Dying Breed

Two free screenings of the acclaimed documentary were filmed over 12 months on 3 West Penwith farms.

DYING BREED (12A)
A feature length documentary (80 mins)

Two screenings on Sat Aug 27th
Free entry
11.00 am & 2.00 pm
At St Just Miners Chapel

The days of the small family farm are numbered. Almost 100,000 have gone from the UK in the last decade, unable to cope in a market dominated by retail giants and big growers. The work is hard, hours long, rewards poor. Farmers’ children are reluctant to follow in their parents’ footsteps. In Cornwall, small farming is going the way of mining and fishing.

DYING BREED is a feature length documentary that captures a disappearing way of life on three small farms in the far west of Cornwall. More than a year in the making, starting and finishing with the birth of a Red Ruby calf at Boscean, near St Just in Spring, the film paints a poignant and vivid portrait of small family farms struggling to survive against the odds. Their ageing custodians may well be their last. On their passing their land will likely be sold to bigger landowners, speculators or maybe city bankers fancying a go at hobby farming.

The St Just screenings are extra special because St Just was the home of the late Ivan Rowe, who was a prominent citizen of the town. Ivan is one of the farmers featured in the film. The others are Bernard & Rosemary Hocking at Rospannel, near Crows-an-Wra, and Geoffrey Giles at Kerris, near Lamorna.

This event has been organised in conjunction with the Penwith Landscape Partnership.