Leaving acting for a return to farming ‘saved me’

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Alexandra Bassingham

BBC News, West of England

Joe Sims

BBC Radio Bristol

Harry Churchill Harry Churchill in a selfie, on the right hand side of the picture and smiling as he leans into a black cow which is looking at the camera and leaning on another black cow that is also looking at the camera. There is straw in the foreground of the picture and you can see the blue sky behind. Harry Churchill

Harry Churchill started building his herd a year ago

An actor who left drama school to begin working on his family’s farm has been nominated for a British farming award after setting up on his own a year ago.

Cattle farmer Harry Churchill, 23, from Hambrook, South Gloucestershire, said moving home during the pandemic and working closely with animals helped him discover where he wanted to be.

“You get a real respect for all of that, and I realised I was becoming a person I didn’t want to be while I was an actor. Farming really saved me,” he said.

He now runs social media sites from Churchill’s Farm, sharing his daily farming life and said being put forward for the award left him “speechless”.

Handout Harry Churchill as a young boy at a farm event. He is wearing a dark zip up top with around three layers beneath of grey, navy and white in colour. He is smiling at the camera and is around aged 6. Handout

Mr Churchill, a fifth-generation farmer, began publishing online content under Churchill’s Farm a year ago

Mr Churchill’s nomination is in the new entrant against the odds category, which he said reflects him entering the industry at a time when “beef prices are at an all-time high, food prices at an all-time high and cattle prices are through the roof”.

As a fifth-generation farmer, his family have been in the industry since 1905 and recently diversified to supply hay and haulage to livery yards.

After deciding to stay in the West Country, he said he thought carefully about “how can I bring the glitz and glam of the West End to the farm”.

He bought his first cattle early last year and looked at what others like Jeremy Clarkson were doing before starting to make online content.

He shows what he is doing behind the scenes every day, and said it is “a bit of fun, sometimes I’m singing with the animals and I have a bit of a dance now and then”.

He said he is passionate about getting a positive message out about farming, at a time when it has been quite negatively portrayed in the media.

Handout Harry Churchill as a pre-teen with short brown hair with a longer fringe. He is wearing a brown gilet and a white checked long sleeve shirt with light sand coloured corduroy trousers and sitting on a small piece of farming equipment. There is grass in the background and Harry is smiling at the camera. Handout

Mr Churchill says the best thing about returning to farming is loving what he does

Harry Churchill Harry in farm overalls standing with his hands on his hip to the left hand side of the picture and smiling at the camera with his cows behind him in a cow barn. One of the cows, which is brown and white and standing close to him has its head turned and is looking at the camera. Harry Churchill

Mr Churchill will find out if he has won an award in October

Mr Churchill said: “A year in it’s amazing. I never thought it would have the following it has, with a steady following on TikTok and Instagram.”

While he said he knows there are going to be tough times, he enjoys loving what he does.

“I always wake up smiling and as soon as I see those cows in the field, that’s my day sorted,” he added.

The national farming awards are taking place on 16 October.

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