Hannah Hauxwell

Hannah Hauxwell was living alone at Low Birk Hat Farm in an isolated area of North Yorkshire when she came to the attention of the world, first in a Yorkshire Post article published on April 6, 1970 entitled 'How to be happy on £170 a year' and then, in 1973, in an ITV documentary. 'Too Long a Winter', made by Yorkshire Television and produced by Barry Cockcroft, which chronicled the almost unendurable conditions of farmers in the High Pennines in winter.

Then a 46-year-old spinster she toiled alone in her family home, a dilapidated 80-acre farm which she had run by herself since the age of 35 following the deaths of her parents and uncle. With no electricity or running water and struggling to survive on £280 a year, life was a constant battle against poverty and hardship, especially in the harsh Pennine winters where she had to work outside tending her few cattle in ragged clothes in temperatures well below freezing. It was Hannah's spirit, her gentleness and humility that gripped the nation. After the documentary was screened Yorkshire TV's phone line was jammed for three days with viewers wanting to find out more and help her. Over the next twenty years her life was transformed. A local factory raised money to fund getting electricity to Low Birk Hat Farm and she continued to receive thousands of letters and generous donations from well-wishers around the world.