Amanda Owen

{{Infobox person

| name = Amanda Owen

| other_names = Yorkshire Shepherdess
Amanda Jayne Livingstone

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1974|09}}

| birth_place =

| education =

| spouse = {{marriage|Clive Owen|2000|2022|end=sep.}}{{cite news |title=Yorkshire Shepherdess: Amanda Owen confirms separation from husband and father of her nine children Clive Owen |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/yorkshire-shepherdess-amanda-owen-confirms-separation-from-husband-and-father-of-her-nine-children-clive-owen-3726505 |access-date=10 June 2022 |website=Yorkshirepost.co.uk |date=10 June 2022 |language=en}}

| children = 9

| website = {{URL|https://www.yorkshireshepherdess.com/}}

| years active = 2011-present

| module =

{{Infobox writer | embed=yes

| genre = Pastoral

| notable_works = The Yorkshire Shepherdess

}}

Amanda Owen (born September 1974){{cite book |last1=Owen |first1=Amanda |title=The Yorkshire Shepherdess |date=2015 |publisher=Pan Books |isbn=978-1-4472-5178-1 |page=5}} is an English shepherdess, writer and presenter.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-38742236/the-shepherdess-who-likes-to-be-glamorous | publisher=BBC News|website=bbc.co.uk | title=Amanda Owen| date=25 January 2017}} video interview

Personal life

Owen lives and works on a remote farm, Ravenseat Farm, in Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales.{{cite news|last1=Moore|first1=Anna|title=Amanda Owen, Yorkshire shepherdess: 'I like to give birth alone, like a ewe'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/04/amanda-owen-yorkshire-shepherdess-nine-children-childbirths|access-date=27 August 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|date=4 February 2017}} children: Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clementine and Nancy.

In 2022, Owen separated from her husband Clive after 22 years of marriage.{{cite news |last1=Mwitumwa |first1=Monde |title=Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen ‘plots TV comeback with ex-husband Clive’ |url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/tv/yorkshire-farm-star-amanda-owen-28014269 |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=Yorkshire Live |date=31 October 2023 |language=en}}

Books

Owen first gained attention through her Twitter feed as "The Yorkshire Shepherdess",{{cite news|last1=Parker|first1=Olivia|title=Amanda Owen: Yorkshire's tweeting shepherdess|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10771973/Amanda-Owen-Yorkshires-tweeting-shepherdess.html|access-date=27 August 2017|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=19 April 2014}} which led to her writing a book of the same title.

Owen has written five books:

The Yorkshire Shepherdess (2015)
A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess (2016)A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess (2017, Sidgwick & Jackson, {{ISBN|978-0283072413}})
Adventures of the Yorkshire Shepherdess (2019, Sidgwick & Jackson, {{ISBN|978-1509852673}})
Tales From the Farm(2021, Macmillan, {{ISBN|978-1-5290-7475-8}})
Celebrating The Seasons (28 October 2021, {{ISBN|978-1529056853}}){{cite news |last1=Clarke |first1=Naomi |last2=Gray |first2=Charles |title=Amanda Owen opens up on secrets to feeding her family of 11 |url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/yorkshire-farms-amanda-owen-reveals-21959552 |access-date=26 October 2021 |website=Examinerlive.co.uk |date=25 October 2021 }}

Television and radio

Owen and her family first appeared as regulars on Adrian Edmondson's 2011 ITV documentary series The Dales (repeated on Together TV in 2021),{{Cite web|url=https://www.togethertv.com/dales|title=The Dales|date=31 March 2021|website=Togethertv.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.togethertv.com/blog/dales-where-are-they-now|title=The Dales: where are they now?|date=12 April 2021|website=Togethertv.com}}{{cite web |title=The Dales |url=https://www.channel5.com/show/the-dales/season-2/twelve |website=Channel5.com |publisher=My5 |access-date=24 December 2021}} alongside the Reverend Ann Chapman, the vicar of four small churches, and a number of other people living in the Yorkshire Dales. At that point, the Owen family consisted of Amanda, Clive and their five young children.

