horses, among other things, but meticulous Ken here breeds higher welfare lambs.

Ably assisted by wife Carol and
their three impressively drilled
border collies Floss, Jock and
Bob, the Baxters have carved out an enviable life for themselves – far removed from the hustle and bustle you’ll find further upriver.

“There aren't a lot of people around these days who can do this sort of thing”, Ken insists. “I got into this life after being an engineer for many years. I got sick of being told ‘you can’t do this’ and ‘you can’t do that’. "Luckily, I was able to start working here as my parents worked this land and I grew up on it, so the job passed on to me.”

Cliffe Marshes are well-known
as a key location in Dickens’ Great Expectations, where Pip meets his destiny in the form of escaped
convict Magwitch. They also, unlikely as it seems, doubled as war-torn Vietnam in the 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket.

“They planted palm trees and
drove tanks through the fields,”
Ken reveals. “It was quite surreal.”

Straight-talking Ken keeps a
close watch on his flock, whose yearly crop of lambs are, after all, his livelihood.

His working day invariably starts
at sunrise and knocking off time
isn’t so much when the whistle
blows as when Ken’s satisfied
he’s done enough for the day.