It s been a hard, but exciting road South Cumbrian farmer John Atkinson and his partner Maria Benjamin have trod since we featured them in Farmer three years ago. JOHN Atkinson, born and bred in the Lake District, and Maria Benjamin, who came for work and stayed, are knowledgeable and interesting, passionate and sometimes controversial. John Atkinson’s family has moved just three miles in 600 years, farming in the Crake valley south of Coniston in the Lake District National Park. John, 60, is the sixth generation at Nibthwaite Grange Farm. The family had always been tenants until his parents bought the farm, prompting John to take over from his dad Bill when he was 21. “He had to sell all his livestock to pay for it and still says that was the worst day of his life,” says John, who is joined on the farm most days by his ‘retired’ dad, who is in his 80s.
Grizedale Arts completed their purchase of The Farmer’s Arms at Lowick Bridge on Tuesday. The arts organisation plans to return the inn back to the heart of the community. More than £300,000 was raised during six months of fundraising. Local investors and donors, on top of a matching loan from the Architectural Heritage Fund, contributed to the fund. The Grade II listed pub had been empty for nearly two years before the charity took it over. Grizedale Arts will now work together with the community to transform the neglected building. They aim to make The Farmer’s Arms a welcoming pub and community hub.