Page 3 - Yorkshire Post Rural Awards 2017: The Winners

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Young Farmer of the Year
JOSH LAWN
WINNER WINNER
REPUTATION: Richard Skingle from sponsors Rural Insurance presents the award to Josh Lawn.
TOP: Cannon Hall team with senior sales director of sponsors Johnston Press, Richard Tamlyn, right.
Josh Lawn is 18 and farms across 180 acres on land near Hewenden Reservoir in Cullingworth, West Yorkshire.
He works with his father at East Manyfields Farm which is a dairy ca le and sheep concern – and where Josh majors on the sheep. He has 80 breeding ewes; Suffolks, Charollais, Mules and Charollais X Beltex.
He is earning a fine reputation in the
agricultural show rings with his Suffolk sheep and has won many titles with his tup lambs, before last year and this.
Josh is also a prolific sheep shearer and has sheared more than 2,000 sheep this year. He is a member of the Aire Valley Young Farmers’ Club and finds time to play rugby for his local outfit, Bradford and Bingley Bees.
Josh has also represented Yorkshire at the sport.
Cannon Hall Farm was a small family enterprise that was struggling against a mountain of debt when Roger Nicholson came up with the idea of opening it to the public as a tourist a raction.
Despite his bank advising that he sold up instead, he would go on to establish the farm as a hugely popular a raction, turning over £7.68m in 2016 and employing more than 250 people.
Over the years a new farmyard has been added, comprising of seven new farm buildings, restaurants, a gift shop, indoor and outdoor play areas, a bakery and a farm shop.
A meerkat enclosure has been added and a recently opened reptile and mini-beast house has snakes, lizards, frogs, crabs and insects. Cannon Hall also hosts a food festival over four days each August, a racting tens of thousands of visitors.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 14 2017 YORKSHIRE POST
RURAL AWARDS /3 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
Rural Tourist A raction of the Year
CANNON HALL FARM