Raikes Barn Beck Side farm Dairy cows
A branch of the Robinson family has farmed at Beck Side Farm, Rimington, since the early 1900s. Currently (October 2021) Bennett and Elizabeth Robinson live in Raikes Barn (on the farm) and one son and his family live at Beck Side Farm. Previously Bennet and Elizabeth lived at Beck Side and Bennett’s parents Robert and Jane lived at Raikes.
Bennett and Elizabeth were recorded , talking about their lives, in the summer of 2021 when they were in their 80s.
Beck Side Farm was originally part of the estate of the Lane Fox family, of Bramham Park near Wetherby. In 1918 GR Lane Fox sold the whole estate to Walter Pollard. He subsequently became bankrupt and so the estate was sold off in lots in 1924. The other significant local landowner was Lord Ribblesdale of Gisburne Park.
Bennett and Elizabeth in their eighties
To hear Bennett talking about his early life click here
On the far right is Bennet (14) and other members of Gisburn Young Farmers receiving their winners' trophy for public speaking. Bennett spoke about 'Buying and selling an attested dairy cow'. The other picture is of the first page of his speech.
To read Bennett's speech click here
In 1983 Dorothy Falshaw (Elizabeth and Bennett's sister-in-law) was Club Leader of Gisburn Young Farmers' Club (YFC) and she and Christine Thistlethwaite worked together as a team to put on a concert for the YFC National Competition.They started at Settle and won that competition, which took them to Harrogate then onto Hexham and then to the national finals in the Isle of Man.
They didn’t win the finals of the competition but it was a wonderful experience.John Falshaw transported all the props in their cattle waggon, they hired coaches to take the cast to Harrogate and Hexham and finally went by ferry to Douglas Isle of man (IOM) for the final .
To see a poster of the IOM concert click here
To hear Bennett talking about life on the farm click here
Bennett on one of the first tractors in Rimington, bought in 1953 for £589-17-6. Left to right ; Tommy Latham, Laurence Silverwood, John Metcalfe Invoice for the tractor Snow in 1963 Bennett and Elizabeth at Yarmouth in 1970
To hear Bennett and Elizabeth talking their holiday cottage experiences click here
Front page of holiday coattage brochure
To hear Bennett and Elizabeth talking about one particular visitor, a nurse, click here
