HOW THE ROLE OF WOMEN HAS CHANGED IN AGRI-CULTURE By Bridget Cole

Talk  |  Seated

BRIDGET COLE: A farmer all her life, mainly in partnership with her husband for 40years, after which Bridget handed over their biodiverse Dartmoor Farms to her sons Neil and Mathew. She also ran a farm tourism business and worked to promote farm tourism in Devon. She then enrolled as a student at Arts University Plymouth, passing out in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts(Hons) in Fashion & Design majoring in wool.

TALK: In the 1960’s she was a known as a “farmer’s daughter”. After marriage in 1971, she was the “farmer’s wife”, never the farmer, although all her working life she worked on the farm. In 1974 when her father-in-law retired from Greenwell Farm, she and her husband, in partnership, took over the Cole Family business. It was frustrating when a rep visited the farm or called by phone: they always asked for Mr Cole. Then there was an era of female reps which the companies used as a ploy to persuade male famers to purchase their companies’ goods!

There is a survey on this subject that supports her experience and Bridget thought that it might make an interesting topic to explore.