For a lot of children for whom farms are something they only see on television, Farms for City Children changes that. On Tuesday of this week, Princess Anne was in Devon visiting a charity celebrating forty years of letting city children have access to life on the farm.
The Princess Royal was at Nethercott House, Winkleigh, one of the farms belonging to Farms for City Children. The charity was the brainchild of Michael and Clare Morpurgo, who together with the Lord Lieutenant, David Fursdon, met the Princess when she arrived by helicopter. The Princess was shown the piggery, forest school and walled gardens, where she saw farm work being undertaken under the close supervision of Nethercott staff. The lucky pupils were from Lipson Vale Primary School, Plymouth.
Having seen the work the charity does in action, Princess Anne then met the CEO, Dr Tessa Stone, who introduced her to the Mayor of Hatherleigh, the farming partners and alumni, teachers and children who had previously visited the farms. Finally, the Princess “opened” a bench to mark her visit and cut a cake (pictured above) which was enjoyed by the eighty or so attendees. All those there had a wonderful day, Michael Morpurgo who is perhaps best known as the author of “Warhorse” said: “We were delighted to welcome Princess Anne back to Nethercott after her previous visit to Treginnis, our farm in Wales in 2010.
“It is fantastic to have her support and understanding and we look forward to working together with her for many years to come.”
The charity has three farms; at Nethercott, Treginnis; a sheep farm on the Pembrokeshire coast, and Wick Court a Tudor manor house and livestock farm on the River Severn. The charity gives the chance to sample farming life to around 3000 pupils and 400 teachers a year. Princess Anne has been their Patron for over twenty-five years and during that time has visited the farms five times, three of which have been to Nethercott.