BARNARD Castle was in the spotlight at the weekend as filming for a popular daytime show took place at this month’s farmers’ market.
Producers of The Farmers Country Showdown contacted market officials earlier in the year about visiting the town. Each episode of the programme follows the efforts of two producers.
For Barnard Castle, cameras visited Allison and Jonathan Raper, at Teesdale Cheesemakers’ Copley base, along with Francesca and Olly Lawson, of Lovesome Oils, which is produced at their 200-acre farm at Brafferton, near Darlington.
Ms Raper said she hoped appearing in the programme would not only benefit their business but would be great for the dale.
“We hope it will bring people into the area to stay over either with us or elsewhere. The more people we can attract and the more people spend can only be a good thing.”
She said filming had been hard work but “really enjoyable” .
The couple launched Teesdale Cheesemakers in January 2016 and moved to Copley three years later, winning a string of awards.
The Lawsons are fourth generation farmers at Lovesome Hill Farm, Brafferton, where rapeseed oil has been grown for about 40 years.
They began producing their own oil about four years ago, initially using a contract presser in Northumberland before investing in their own equipment, and have been regulars at Barney Farmers’ Market for the last two-and-a-half years.
Ms Lawson said they too had enjoyed taking part in the programme.
“It’s been great. They visited us on the farm and filmed the whole process. The production team are so nice and friendly – they really put you at ease,” she said.
The Farmers Country Showdown, made for the BBC by Sidney Street Productions, is now into its seventh series.
Initially the programme concentrated on farmers who were competing at agricultural shows, but when they were cancelled during Covid, farmers’ markets were included.
The new series of The Farmers Country Showdown will be broadcast in January.
