A couple of weeks ago I posted about a fascinating film made in the 1970s by Barry Cockcroft for ITV television called “The Children of Eskdale”. Another film by Cockcroft and available on the BFI website is “Sunley’s Daughter”. Also set in the early 70s it is the story of Mary Sunley, a young girl working on her father’s farm. The hours are long and the work is hard, Mary’s father eschews electricity and modern machinery, but Mary seems stoically resigned to the life; until a young farmhand comes to the neighbouring farm. I have heard it from several sources that Sunley’s farm was at Gerrick, or Girrick as it is signposted, on the north side of the A171 near the Jolly Sailors. It is a small hamlet of three cottages, one of which is abandoned and bricked up. The barns and yard behind could have been where Mary hand-milked the cows. Recommended viewing.
Leave a Reply