In November 2015, the family appeared in an episode of New Lives In The Wild UK with Ben Fogle, a Channel 5 programme which is made by Warner Brothers' Renegade Pictures.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/14095796.yorkshire-shepherdess-teams-tvs-ben-fogle-new-show-rejecting-urban-life/|title=Yorkshire shepherdess teams up with TV's Ben Fogle for new show on rejecting urban life|website=The Northern Echo|date=23 November 2015 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.renegadepictures.co.uk/catalogue.aspx|title=Renegade Pictures TV Programmes|website=Renegadepictures.co.uk|access-date=23 June 2021|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018134632/https://www.renegadepictures.co.uk/catalogue.aspx|url-status=dead}} Their appearance led to their own observational documentary series following life on the Owens' farm on Channel 5 called Our Yorkshire Farm, which has become one of the channel's most popular programmes with over three million viewers watching each episode since it was first broadcast on 27 November 2018, narrated by actor Ralf Little.{{Cite web|title=Our Yorkshire Farm TV Guide from RadioTimes|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/hbfgtn/our-yorkshire-farm/|access-date=1 September 2020|website=Radio Times|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/28dyas-10may|title=28-DAY RATINGS: 10-16 MAY 2021|date=19 June 2021|website=TVZoneUK}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/28dayratings-03may|title=28-DAY RATINGS: 03-09 MAY 2021|date=12 June 2021|website=TVZoneUK}} On 16 February 2021, Channel 5 broadcast the first episode of series 14 of Ben Fogle: Return to the Wild, which saw Fogle back at Ravenseat Farm after six years, where he met their youngest child Nancy (who was born since his last visit) for the first time.{{cite web |title=Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild Season 14 |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/m99rw4/ben-fogle-new-lives-in-the-wild-season-14/?episode=nf6xpm |website=Radio Times |access-date=27 September 2021 |language=en}}

In August 2017, she appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity. Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was a shepherd's whistle, used to communicate with her sheep dogs.{{cite web|title=The Museum of Curiosity: Series 11, episode 4|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0910yxc|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=27 August 2017}} On 14 July 2019 she was the subject of Radio 4's On Your Farm.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006s8m|title=BBC Radio 4 - On Your Farm, Yorkshire Shepherdess|website=BBC}} On 10 July 2021, she appeared as the featured guest on Radio 4's The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed with Simon Armitage.{{cite web|title=The Poet Laureate Has Gone To His Shed |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xsh2 |publisher=BBC Radio 4|date=10 July 2021|access-date=19 August 2021}}

In November 2021, Owen was one of the four walkers travelling with the BBC's 360 degree camera,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001226k|title = BBC Four - Winter Walks, Series 2, Amanda Owen|website=Bbc.co.uk}} in series two of BBC Four's Winter Walks.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001226l/broadcasts/upcoming|title = BBC Four - Winter Walks, Series 2 - Next on|website=Bbc.co.uk}} with Owen's episode featuring a walk through Wensleydale and Raydale.

Owen also filmed a couple of reports for Live: Winter on the Farm{{Cite web|url=https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/winter-on-the-farm-to-be-broadcast-live-on-tv-this-week-3484215|title='Winter on the Farm' to be broadcast live on TV this week|website=Farminglife.com|access-date=11 December 2021}} broadcast on Channel 5 between 6–9 December 2021. Reuben Owen also filmed a feature for this series and appeared on the last episode of the series,Winter on the Farm, Episode 4 of 4, broadcast on Channel 5 between 8:00pm-9:00pm on 9 December 2021 joining The Yorkshire Vet's Shona Searson{{Cite web|url=https://donaldsonsvets.co.uk/the-yorkshire-vet/|title=The Yorkshire Vet|website=Donaldsonsvets.co.uk|access-date=11 December 2021}} and Manchester chocolatier Sarah Gallacher{{Cite web|url=https://ilovemanchester.com/chocolate-cocktail-lounge-manchester-kickstarter-appeal|title=A chocolate cocktail lounge is coming to Manchester - with chocolate rewards for anyone supporting the Kickstarter appeal|date=8 October 2018|website=Ilovemanchester.com|access-date=11 December 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Bourne |first1=Dianne |title=The Manchester chocolate parlour so good Cadbury is telling you to go there |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/cadbury-chocolate-cocoa-cabana-ancoats-20569199 |access-date=24 December 2021 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=16 May 2021 |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.channel5.com/show/live-winter-on-the-farm/season-2021/episode-1-043d342f-ce8f-4bd6-b2ec-e4c420b4c661|title=My5|website=Channel5.com|access-date=11 December 2021}} at Cannon Hall Farm with Rob and Dave Nicholson.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cannonhallfarm.co.uk/tune-in-winter-on-the-farm/|title=Tune in: Winter on the Farm|date=6 December 2021|website=Cannonhallfarm.co.uk|access-date=11 December 2021}}

