From Hospital Wards to Hay Bales: Essex Nurse Turns Farmer After Clarkson’s Farm.
How Clarkson’s Farm inspired Essex nurse to become a farmer
She says it’s the “best thing that I’ve ever done”
An Essex nurse who was inspired to start farming whilst off work due to a nervous breakdown during the pandemic says Jeremy Clarkson is to thank for her career change. Chloe Lucas, 39, a paediatric nurse in Essex, has five highland cattle and helps raise awareness of farming issues and educate people about the industry.
The mum-of-two, from Basildon, has been working for the NHS for a decade but spends part of her week looking after her highland cows at a farm in Billericay. She started off specialised in children’s care, but a negative experience during the pandemic forced her to have some time off where she considered changing jobs.
“I don’t know what happened, but I got addicted,” the former nursing home carer said. “It was the best thing that I have ever done.”
She added: “Nursing and farming are both very, very important roles. I feel very privileged to be part of both of them.”
Ms Lucas trained as a paediatric nurse but when the pandemic hit she was moved to caring for people in an Essex hospital’s adult ICU ward. The “horrendous” experience of having to watch as dozens of people died from the illness had a lasting impact on her.
“When we say people were saying goodbye to their partners on iPads, mobile phones and through windows it was real,” she said. “It really made me struggle. I could not save everybody.”
The experience resulted in the 39-year-old being signed off work for three months due to a nervous breakdown. A huge fan of the outdoors, she filled some of that time with nature-based programmes such as Countryfile but it was Clarkson’s Farm that proved to be the most inspirational.
The hit show first aired in 2021 with ex-Top Gear star Clarkson and his trusty farming side-kick Kaleb Cooper. It has been seen by millions of people and even led to Clarkson being given the Farming Champion of the Year in 2021 by the National Farmers’ Union.
“Jeremy Clarkson and Kaleb have done amazing things for young farmers,” Chloe said. “He has got a lot of money so can get land to do that, but he has got it so he can show you how to start. He also shows that if his yield is low and it’s raining all month and then they go to do it and it’s too wet then he has lost thousands of pounds.
“People say he has lots of money, but that’s not the point. It’s to show that this is how difficult it is to farm.”
The nurse said the show sparked a “little burn in my belly” and within weeks she was handwriting letters to local farmers in a desperate attempt to get any experience she could. Eventually she was offered a voluntary role on a sheep and beef farm.
Ms Lucas returned to work after a period, but chose to drop a paid shift so she could work for free on as many farms as possible. She went and picked up experience at a dairy farm in Devon, a sheep farm in Kent, helped with Highland cattle in Norfolk and also volunteered at Barleylands in Essex.
Fast forward a number of years and Ms Lucas – who has been shortlisted for the Farm Worker of the Year title at the prestigious British Farming Awards – now has five of her own highland cows. Sisters Isla, 3, and Catriona, 3, were the first she bought, and they’ve been joined by Beatrix, 2, and her sister Dally, 2, and one-year-old Murphy.
“When I went back to work and first told them they all burst out laughing,” she said. “They thought I was unreal, I was mad. They did not doubt me but said I was the most random girl that they had ever met. Now they are my biggest supporters.”
Chloe’s colleagues have even joined her out on the farm. Her matron works alongside her, some of her colleagues volunteer for her and others have come to meet the highland cattle and learned about them. She also hosts the colleagues and their children at a commercial farm each year where they have a ‘nursing farming day’.
“They always say that they are so proud of me and find me inspiring,” Chloe said. “It’s nice that they are following what I’m doing.”
