Well known from her appearances on ITV’s The Dales, Amanda Owen is one of those lucky people living their dreams. Amanda Owen lives in a remote corner of Yorkshire; she’s a mother of 7 (she wants 10) children, a farmer’s wife, a shepherdess and an all-round farmer’s assistant. The Yorkshire Shepherdess tells an extraordinary story, one many of us will envy. Life is a constant challenge as you can read in her book, but her love of children, farming and the countryside shine through.
Amanda Owen has been seen by millions on ITV's The Dales, living a life that has almost gone in today's modern world, a life ruled by the seasons and her animals. She is a farmer's wife and shepherdess, living alongside her husband Clive and seven children at Ravenseat, a 2000 acre sheep hill farm at the head of Swaledale in North Yorkshire. It's a challenging life but one she loves. In The Yorkshire Shepherdess she describes how the rebellious girl from Huddersfield, who always wanted to be a shepherdess, achieved her dreams. Full of amusing anecdotes and unforgettable characters, the book takes us from fitting in with the locals to fitting in motherhood, from the demands of the livestock to the demands of raising a large family in such a rural backwater. Amanda also evokes the peace of winter, when they can be cut off by snow without electricity or running water, the happiness of spring and the lambing season, and the backbreaking tasks of summertime - haymaking and sheepshearing - inspiring us all to look at the countryside and those who work there with new appreciation.
Amanda Owen grew up in Huddersfield but was inspired by the James Herriot books, amongst others, to work in farming. After learning her craft as a freelance shepherdess, cow milker and alpaca shearer, she settled down as a farmer's wife with her own flock of sheep at Ravenseat. Happily married and with seven children (so far), she wouldn't change a thing about her hectic but rewarding life.
