Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen breaks silence on why she won’t ban screens for her nine children

The Yorkshire shepherdess says it would be “incredibly hypocritical” to ban screens for her children, as she opens up about life at Ravenseat Farm and her latest book.

Amanda Owen has said screens have been a vital part of family life at Ravenseat Farm and that she would not ban them for her children.

The Our Yorkshire Farm star, 52, said the internet is only available inside the farmhouse, which she believes creates the “perfect split” between online life and the countryside.

Amanda Owen, who is set to head to Leeds for a promotional tour, said she does not impose screen-time limits on her nine children because she does not see it as realistic for her family.

She said: “It would be incredibly hypocritical to say, ‘Oh, no screen time, screens are death knell of society’, because that would be totally and utterly not what I believe.

“Screen is what has been our lifeline.

“It’s what has given us the ability to put ourselves out there and basically to prop the whole business of farming up, which, let’s be honest, is in dire straits.

“Our farm diversification is through the media and without a screen, that would not have been possible.”

She co-parents Raven, 25, Reuben, 23, Miles, 20, Edith, 18, Violet, 16, Sidney, 15, Annas, 13, Clemmy, 11, and Nancy, 10, with her ex-partner Clive Owen.

While she said screens play a part in their lives, she also stressed that the children have plenty of other things to do at the family’s remote home in Swaledale, North Yorkshire.

She said: “We don’t set limits on it, but there’s other things going on. There’s other things for them to do. So I’ve never really had to sort of push that one. The dynamics are always changing.

“To have this space to be in the countryside and have animals and open land and stuff to do for all the children, there’s plenty to keep everybody interested to do other things.”

Amanda Owen also reflected on the book that first inspired her career path, saying life changed when she read The Hill Shepherd – A Photographic Essay, by John and Eliza Forder, which documents the lives of fell and hill shepherds in north-west England.

She has since written several books, including a new children’s title, Cosy Bedtime Stories From The Farm, following last year’s Christmas Tales From The Farm.

She said: “I failed miserably at school. Wasn’t bad, wasn’t good. I was just in the middle. I was just, sort of, like, coasting. Wasn’t anything because nothing inspired me.

“And it was when I found a book that did inspire me that set me on the path, the trajectory to where I am today.

“Quite honestly, I never set out to write books. When someone says the word ‘author’ a little bit of me sort of dies inside because I don’t see myself as that at all.

“I am just the one who has found their place, found their thing, what they enjoy, what they like doing, what they’re good at, and then from that started to write about it.”

The new series of Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids is available to watch and stream on More4.