Puffin Croft features in TV series
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
PUFFIN Croft is probably the best-known petting farm in Caithness – but it is about to raise its profile further with a TV appearance on Channel 5 with Ben Fogle.
The documentary series Ben Fogle: Make a New Life in the Country sees the celebrity presenter travel to John O'Groats to meet a former nanny who left London to pursue her dream of running her own farm.
Cara Young moved to Caithness from the big city after her mother died and it dawned on her that "life is short" so there was limited time to realise her dreams.
"I realised I had to follow my dream and thought the worst that could happen was if it didn't work at least I gave it a try and I'd have no regrets," Cara said.
She came to start a smallholding and gradually built up the now well-established petting farm of Puffin Croft at John O'Groats.
Her property is home to goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens and donkeys and features a vegetable delivery service, but the weather has taken its toll on the business through some harsh winters.
"It was not my dream to be a nanny," she said. "I've lived all over the world and had adventures but it was my dream to have a smallholding.
"I knew nothing about running a business or animals but then the opportunity arose and I jumped on board."
The petting farm was already established when Cara took over the running of it in September 2016. Though she found it a major learning curve, she stuck it out and transformed the business.
As she built up her reputation in the county and beyond, Cara came to the attention of a TV production company looking for stories of people seeking the good life.
"I was originally filmed for a TV series called Starting Up, Starting Over about three years ago and some of that will be in this new programme."
In the upcoming episode of the current series, some of the original footage will be used along with newly shot scenes in which Cara interacts with the celebrity presenter.
Ben helps her to stock up the farm shop and meets some of the more unusual animals in her menagerie, including chickens that change sex and ponies that change colour.
The filming took place over two days with "many hours" of material shot over the tight schedule in early January, according to Cara.
"Ben was really nice and we had some great conversations," she said. "He also fell in love with my Dalmatian dog, Measles."
In the programme a local family come to visit the farm and Cara shows how part of the property has now been converted into a bed-and-breakfast to extend the business.
Paul McCallum, a development producer with Pi Productions, the company behind the new series, said that though the shooting schedule was tight the team had "structured many scenes" in advance and knew what they were looking for.
"The first 20 minutes is a condensed version of the original programme and the rest is what we shot," Paul said.
He said one of the tricks of the trade used in the documentary is to show the subjects "always doing things" and not standing still – a device to keep the audience engaged with the film.
"It's really quite inspiring to see people who have just given up everything and go and follow their dream – especially Cara who has gone and done it on her own," he said.
The episode featuring Cara in the series Ben Fogle: Make a New Life in the Country will be broadcast on Tuesday, February 25, on Channel 5 at 9pm.
