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Episode 3

Episode 3 of 5

Clashing with his father, James Rebanks gains a place at Oxford University, but misses the farming life. Read by Bryan Dick.

Clashing with his father, James Rebanks gains a place at Oxford University, but misses the farming life.

James Rebanks is the first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and around the Lake District for generations.

Small scale farming is an increasingly precarious livelihood, it's almost impossible to earn enough money to bring up a family, you need a secondary income. And so, as disagreements with his father intensified, James, aged twenty-one, decided to return to education, resulting in a place at Oxford. All the time he was away, he longed to be back home, working on the fells.

James Rebanks has a huge following on Twitter ( as the @herdyshepherd1 ) where you can see photographs detailing day to day life on the farm - including his fine flock of Herdwick sheep and, the latest additions to the workforce, sheepdog Floss's ten puppies.

Read by Bryan Dick

Written by James Rebanks
Abridged by Sian Preece

Producer: Kirsteen Cameron.

First broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 4 in April 2015.

15 minutes

Last on

Thu 23 Jan 2020 02:45

Credits

Role Contributor
Reader Bryan Dick
Author James Rebanks
Abridger Sian Preece
Producer Kirsteen Cameron

Broadcasts

  • Wed 15 Apr 2015 09:45
  • Thu 16 Apr 2015 00:30
  • Wed 30 Mar 2016 14:45
  • Thu 31 Mar 2016 02:45
  • Wed 22 Jan 2020 14:45
  • Thu 23 Jan 2020 02:45

James Rebanks: On Your Farm

James Rebanks: On Your Farm

Caz Graham Caz joins James herding sheep back to the fells for summer.

The Shepherd's Life - Are Ewe A Shepherd at Heart?

Take our quiz and discover if you can tell your heft from your herd.

One shepherd and his beloved Herdwick sheep

James Rebanks reflects on the worldwide response to The Shepherd's Life.

James Rebanks: "People like us are married to the landscape"

James Rebanks: "People like us are married to the landscape"

James Rebanks on his connection to the land and the farmers that went before him

Nine things you never knew about sheep

James Rebanks reveals some surprising facts about ewes, rams and lambs.

A Sheepdog's Life

A Sheepdog's Life

If there were a prize for the world's cutest puppy, Floss would have won.