Coming of Age Our Yorkshire Farm by Mike Kirby

Coming of Age Our Yorkshire Farm

 by Mike Kirby

Coming of Age by Mike Kirby

 Published on 27th March 2025.

My thanks to Mike for sending me a review copy

Synopsis

Coming of Age – Our Yorkshire Farm by Mike Kirby is a nostalgic memoir set in the 1960s and 70s Yorkshire countryside. The book chronicles Mike's teenage years on his family's farm, capturing the challenges of rural life and his personal journey toward independence. While he often found farm chores, like tending to pigs, unappealing, moments spent walking the fields and learning from his father offered solace and reflection. This honest narrative captures the full range of teenage angst as, convinced he was being followed by the smell of the animals, Mike navigated his way through school and relationships. Recognizing his lack of innate farming instincts, Mike embraced his parents' values of hard work and resilience, ultimately choosing a different path. This heartfelt narrative celebrates the lessons learned and the enduring spirit of a farming family, growing and coming of age in the Yorkshire hills.   

My Thoughts

This is the second book from Mike in Our Yorkshire Farm series, though it reads equally well as a standalone in its own right. For those of us that know the area, farm and school where Mike grew up this is a welcome second instalment that takes you on a trip down memory lane , reliving your own youth and adolescence in this wonderful part of Yorkshire whilst smiling over your own encounters with Killer Cartwright and Wilfred Simms . Let’s just say that sliding down the bannister and seeing The Headmaster at the bottom when I was halfway down was not my finest encounter with him !!!!!

For those of you who were not as fortunate as us to grow up in our Yorkshire hills and moorlands, Mike’s narrative gives you a brilliant insight into what it was like to live in a Yorkshire family with the values that gave you the grit and determination to make the most of your life whilst navigating your way through the bittersweet times of school , church and growing up. Times when a trip to London was a special treat and Sunday School meant a weekly treat into the Aladdin’s cave of the sweet shop to peruse the wonderful array of delights that were on offer.

Mike’s recounting of his life growing up on his Yorkshire Farm will have you reminiscing on your own youth, where ever it may have been, and like me realising how lucky we were  when we look back now , though we probably didn’t realise it all at the time. 

About Mike

I am an aspiring writer, a long distance cyclist and runner. I live in Oxfordshire with a partner Helen and our spaniel called Lola who is always pleased to see me, no matter how long I have been out riding my bike.

I was born and brought up on a Yorkshire farm, the subject of my first book, called My Father and other Animals and my new book Coming of Age - Our Yorkshire Farm.