Our home’s on the dual carriageway between 2 motorways – it’s dusty, the noise grates & you do see crashes… I love it
PROUD the owners of an 18th-century ranch tucked between two highway lanes have opened their gates to reveal a sneak peek inside their world-famous residence.
The quirky Stott Hall Farm – set in the west Yorkshire countryside – became famous when its previous owner Ken Wild refused to move to make room for the M62.
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The stubborn farmer, who died in 2004, refused to sell the land his father bought in 1934 when the plan to build a highway on the moor was approved.
The pair were part of a mass farmer protest about the highway cutting through miles of rural land.
But their farm was saved because the land below 15 acres is now between driveways that are too steep – making it impossible to build all six lanes on it.
Even today, for the thousands of drivers who pass through this property, the ranch still sparks a feeling of curiosity and curiosity.
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But when new owner Jill Falkingham first walked through the door of her new home, her heart tightened.
The carpet in the front room of the farmhouse was moldy, the walls damp and every room looked “very old” – hardly the Little House on the Prairie it was sometimes called.
Fast forward and the famed ranch has been converted into a family home for Jill, her husband Paul Thorp, and their four-year-old son John-William.
There’s still work to be done but the 1737 home is now cozy and cozy with a roaring wood-burning stove and proper farmhouse kitchen.
According to Jill, living next to one of Britain’s busiest motorways isn’t much different from living near any other road.
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She told Manchester Evening News: “We have three times the glasses and it’s no different from living anywhere there is a road.”
However, the rumble from passing traffic can be annoying.
“Noise affects me because I am quite sensitive to noise. Paul is fine with it but it makes me feel uncomfortable.
“That’s what if you’re having a bad day, the noise is the last straw. But it won’t go away.”
The couple were happy to reveal the ups and downs of life on a highland farm more than 1,000 feet above sea level – and only about 40 feet west of the M62.
Although they both came from farming backgrounds in Holmfirth, life on Stott Hall Ranch had brought them into the habit of a few things.
“It has its own climate,” says Paul, who has worked on the farm since 1992 and has lived there since 2008.
Jill, who moved to the farm in 2009, loves life there despite the challenges.
“Working on a hilly farm is incredibly hard work. The grass didn’t grow because we were up high and it was very cold. Really, the highway is our least challenge.”
She recalls her early days at Stott Hall Farm as challenging and difficult.
“When I first arrived the house was horrible. It is old and there is no bathroom upstairs. We had to tear all the flags up because everything was wet. All the carpets were moldy and I thought ‘I can’t have children and live in this place’.
“Paul has lived here alone for many years. He lived in two rooms, living as a single person.
“I remember how cold the house was and there was a hole in one of the walls that you could see outside. A great deal of work has been done and we are slowly getting there.
The driver climbed out through the windshield. He was not injured at all.
Beth, former owner
“Many people say it’s bleak and like Wuthering Heights but I don’t see it that way. I think it’s beautiful.”
Its former owners, Ken and Beth, told in a movie about the house that dust was a real problem, Mirror report.
And Beth adds how sadly they have witnessed fatal crashes.
In one, a truck overturned on their property.
“The driver climbed out through the windshield. He wasn’t hurt at all,” she recalls.
And this mom has completely transformed Wendy’s shabby home for which she bought secondhand with old paint and bargains from the charity shop.
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