Being made redundant has been the best thing to happen to Steve Dunwell and his family. Liz Hands talks to them about making the ultimate lifestyle change
LOOKING out over acres of stunning Northumberland farmland they now own, Steve and Anne Dunwell know the biggest risk of their lives has been worth it.
Their daughter wanders into view with the eggs she has just collected from their own hens, while their two fluffy black alpacas, graze contentedly outside the tearoom.
It’s an idyllic scene, but it hasn’t been an easy ride for the couple to take over the 40-acre Herding Hill Farm near Hadrian’s Wall in Haltwhistle. Electrical contractor Steve, 39, was made redundant shortly after he and his wife Anne, 42, bought a plot of land just outside Leeds to build their dream home.
They went ahead with the build, only for Steve to be put on notice of redundancy again from his next job.
On holiday at Leaplish in Kielder, Steve was feeling down about the news until he spotted Herding Hill Farm. Even then, the couple almost didn’t go for it.
“I mentioned it to Anne but she said there was no way she was moving, we’d just built our home, we’d have to move the children out of school, and I respected her choice,” says Steve.
Anne, who was working with children with autism at the time, adds: “We’d lived in a static caravan for eight months while we were building and we’d just started to get back to a stage of normality.
“I was happy at work and it was a wrench to leave the kids I was looking after.”
But, persuaded to have a viewing, Anne gazed over the countryside she could own and fell just as much in love with the idea as her husband.
There was a farm shop on site, but little else. Keen campers themselves, the pair knew it would make the perfect get-away-from-it-all campsite. But they took a huge gamble, buying it before they had planning permission for any pitches.
If permission was refused, they would not have had a viable business to support their family – Michael, 12, and Emma, 10.
“In a lot of ways we were silly to take that risk,” says Steve.
But due to their obvious passion for the idea, their vision quickly became a reality. After viewing the farm on August 8 last year and putting their business plan forward to the bank on August 13, the family moved in on October 25 and opened the farm shop on Halloween.
Thankfully, approval for their campsite came through at the end of March this year and, by Easter weekend, their pitches were open for business.
So far, they have had 406 bookings, and have huge ambitions for the farm, owned previously by Charles and Debbie Rayson, who produced rare-breed meat.
Key to their plans is championing tourism in the county, supporting local business and showcasing all Northumberland has to offer. “Everything has been done in a mad dash,” says Anne. “We wanted to shop to look more traditional so we visited local farmers’ markets and Bellingham and Otterburn shows, making a note of local suppliers.
“We’ve been blown away by what is made in the region. All our products, our honey, jams, gifts, chilli sauces are made here.”