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On Your Farm

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On Your Farm: Losing Dad

Losing Dad

01/12/2013

BBC Radio 4 - On Your Farm, Losing Dad

Charlotte Smith meets the family forced to rescue the farm, while facing bereavement.

Charlotte Smith meets the family thrown into chaos when father and tenant farmer Michael Besent was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Michael Besent was a successful and respected dairy and cereal farmer from Dorchester, but a diagnosis of terminal cancer threw his family's lives into turmoil. Medical treatments took over from milking and the business suffered. After Michael died, his wife Carol and their three daughters were forced to make some difficult decisions, while also coping with their grief. As tenant farmers, giving up the business would also have meant losing their home and jobs. Charlotte Smith visits the three generations of women who run 'Besent and Sons' to find how they managed love, loss and livelihoods.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

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