Farmer turning 93 has no plans to retire

By Adam Dutton and Kate Chapman via SWNS

Britain's oldest farmer is refusing to be put out to pasture – as he prepares to turn 93.

Sprightly Fred Campling still works five days a week running his sugar beet and haulage firm in Sutton Saint James, Lincs.

The farmer, who starts work at 6am and clocks up at least 66 hours a week, has never had a day off sick during his 79-year career.

On Saturday, July 13, Fred, who has lived through 21 Prime Ministers, five
monarchs and two world wars, will celebrate his 93rd birthday.

Despite his age, Fred has no plans to hang up his overalls and will even spend the morning of his birthday hunting for motoring parts.

He said: “I still feel the same as I did 20 or 30 years ago.

“I cannot quite do everything I used to be able to, but I can still do what I want to do, things like driving.

“It’s names that I struggle to remember now.

“You’ve got to have something to get up for in the morning - and something you like doing.

“If you like doing it, you’ll do it properly - you also need a bit of good luck and good health.

“You’ve just got to keep doing something – that’s what keeps you going.

“I’ve said this many times before – when I pack up they will dig the hole for me.”

Fred, who has three grown-up children, six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, left school at 14 to start working on the family farm.

Just six years later he took over the farm following the sudden death of his father who was just 48.

He started growing strawberries on the 17-acre site before switching to sugar beet and cattle which provided the family’s staple income.

He said: “I didn’t really get an education, I went to work, you had to, to make a living.

“I always helped at home when I was younger, working on Saturdays and Sundays feeding the cattle.

“Father only had 17 acres. I started work when I left school at 14 and he paid me £1 per week.

“He never had a car or anything. My first push bike cost £7 new. It took seven weeks to earn that.

“My father died at 48, so I was only about 20 when I started farming on my own.

“It was a different world back then; we had no mains electricity in the house and had to go outside to use the toilet.

“I’ve grown sugar beet all my life and am still going strong, although we only have about 15 acres now.

“The thing I like about sugar beet is if you do a good job you can see you’ve done a good job.

“You’ve got something to look back on. If you don’t do a good job, you’ve got to put it right.

“I’ve worked with all different sugar beet harvesters over the years, and I contract lift for other farmers, mainly in Norfolk. I’ve been doing it over 40 years, with the same farmers.

“They all know me, I worked for their fathers, I’ve watched them grow up.”

Fred married local primary school teacher Ruth in 1956 and they were married for 66 years until she died in 2022.

He now runs the farm and business with the couple’s sons Mark, 60, Philip, 65, and daughter Catherine, 59.

Many of his employees have been with the firm for decades and are considered family themselves.

Fred said: “I just enjoy working; I like working for the people I work for – they mostly leave me to it.

“Some of my workers have been with me since I started; Ian is 78 and still driving a truck– he can do anything.

“It’s a different world now, everything is so expensive – machinery and repairs have gone through the roof.”

Fred's daughter Catherine, who works in the office, said: “The word retirement to his is like a swear word to my father, he’s already planning the next beet season.

“He looked after my mum and then would go on the beet harvester all day. He did that all day. It was sheer determination.

“She was paralyzed, he used to get her in the car and take her in the car all over the place.

"He’s 93 on Saturday. He gets up at 6am until 5pm at this time of year, he does that five days a week now.

“He used to do it seven days a week. He’ll be driving around looking for spares on a Saturday. Sometimes he does more. He’s remarkable really.”