wearing a skirt above your knees. Or why'd you put makeup on when you're just going outside? Or why do you do this? Or who do you think you are? You know, stay in your lane and all the rest of it. Get back to the fields and hoe. It was something that I was proud of.

And I thought, I didn't think to myself particularly as a platform because I was never looking for a soapbox.

Literally, all it was was a way of preserving this life.

And that's what people don't get.

Hello and welcome to White Wine Question Time, the podcast that asked its guests, three thought-provoking questions over three glasses of wine.

And my guest today is someone who has lived a life so full, so rugged, chaotic and quietly extraordinary that it's made her, well, one of Britain's most famous farmers, all without ever meaning to ever step in front of the camera,

and all with nine children in tow.

Now, at 51, she was born in Huddersfield in 1974 and grew up watching all creatures great and small,

losing herself in books on farming, vet work,

and the lives of hill shepherds.

Whilst other teenagers were getting into trouble, she kept a head down,

feeling middling and forgettable, never quite believing she had potential,

until she realised she wanted one thing more than anything, a life on the land.

By her early 20s, she'd worked as a model briefly, did I mention that she is six foot two,

and as a shop assistant before landing her dream job as a contract shepherdess. And in 1996,

she met the man she'd go on to build a farm and a family with, Clive Owen.

Four years later, they took on Raven Seat in the Yorkshire Dales, a place renowned for its remote beauty.

Together they raised nine children, all mucking in with lambing, riding, repairing fences and hosting, well, seemingly

half of the Dales for tea. Chaos by her own admission is the measure of a good day. And though

she and Clive separated in 2022, after a brilliant 22 years of marriage.

They continue to work the farm side by side.

They live side by side.

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