Tribute to Doug Anderson’s farming life

Well-known Teesdale farmer Douglas Anderson has died aged 89.

Doug was born at Brignall on November 11, 1936, the eldest of three children.

The Anderson family had farmed at Brignall since the early 1800s and Doug was brought up in a cottage with no running water or electricity.

He farmed at Brignall for more than 60 years, eventually retiring at the age of 80.

He then moved to Barningham before later going into Kings Court Care Home in Barnard Castle.

Doug had a remarkable memory and his tales of growing up and farming in Teesdale during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s were fascinating.

As a boy during the Second World War, he remembered looking east from Brignall and seeing the glow of fires and searchlights from the German bombing raids around Middlesbrough.

The sky was so bright, he reckoned he could read a book by the light.

His mother had hoped Doug would do something other than farming.

He was doing well at school and could have gone to university, but farming was in his blood.

It was his passion, and he took on the family farm.

When Doug started farming, little had changed at Brignall since the early part of the 20th century.

The big changes came gradually from the 1970s onwards.

Doug lived through an extraordinary transformation in farming.

Plastics arrived, traditional mixed farming changed, dairy herds disappeared and haymaking gradually gave way to silage and haylage, with grass wrapped in plastic.

He adapted to all the changes and continued farming well into the 21st century.

At the age of 69, Doug had a lucky escape when he was knocked down and stamped on by a bull.

Its hooves narrowly missed his heart.

The accident put him out of action for some time, but Doug bounced back and carried on farming for another ten years before finally retiring.

He was a proper, tough Dales farmer.

Doug was a regular at Barnard Castle auction mart and enjoyed a pint and a bit of craic in the Barney pubs.

His local was the Morritt Arms at Greta Bridge.

When the Morritt was once up for sale, somebody asked Doug whether he would like to buy it and get out of farming.

His answer was typical Doug: “I’ve already bought it with all the drink and food I’ve paid for over the years.”

Doug also had an important connection with the history of Cotherstone cheese.

During the harsh winter of 1947, Brignall Farm was snowed in and the milk could not be taken to the dairy.

Rather than let it go to waste, Doug’s mother made the milk into cheese.

A retailer in Darlington subsequently named it Cotherstone.

Doug stopped making cheese at Brignall in 1971, and his sister Joan continued cheesemaking in Teesdale, coincidentally near Cotherstone.

He was also an artist and writer as well as a farmer.

He recorded many of the farming scenes and characters he knew in his paintings.

He had poems published in local magazines and wrote two books.

An exhibition of his work is planned by UTASS in Middleton-in-Teesdale.

I only knew Doug after he had retired from farming, but we became good friends.

We enjoyed plenty of craic together, both in the pub and at his home in Barningham.

Doug made a great and lasting impression on me.

I was fascinated by his farming stories and memories, while Doug was interested in hearing my climbing anecdotes.

We shared a similar sense of humour.

In his later years, I would take him around Barney in his wheelchair and listen to yet more stories about his youth, farming and life in the Dales.

Last winter I joked that he had to last through the summer so he could enjoy another haymaking season and some sun and warmth.

He did just that.

Doug died on the first day of autumn.

Through knowing him, I learned a great deal about old farming practices as well as about the resilient, tough Dales farmers who worked the land through generations of change.

Doug was one of those farmers.

He was a character, a storyteller, a farmer, an artist and, to me, a friend.

He will be greatly missed.

Doug’s funeral was held at Brignall Church on Friday October 2.