An incomplete television programme about farmer John Brecken-Thompson of Plumtree Farm in Glaisdale on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. The film follows John as he works the farm along with his family as well as neighbours looking after a herd of dairy cows and pigs. He owns a second farm, Mountain Ash Farm, at the head of valley where he has 100 Masham ewes. John talks about how he got into farming and how he keeps going showing many of the innovations he has done to be profitable....

An incomplete television programme about farmer John Brecken-Thompson of Plumtree Farm in Glaisdale on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. The film follows John as he works the farm along with his family as well as neighbours looking after a herd of dairy cows and pigs. He owns a second farm, Mountain Ash Farm, at the head of valley where he has 100 Masham ewes. John talks about how he got into farming and how he keeps going showing many of the innovations he has done to be profitable. The film opens showing a view of a farmhouse in a moorland setting. A general view follows of moorland with a dry-stone wall in the foreground. On camera a farmer talks about the trials and tribulations of his work. A view follows of the farm with a sign bearing its name ‘Plum Tree Farm’ as the commentator introduces the farmer as John Breckon Thompson, known as Breck and the location of the farm which is Glaisdale in North Yorkshire. As the commentator describes the size of the farm along with its livestock, Breck loads empty milk churns on to the back of his Land Rover pickup truck. Off camera Breck gives a brief account of how he started farming, which included gaining experience on local farms sometimes working for relatives before he started on his own. Breck drives the Land Rover along a farm track. On camera he continues with his story as he stands next to farm gate. He rented a farm at Sleights moved on to Plum Tree Farm where they have been for 16 years. Views of cattle follow on as they walk along a muddy track. Breck’s wife ushers the cows along. She carries some milking equipment to an outhouse. She is then seen pouring buckets of milk into a hopper on top of what may be a refrigeration unit. Views follow of Breck’s son milking cows in a milking parlour which is a new addition to the farm built mostly by Breck, to keep costs down. The film shows Breck laying stones as hardcore in part of the foundations. Another workman loads up a cement mixer. The film moves back to Breck as he levels some concrete. The film goes back to the work being carried out in the new milking parlour. Off camera Martin Thompson talks about his work and his future as currently he is still attending school. Breck meets the milk tanker as it arrives at the farm for a collection. The film goes on to show another of Breck’s new buildings where he contributed his own time to its building. It is a covered yard built in to accommodate his pig and beef enterprise. Views follow of the interior showing stalls for the animals. On film Breck talks about a more ambitious project a Dutch barn which required help and specialist equipment to complete. The film shows a farm hand cutting grass for silage with a tractor. The use of the tractor at harvest time is shared between Breck and a neighbour Gordon Flintoff. They also shared in the purchase of a neighbouring farm. Breck, off camera, explains the background to the shared purchase and the shared equipment as the cut grass is off loaded into covered storage areas. Breck believes that it’s a productive initiative to compete with larger farms. The film goes on to look at the problems Breck has in getting rid of cattle muck which has accumulated over winter. The film shows where slurry had been piled up which broke through a temporary dam and escaped down the valley. A new slurry housing is being built for future storage. Staff attend to pigs and piglets in a fattening unit built in the mid-sixties. Breck distributes feed to pigs held in a pen as he talks about the animals he raises specifically to supply the bacon market. Another self-build project which involved building the pig house from where he talks to the camera, the building was built himself. He also describes another pig house he built. A hen emerges from a hen house and joins others looking for scraps of food in the farmyard nearby. Others emerge to join the search. The view changes to cattle in a field, then to a flock sheep behind a secure gate or pen. They are Masham ewes of which Breck has 100. The pen shows lambs amongst the ewes. This flock is housed at another of Breck’s holdings Mountain Ash farm which after having be left for a while had to be brought back into production. The sheep are let out onto the open hillside. Breck describes the hard work that had to be done to bring the farm back into production. He helps usher the sheep onto the hillside as he speaks off camera. On camera he demonstrates a self-built catching pen that he had to construct, which leads to an area where sheep could be dipped, another self-built project. He describes other items included in the construction. He then moves on to other self-built equipment for the collecting and isolating of single cows. On the floor of an outhouse Breck turns is hand to welding some metal mesh to a frame. Another piece of home-made handiwork he mentions as it appears on camera is a cattle grid set into the road leading to the farm. A light aircraft sprays invasive bracken on some of the steep banked land on the farm. Breck talks of clearing bracken as he spreads feed out for some suckler cows who are grazing on a reclaimed area of land. On camera he talks about the problem of poisoning issues from the bracken which affected some of his cattle, which led to the death of 7 heifers. Off camera he talks about the economics of keeping his cattle. A lorry delivers large boxes of feed for the cattle. A forklift truck takes the boxes off the truck. Views follow of some of the cattle being weighed by isolating them in special cage attached to weighing equipment which in turn is attached to the back of a tractor. The animal is then released. Next to Plum Tree farm is a pitch where Breck Thompson and fellow farmers can relax with a game of quoits. Breck plays with local quoit player Tom Calvert. On camera Breck talks about excursions away from the farm, sometimes to Whitby where thinks the holidaymakers look bored. He says as a farmer he hasn’t time to get bored. He loads some empty milk churns on the back of his Land Rover pick-up truck. The film ends with a mix of views of cattle in fields, sheep in pens, the use of a fork lift truck to unload a lorry, and quoits hitting their target. Followed by farm hands piling silage, milk pouring into a churn and finally Breck playing quoits with his friend.