Noah's time at Carriston Farm

Wow! What a two weeks it’s been. It’s Noah here. Instead of my dad’s long tangents about his time lambing (which I hope is going better since his last blog post), I’ll be here to tell you about my time on the terrific Carriston Farm!

The farm is everything I expected it to be and more. Matthew and Lynn Jack were superb hosts, providing a brilliant bothy to stay in and amazing meals. As well as the accommodation and meals, they gave me one of the most unique—but best—jobs in the world: lambing.

This was unlike anything I’d experienced before. After I heard that their farm had won Mixed Farm of the Year, I got my first real sense of how big this operation really is! But the trust that Matthew and Lynn had in me was unbelievable. To trust an inexperienced 16-year-old who needed to FaceTime his granny to work the washing machine takes some real guts!

And of course, lambing has its highs and lows. But no matter how low it gets, you always have to remember: you are learning. Learning day by day, night by night.

The first shock I got upon my arrival was how firm Matthew’s handshake was! (Only kidding.) It was the 80 ewes, all scanned for triplets, staring at me—almost as if they were saying, “Let’s get this guy’s work cut out.” And they very much did that.

Of course, for the first few days Matthew was showing me around the farm—where everything was and what he called “his area” (the cows). After that, I tucked Orla into bed and had a good night’s rest before my first proper day.

As soon as I was out the door, I was catching triplets and lambing. I think being thrown straight into the thick of it really benefited me, as I was on my toes from the word go. Pushing on and on, my eye bags got heavier and heavier, but my enthusiasm stayed high.

The whole time I was there, it was always in the back of my mind how much trust Matthew and Lynn had in giving me this job in the first place—and that made me try as hard as possible to do my best.

Of course, there were times where I needed an experienced set of hands to help and guide me. Nevertheless, I listened and took in as much as I could.

The co-workers around me were brilliant as well. None of them made me feel awkward or unwanted, which is always great. They’re all a good laugh too.

By day seven, I really got into the swing of things—taking initiative more and more. I learned which electric fences were switched on the hard way… Safe to say, I quickly knew which ones were on and which ones weren’t!

For the first time ever, I was lambing hoggs as well. We never lamb hoggs at home, so this was a challenge, but for the ones I did lamb, I felt I did well.

Coming up to my final days, I started to really take it all in. I honestly didn’t want to leave. It almost felt like my second home. I had become so comfortable with everyone and everything around me.

Carriston Farm will always have a place in my heart, and I’ll never forget the place—or the people. It’s changed me for the better and gave me a real understanding of the word “responsibility”.

From carrots, cows, chickens and sheep, Carriston Farm is one of the best places I’ll ever go to.

I’m eternally grateful to everyone at the farm for making this such an incredible experience. I’ll never shut up about my time there—I seriously love the place.

Well, that’s my first debut blog done, folks. Hope it was better than my father’s (that’s a given!).

It’s now time to go home and see if Dad has sold all my Herdwicks…