HE calls himself an "afternoon farmer, summertime only" and is the owner of one of the best meadows in North Yorkshire.

Maurice Brewster, of Manor Farm Bungalow, Embsay, farms his 26 acres of land against the backdrop of Embsay Crag using traditional methods. He prides himself on the quality of the hay he reaps from his meadows and the flora and fauna which thrives in his sheep grazed pastures.

Simply put, that means lots of hard work without mechanical, labour-saving intervention. The only horsepower he has is literally that; the four legs and muscle power he gets from his 16-year-old Dales pony, Daisy, which he says has "a pedigree as long as the Queen's!"

Mr Brewster was the founder member and managing director of W and M Brewster and Sons Ltd, a building company based in Skipton and started in 1956. The business still thrives today but is now run by his four sons.

Though he retired 11 years ago, Mr Brewster embarked on what he calls his 'hobby' many years before.

"I bought the farm bungalow 25 years ago and rented the land round it. Later I was able to buy it. My 'job' is to do as much work on the farm as I can with a horse. I do it out of pleasure and can get onto the land all year round," he explained.

Ena, his wife of 49 years and mother to his daughter and four sons, is happy for him to spend his retirement years this way although she prefers to look after the house rather than get involved outside.

The natural farming methods he has adopted do not include mowing his meadows each August, however, which is now done by a farming friend. The job used to be done under horse power when he had two horses but was too much when he eventually kept just one pony, an Irish mare.

"Mind you this last pony is very strong and if I had known she would have been able to do the job on her own I would still be doing it that way now," he said.

In return for the mowing and baling he gives the farmer half the hay. What is left is enough for his animals.

But all the other jobs are carried out with Daisy's help such as pulling the sledge which he uses to take out the muck and which he then spreads by hand - or rather a fork! She then pulls the chain harrow to work the roughly scattered muck evenly over the land.

In August after the hay has been mown and baled, she brings it indoors - after all she is going to eat much of the clover rich produce during winter. She also pulls the rake which gathers up the hay around the edges which gets missed by the baler.

Daisy is an excellent driving pony too and is perfectly happy when harnessed to a cart. She will accompany him when he goes about his business, pulling the cart filled with posts and wire for the fence he is currently renewing, or stones to make up a gap in a wall.

In fact his only piece of powered equipment is a small tractor used solely for mowing thistles, a far more acceptable method of removal than resorting to chemical intervention as many do these days.

Half of the land is pasture which is grazed by sheep he buys as stock lambs - those used for fattening and selling to butchers - or sheep with lambs at foot.

During summer he grazes around 20 Holsteins for another farmer.

The sheep eat off the meadow grass until May when it is allowed to grow naturally with only the by-product from the sheep as fertiliser. They are then put back in after the harvest. This method of cultivation provides him with an enviable meadow filled with a mixture of grasses and wild flowers such as red and white clovers, daisies, and a sprinkling of buttercups.

The lateness of the cut, necessary for hay in order for it to grow to its maximum height and of optimum ripeness, means that ground-nesting birds are left undisturbed. They are able to bring up their broods safe in the knowledge that machinery is not going to destroy their nests in the spring as is often the case where fields are cultivated for silage when the first crop can be taken as early as May.

The pastureland is fortified each year with a feeding compound which does not contain nitrogen.

This obvious love of the countryside and farming was nurtured at an early age when Mr Brewster's grandfather farmed at Newfield Edge, just outside Gisburn.

"It was just a small farm, around 50 acres and around 900 feet above sea level. I used to go and help out as a youngster during school holidays. The hours were long and hard but I enjoyed it," he said.

The hard work obviously has done him no harm either. The fresh air and manual labour have kept him as fit as a man half his age - he's 72. He vows to carry on with his 'hobby' as long as he can though it is hard to imagine him doing anything else. In the meantime there are fences to mend, walls to repair - a legacy of recent works carried out in the area by Yorkshire Water - muck to spread and animals to tend.

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