It has been a while since I have blogged, even though we are still limited with regards to meetings and events, life with both TopicUK and Yorkshire Businesswoman has been particularly busy. In fact, there is now add another title to the list: "Yorkshire Kitchen" too!
One of the many joys of working with Gill and Rob is that there is no such thing as a "dull day" and their desire to champion Yorkshire businesses never falters.
The newly launched "Yorkshire Kitchen" platform has amazing potential and I urge all hotels, eateries, distillers, bakers and growers in the county to embrace the opportunity to showcase their work and services to the region.
I have always been a big fan of social media, it is a super way to stay connected and reach out to new people too - and this point was proved a while ago when I mentioned that we were looking for a hairdresser to provide "Lockdown hair care tips".
In a heartbeat, a friend on Facebook recommended a Barnsley born and bred gent called Andrew Barton, and as the saying goes "the rest is history now" and as you will discover below, our adventures have begun!
It has been five years since The Yorkshire Shepherdess was published, catapulting Amanda Owen into the limelight. From this derived a hit TV series, Our Yorkshire Farm, which returned to Channel 5 this month. This incredible TV show follows her day to day life, along with husband Clive and their nine children. She also has three books to her name and is in the process of writing another.
Despite the fact thats it’s a busy time at Ravenseat, their remote hill farm deep in Upper Swaledale, when our Group Editor Gill suggested that Andrew Barton was prepared to travel from his Mayfair salon in London to give her hair a makeover (whilst also benefiting a very worthy children's charity) Amanda jumped at the chance.
"The last time I had my hair cut at a professional salon was 30 years ago in Huddersfield" she said.
On a particularly wet and somewhat miserable day Gill and I set off to the farm, meeting Andrew, his PR specialist, and our long standing friends and photographers Perrin and Lincoln from Roth Read.
The welcome was warm, with eldest daughter Raven ensuring that cups of tea were plentiful whilst one by one the children appeared - all clearly very excited to find out who we were.
Andrew swiftly unpacked his scissors, hair dryer and range of his styling products and set up "his salon" in the barn with chickens running around freely whilst the the children excitedly played.
A proud Yorkshire man at heart, Andrew is also very charitable and through his salon Headmasters, he is hairdresser Ambassador and official partner of the charity "The Little Princess Trust". This Trust gives hair and hope to children and young people by providing them with real hair wigs and funding vital research into childhood cancers.
I was absolutely in my element, having spent my child hood climbing hay bales and seeking out adventures in the simple things in life and joined the younger girls looking for freshly laid eggs.
Amanda embraced the whole experience with gusto and in no time at all, Andrew quickly got to work and skillfully cut her long lengths of tousled hair, carefully preserving them for the charity.
She was clearly impressed by the end result and I feel certain that we spotted a little tear of happiness when she looked in the mirror.
But the hard work and generosity didn't stop there as Andrew now had not one but five daughters lined up eagerly wanting a makeover!
Just when Andrew thought his job was done and he could rest his weary feet, there was one last surprise as Amanda had decided that if she was going to receive a five star stylist treatment, then so too were her sheep!
With expert guidance from both Amanda and Clive, in no time at all Andrew had the clippers in his hands and did a fantastic job with two ewes.
Days like these are ones that I will cherish forever and every reason why I am an incredibly proud "Yorkshire Lass".
I urge you to tune into Channel 5 every Tuesday evening at 9pm and learn more about this remarkable family.
As I write this, our latest edition is at the printers and I cannot tell you how excited I am at the prospect of being able to finally see our magazines across the Yorkshire region. With an anti-bacterial cover, every step has been taken to consider safety.
Should you wish to view the digital version, its simple:
I really do hope you enjoy the read!
Best Wishes
Mandy
