Family pay tribute to Countryfile farming hero Joan Bomford, who has died aged 92

THE family of Joan Bomford have spoken of their profound loss after the sad death of the loving mum known as a “legend of farming”.

The 92-year-old was passionate about farming, and was happiest at the wheel of a tractor or in the saddle riding one of her beloved horses.

Her son Colin recalls her still working on the family farm, Norval in South Littleton, last summer: “I’ve got a video of her on the tractor harrowing a field last year in July. It was the sunniest day of the year, so I made her go and put her hat on. In her 93rd year she was still feeding the cattle, delivering bales of hay on the tractor.”

Known as Mrs B to the thousands of children she taught to ride at her equestrian school, Moyfield, also based at the family’s 400-acre farm, she was also known for her charity work – including supporting Riding for the Disabled and lending horses to the Sealed Knot re-enactment society.

She died suddenly but peacefully on 28th January after a brief illness.

Mrs B was born in 1932 on her family’s farm in Inkberrow and would bunk off from Alcester Grammar School, where she was educated, preferring to help her dad work the land.

Explaining that she came from a long line of able matriarchs, Colin said: “Her grandfather died in a farming accident at the turn of the century, leaving her grandmother to look after the farm on her own.”

During the war, with all the men going off to fight, Joan stepped up to help her own mum work the land and was the first in the family to drive a tractor – aged just eight.

After marrying Tony in 1954, also from a farming family with a long lineage, the couple went on to have four children– Marie, Joe and Kim, as well as Colin. And were blessed with seven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

“Mum was very strict while we were growing up,” recalled Colin. “She wouldn’t tolerate bad behaviour, but she was very loving and if you asked her for anything she would help you as much as she could.”

Sadly Tony died in 2014, and it hit Mrs B hard. She later explained: “The only time I felt like giving up was when my husband Tony died. We had farmed together for more than 60 years, my dream was his and his dream mine. We were soul-mates, best friends and had never exchanged a bad word in all that time. He was my farming hero.”

Recognition and a much-needed boost came when she was crowned the BBC Countryfile’s Farming Hero in 2015 aged 83 after being nominated by Colin. Thereafter she wrote her very well received memoir, Up With The Lark – My Life on the Land.

Colin recalled: “My partner Jules and I were watching Countryfile when they invited people to name their farming hero. I turned to Jules and said, ‘If that’s not my mother, I don’t know who is’. She didn’t like to blow her own trumpet, so we had to blow it for her.”

Mrs B was proud to win the award, which led to TV appearances, stories in the national press and the book deal.

Movingly, Colin recalled her words from the prologue of Up With The Lark: “It’s a life that brought me unexpected attention recently, and an award that leaves me lost for words.

“Gazing out from my old bedroom, my beloved barn and the pasture land beyond, I think of that scrap of a girl with soil under her fingernails and wonder how on earth she grew up to be considered a farming hero.”

Poignantly, Colin added: “Mum was an inspiration, with an incredibly sharp mind. We know she had a terrific life and we’re very proud of what she achieved. Obviously we thought she was going to live forever. We haven’t quite come to terms with our loss yet.”

Inviting everybody to attend his mother’s funeral at 1pm, 20th February at All Saints’ Church, Evesham, Colin added: “If as expected there is a large turnout, the doors of nearby St Lawrence’s Church will be open with a video and sound link of the service. We do not want anyone standing out in the cold.

“There will be a small private family burial after at the farm where Joan will be laid to rest beside her husband, Tony.

“Everyone is welcome after the service to proceed to her wake at Quarry Pit Farm, Dormston, Inkberrow – where Mother was born. The family will join everyone shortly afterwards to celebrate her wonderful life.”