In 2022, Leeds-based Wise Owl Films{{cite web | url=https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/channel-4/our-yorkshire-farms-amanda-owen-moves-to-more-4/5175093.article | title=Our Yorkshire Farm's Amanda Owen moves to More 4 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.televisual.com/news/more4-adds-new-yorkshire-shepherdess-series/ | title=More4 adds new Yorkshire Shepherdess series | date=5 October 2022 }} hired Owen to present a new farming series which would join farm-based programmes like Matt Baker: Our Farm in the Dales{{cite web | url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/matt-baker-our-farm-in-the-dales | title=Matt Baker: Our Farm in the Dales - All 4 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/more4-returns-matt-bakers-family-farm-dales-second-and-third-series | title=More4 returns to Matt Baker's family farm in the Dales for second and third series. | Channel 4 }} in More4's schedules.

Unlike Baker's Dales series or her Channel 5 programme, she will visit other farms in Amanda Owen's Extraordinary Farming Lives, set to be a six-part series of 60 minute programmes.{{cite web | url=https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/leeds-news/2022/10/wise-owl-makes-amanda-owen-farming-series | title=Wise Owl makes Amanda Owen farming series | date=6 October 2022 }}

In November 2022, Channel 5 confirmed that Our Yorkshire Farm would not be returning to the channel in its original form, with a three-part spin-off programme called Beyond The Yorkshire Farm: Reuben & Clive due to be launched on the channel on 6 December 2022. This spin-off series will show the father and son duo launching a digging business venture alongside Reuben's friend Tom McWhirter and Reuben's girlfriend Sarah Dow, which sees them in the Cumbrian village of Langwathby digging out a series of ponds.{{cite web | url=https://www.televisual.com/news/our-yorkshire-farm-ends-renegade-makes-spin-off/ | title=Renegade to make spin-off as Our Yorkshire Farm ends | date=23 November 2022 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/c5-yorkfarmends-ann1 | title=Our Yorkshire Farm Ends on Channel 5 as Spin-Off Series is Announced }}

In 2024, Channel 5 confirmed that another spin-off Reuben: Life in the Dales will be broadcast in April 2024 which once again will see the trio from the previous spin-off series and the first episode was broadcast on 25 April 2024.

In September 2024, Channel 4 commissioned Our Farm Next Door a ten-part series featuring herself, her ex-husband Clive and their fully grown-up children renovating a derelict farmhouse and the first episode was broadcast on 14 October 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/more4-orders-bumper-10-episode-commission-our-farm-next-door-amanda-clive-and-kids-wise|title=More4 orders bumper 10-episode commission of Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids from Wise Owl Films|website=channel4.com/press|date=5 September 2024|accessdate=9 September 2024}}

Ravenseat Farm

File:Ravenseat Farm, North Yorkshire.jpg, home of Amanda Owen and family]]

Ravenseat Farm is a working hill farm located in Whitsun Dale at the top of Swaledale. The nearest village is Keld in North Yorkshire, and the nearest town is Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria.Ordnance Survey: Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley: OL19 Explorer Map It is predominantly a sheep farm of 2000 acres; as of summer 2016 there were about 900 sheep and 30 cattle.{{cite book |last1=Owen |first1=Amanda | title=A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess |date=2016 |publisher=Pan MacMillan | isbn=978-1-4472-9526-6 |page=2}}

The place name was apparently not recorded before the first edition of the Ordnance Survey in 1860. The name must have been given first to the summit on Ravenseat Moor. Seat is a dialect word for summit.{{Citation | contribution = Ravenseat | year = 2010 | title = The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names | editor-last = Watts | editor-first = Victor|editor-link=Victor Watts | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn=9780521168557 }} Place names in the North of England that include the element seat or side are usually derived from Old Norse saeter, seter or setr (elevated summer pasture).{{cite book |last1=Rollinson |first1=William | title=A History of Cumberland and Westmorland |date=1978 |publisher=Phillimore & Co Ltd |isbn=0-85033-315-6|page=34}}{{cite book |last1=Gambles |first1=Robert |title=The Story of the Lakeland Dales |date=1997 |publisher=Phillimore & Co Ltd |isbn=1-86077-033-9 |page=4}}