Forty Farms - Conversations about change in the landscapes of Cumbria

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Visitors can spend time browsing over 35 stands selling food, drink and handmade gifts and crafts, as well as meeting some of the Cumbrian Farmers and local producers who have created them. Amy will also be offering photography workshops, open to all levels of ability, at the museum on Friday 12 th of January and Saturday the 24 th of February, for sale here. Over a year, Amy conducted frank conversations with the farmers about the financial challenge of farming; about the tightrope balance of producing quality food in a nature-rich landscape; and about the highs and lows of working in area, known, and loved internationally.

In March 2021, British Life Photographer of the Year Amy Bateman embarked on a journey to record the stories of Forty Farms in Cumbria. Forty Farms was Published in Sept 2022. It won Lakeland Book of the Year the book has also become a successful Photographic touring exhibition. On Saturday November 18, between 10am and 3pm, farmers, producers, fellow foodies and artisan crafters will come together to showcase their wares at the free event.Over the course of a year, Amy conducted frank conversations about the financial challenges of farming; about the tightrope balance of producing quality food in a nature-rich landscape; and about the highs and lows of working in an area that is known and loved internationally.

Visitors also have the opportunity to visit Rheged’s latest exhibition in the Community Gallery Our Common Heritage. The exhibition curated by The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme runs until Christmas. It charts the history of the Westmorland Commons and how their role has changed in recent times, incorporating first hand interviews with commoners and farming representatives. The Forty Farms exhibition offers a unique insight into the everyday lives, fears and hopes of 40 extraordinary farmers, through photography, film, and words.

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An extraordinary photographic exhibition documenting the stories of 40 Cumbrian farmers will open in the Lake District next month. Forty Farms has developed a life of its own as an exhibition in the Gallery at Rheged opened in September 2022 and received over 60,000 visitors, a full-colour book published by David and much more. The exhibition moved to the Windermere Jetty and is currently being curated for the Food Museum, Stowmarket, East Anglia, to open in May 2024 until feb 2025. The Forty Farms Photographic Exhibition at Low Sizergh Barn is openuntil April 2024. Every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day: 9 am – 5.30 pm. There are no entry or parking fees. Opening of the Forty Farms Photographic Exhibition Trail at Low Sizergh near Kendal. The exhibition by Photographer Amy Bateman in association with H&H Group features photos taken on 40 farms throughout Cumbria. : 18 November 2023

I am delighted to have gone into partnership with H&H group to develop the exhibition as an outdoor exhibition onto weatherproof panels and will be touring the country, starting at Low Sizergh Barn in November 2023. Now people will have the chance to see her images in a unique setting – as they are being installed outdoors, along a two-mile farm and woodland walk at Low Sizergh Barn, on the outskirts of Kendal. Dalefoot Farm (‘Dalefoot Composts’), Heltondale near Penrith – Compost, peatland restoration, sheep

Photographer Amy Bateman said: “I have tried to reflect the widest possible range of farmers engaged with the widest variety of animals, crops, landscapes, and diversifications. In March 2020, British Life Photographer of the Year, and Cumbrian farmer, Amy Bateman, embarked on a journey to record the stories of Forty Farms in the Lake District and Cumbria to produce a sumptuous coffee table book. The accompanying conversations with farmers, often frank, sometimes funny, and occasionally painful, reflect the critical issues facing farming today.