The Yorkshire Shepherdess

Amanda Owen is a shepherdess, farmer’s wife, mother to nine children, a passionate photographer and Sunday Times bestselling author. The Owens live a life that has almost gone in today’s modern world, one ruled by the seasons and their animals. Home is Ravenseat, a 2000 acre hill farm at the head of Swaledale, North Yorkshire, one of the highest and most remote places in England.

In November 2018, the Owens became the stars of their very own Channel 5 TV series ‘Our Yorkshire Farm’, which became the channel’s highest rating factual show of the year in the 8pm slot, attracting an average of 2.2 million viewers per week. The second series finished airing in autumn 2019 followed by series three in 2020, with equally as fantastic viewing figures and public response. Series four is currently airing and has become C5’s highest rating factual show of the last seven years, with further episodes coming over the next two years.

Amanda’s first book The Yorkshire Shepherdess (Sidgwick and Jackson) was published in April 2014 and offers a funny, heartwarming and inspiring account of her transformation from Huddersfield townie to rural sheep farmer. The national press and general public took Amanda to their hearts and the book enjoyed 5 weeks in the Sunday Times Top 10 bestsellers list. Amanda’s follow-up book, A Year In The Life Of The Yorkshire Shepherdess, hit the shelves in May 2016 and was another Sunday Times Bestseller, making it to number 2 in the charts. Amanda’s third book ‘The Adventures of the Yorkshire Shepherdess’, was published by Macmillan in 2019 and reached number 4 in the Sunday Times Bestseller List. Amanda’s most recent book Tales from the Farm, which is a fascinating selection of short stories from Amada’s home of Ravenseat, was published in March this year, reaching number 4 in the Sunday Times Bestseller chart.

Amanda’s insightful opinions on farming and her good-humoured, plain-speaking attitude to life make her a very popular public speaker and interviewee, having delivered talks at the likes of BBC Countryfile Live, Harrogate Photographic Society, Radio Times Festival, and the Great Yorkshire Show.