Nigel McIntyre in association with Wolfsong Media presents
‘Adventures of the Yorkshire Shepherdess’ An Evening with Amanda Owen
In this frank, funny and informative new show, Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen shares heart-warming tales and honest anecdotes from her remarkable farming, family life in North Yorkshire. It's a life that has almost gone in today's modern world, one ruled by animals and the four seasons.
We’ll hear how Amanda grew up in Huddersfield, but was inspired by James Herriot’s books to leave her town life behind and head to the countryside. After working as a freelance dairy milker and alpaca shearer, she eventually settled down as a shepherdess at Ravenseat, one of the highest and most remote places in England, where she’s raised a flock of 1000 sheep and a family of 9 children with husband Clive.
Accompanied by some of Amanda's wonderful photography, we’ll experience the highs and lows of the farming year, which in 2018 included the extremes of the Beast from the East and one of the hottest summers on record. Ravenseat is a tenant farm and may not stay in the family, so when Amanda saw a nearby farmhouse up for sale, she knew it was her chance to create roots for the next generation. The old house needed a lot of renovation and money was tight, but with her usual resourcefulness Amanda set about the work herself, with some help from the family, a visiting plumber and a travelling monk. It's fair to say things did not go according to plan.
We’ll hear how Amanda juggles life as a shepherdess, home renovator and mother to nine children, with life as a best-selling author and being taken to the nation’s hearts with the Channel 5 hit series ‘Our Yorkshire Farm’. Funny, charming and filled with unforgettable characters, ‘Adventures of the Yorkshire Shepherdess' will delight anyone who has dreamt of a new life in the country.
Photo credit to: Ian Forsyth
The evening will be host by Pip Stewart, an adventurer, travel writer and film-maker with a passion for meditation, health and wellbeing. A self-proclaimed hippy at heart, Pip is a firm believer that the great outdoors and connecting with people is good for the soul. As well as being an intrepid traveller, she is also a trained meditation instructor. Pip studied history and politics at Oxford University and subsequently worked in Asia for five years as an anchor and reporter in Hong Kong. She also traveled extensively in Malaysia as a key reporter on the general election and produced political and travel multimedia stories for The Telegraph, BBC, CNN, and South China Morning Post, amongst others. Pip’s journey back to Britain in 2013, to take up the role of Adventure Editor for Red Bull Online, was an epic year-long 10,000 mile biking trek, starting in Kuala Lumpur, taking in 26 countries. Despite narrowly avoiding being blown up by mortars on the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border, Pip is still a huge fan of adventure on two wheels. Most recently, Pip’s passion for exploration took her on an epic expedition, kayaking the entire length of the Essequibo River in Guyana, as part of an all female team, which took two months to complete. Starting their journey in the interior of Guyana at the true source of the river, the team paddled for 1,014km until they reached the Atlantic Ocean. Their journey saw them traverse the Acarai Mountains, Wai Wai land, untouched virgin rainforest, unexpected rapids and contentious gold mining areas until finally arriving at their ultimate destination on the coast, and achieving a world first. In 2016 Pip embarked on a 3000 mile cycle, boat and terrifyingly small plane journey exploring Brazil to Peru, raising awareness of the environmental issues in the region. From the mouth of the Amazon River in the Atlantic, finishing in Lima at the Pacific, Pip documented the deforestation of the Amazon and its devastating effect on local indigenous communities. Transamazonica, a six-part documentary series about the journey, is currently being distributed globally by Boulder Creek International. With her vast experience in news anchoring and TV presenting, Pip is a confident and proficient public speaker, with many stories to share about her adventures. Her public speaking appearances include a national tour with the RGS and RSGS, as well as events with TEDx, The Adventure Travel Show, Proctor & Gamble (Beijing), A Night of Adventure, Campfire festival and Sunday Papers Live. Pip's warmth, inquisitive nature and down to earth attitude have endeared her to a core following of 53.1k across her social media platforms. In 2018, Pip joined the Royal Marines on an expedition across remote northern Norway and also became a Craghoppers Ambassador, whilst her infectious energy and enthusiasm for adventure resulted in branded content campaigns with the Japan National Tourist Organisation and most recently with BMW. This year she plans to write a book about her epic Essequibo challenge.
