How farmers in Ambridge started their careers

However much Tony bigs up the role of veg manager at Bridge Farm, it is never going to fill Johnny with unbridled joy. Johnny has his sights set on bigger horizons. He reckons he gets his itchy feet from his granddad Tony because he did just the same at the start of his life as a farmer.

Let’s wind the clock back to when some of our established farmers were fresh-faced newbies:

Tony Archer

• At 15 years old he started work on Ralph Bellamy's estate where he fell in love with Fordson tractors.
• Around the time he turned 20 he thought about emigrating to Australia but instead took over running Ralph’s dairy herd and enrolled on a management course at Borchester Tech (now Borchester College).

David Archer

• During school holidays David helped out at Willow Farm under the watchful eye of farmhand Percy Jordan.
• After his A-Levels he helped out at Brookfield. In 1978 he was earning £20 a week plus board and use of a truck.
• He grew dissatisfied and wanted more responsibility but his dad Phil was a hard man to convince. Phil’s dad, Dan, encouraged him to give David a fair hearing before turning down all of his ideas.

Ruth Archer (nee Pritchard)

• Joined the workforce at Brookfield as an apprentice in 1987 and ending up marrying the heir of the farm.
• On her first day she was half an hour late for morning milking and in her first few months she accidentally contaminated a tanker load of milk.
• She saved Freda the pig from the chop by finding her a home at Nightingale Farm.

Adam Macy

• At 12 years old gamekeeper Tom Forrest noted Adam had the makings of a real countryman.
• After he graduated from university, Adam travelled in Africa where he really got interested in agriculture.
• His beginnings at Home Farm impressed Brian – suggesting improvements for the sheep and deer, pitching the idea of growing soft fruit and mending a cultivator with a wire coat hanger.

Neil Carter

• Just shy of his sixteenth birthday, Neil became an apprentice for Ambridge Farmers – made up of Brookfield, Allard’s Farm and Barratt’s Farm. Phil and Dan Archer met him at Hollerton Junction train station.
• Early on he failed his proficiency test on safety grounds because he left the fore-end loader up on the tractor.
• His experience with pigs started at Phil’s Hollowtree pig unit.

Ed Grundy

• Through his teens Ed picked up work hand-weeding carrots at Bridge Farm, mowing lawns and helping Eddie with his odd jobs. But he was more interested in playing in his band, Dross.
• He has had casual work pretty much on every farm in Ambridge, though early on Brian said he would only employ him if he was desperate.
• Dependable employment at Grange Farm under Oliver pulled him from a downward spiral with drink and hard drugs. (Read more about Ed's turbulent early years)

Farming has changed even since Ed got started. There is a different lie of the land for the next generation of farmers in Ambridge. We wait to see how the careers of the likes of Johnny and Pip turn out.