Last year, Roly and Camilla Puzey were deskbound and involved in organising Open Farm Sunday.

But this year, the couple will realise a long-term dream when they proudly open the gates of their own tenancy sheep farm and invite people in.

Mr Puzey, 36, said: “It seems incredible now, but this time last year we were dreaming about running a farm and this year we are doing it.

“We basically swapped our laptops for the great outdoors.”

Mr Puzey has a farming pedigree stretching back generations.

He said: “My father took over my grandfather’s dairy farm at Longcot, near Faringdon, and before then my great-grandfather farmed at Stanford in the Vale.

“One of my fondest memories was loading hay bales high on to a truck at harvest when I was about 12 years old.

“My dad was on the tractor and would stop to make sure I was stacking them right, but I managed it and I was very proud of myself that day.”

Not surprisingly, he went to agricultural college and studied land management and farming.

“That was the first time I’d been away from the farms I lived on and mixed with people who weren’t from the countryside.

“I remember realising early on that the countryside just didn’t seem to be on their radar. They didn’t know where their food came from, how it was produced or about the effort and care that had gone into it, so I knew I wanted a job that would address that.”

Roly went to work for Linking Environment and Farming (Leaf), where he would manage the setting up of Open Farm Sunday and also meet Camilla, 35.

She had also grown up on a farm in Kent and they quickly realised they shared the dream of running their own farm.

Last year, after 10 years of commuting to their mainly office-bound jobs, they decided to “go for it”.

But it wasn’t easy.

Mrs Puzey explained: “We put a pretty vague ad in Farmer’s Weekly saying we had no real experience but were looking for a little bit of farming land.

“We had one call that was relevant, from the Northmoor Trust here in Oxfordshire, saying they had a sheep enterprise.

“We applied, but then we lost out to a neighbouring farmer.

“We were high-risk – basically office people with laptops. But we carried on looking.

“Then in June last year, two weeks before we were due to get married, we got a call on the way home from work saying if we were still interested, the tenancy was ours.

“We had to rewrite our business plan and deal with the solicitors straightaway.”

The Puzeys took over Hill Farm in Little Wittenham, near Abingdon, and say the last few months have been a roller coaster ride, getting to grips with caring for a flock of 250 sheep plus making their business work at a time when more farmers are going bust than making a profit.

“Being here has been wonderful,” said Mr Puzey. “But there have been many times when I have got to the end of the day and my head has been spinning.

“As well as the sheep, we have to manage the grass, the soil, the accounts, the conservation of the land and, of course, selling our meat at farmers’ markets.

“Plus there are events to organise.

“The first time I prepared lambs to go to the abattoir for the farmers’ market, it took me three hours, when it would probably take an experienced farmer half an hour.”

The couple also tackled their first lambing season in March, following a short course using a model ewe.

The arrival of their new lambs had a profound effect on them and Mr Puzey’s eight-year-old twin daughters, Jessica and Arabelle.

“The twins are still rearing a couple of orphan lambs and Jessica says she wants to be a farmer when she grows up,” said her father.

“Some days I think: “Can we cope?

“But then it is so rewarding, I can’t see us doing anything else now.”

Mrs Puzey added: “We’re really looking forward to people coming to see us on Open Farm Sunday and we hope as many people as possible will visit their local farms taking part.

“Here, we’ll show them around the farm on our tractor trailer, we’ll race some sheep and people can taste our yummy lamb burgers.

“Hopefully people will leave knowing more about where some of their food comes from and how much love and hard work goes into it.”

Read more about Hill Farm at camillaandroly.co.uk

  • MORE than 450 farms across the country are taking part in Open Farm Sunday on June 13.

Here in Oxfordshire you can visit: Foxbury Farm, Burford Road, Brize Norton, OX18 3NX.

Kingston Hill Farm, Kingston Bagpuize, near Abingdon, OX13 5HY.

Littlestoke Farm, Icknield Farm, Ipsden, near Wallingford, OX10 6AS.

Manor Farm, Eaton, near Abingdon, OX13 5PR.

Meadowsweet Farm, Hornton Lane, Horley, near Banbury, OX15 6BL Millets Farm Centre, Kingston Road, Frilford, OX13 5HB Wicklesham Lodge, Faringdon, SN7 7PN Broughton Gardens, North Newington, near Banbury, OX15 6AW FAI Farms Ltd, The Field Station, Wytham, near Oxford, OX2 8QJ.

For more information visit farmsunday.org