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The Cannons

Tom and Margaret Cannon knew people who had moved to France, and  were encouraged by the success of their friends. They made their move in the autumn of 1999, with their four children, and have leased a 150 acre farm in the south-east of France. They have 40 cows and a 65,000 gallon milk quota, and lease their  farmhouse separately at an amazing £480 per annum. 

Tom looked at 10 farms with George Lidbury before making his decision. He had always wanted a farm of his own, either bought or leased, since graduating from the Irish Farm Apprenticeship Scheme in 1981. 

The Marshes

Andrew and Hilary Marsh used to farm 320 acres of arable and dairy farmland in Shropshire which had been in Andrew's family since 1919. But the British farming crisis had hit them hard and their debts were mounting. In July 1998, they had the idea of looking at leaving the family farm for a new life - farming in France.  They had taken holidays there for years and had seen a lot that they liked - not least the fact that the French government and people seemed to support farmers and see things from their perspective.

The Marshes went on   one of George Lidbury's  whistle-stop  tours  of French farms  . In one weekend having met George at Dover they saw available farms  from the   Vosges to Normandy to Sarthe to Charente and into Creuse  . During their travels, they   saw two dairy farm s  that were of interest if they decided to move. One was in Normandy by Liseux, with 60 ha, a potentially lovely house but money needed spending immediately on the dairy. The other was in Charente, 25 miles NW of Angouleme , with a main house and two cottages.   After a family meeting and a lot of heart -searching, they decide a move to France was by far the best alternative for them. Of  the two suitable farms, the one in Charente offered the best prospects for the future.  It transpired that what was on offer was a limited company which owned 183 acres of farmland and 20 acres of woods, and an additional 70 acres as rental, plus the houses, outbuildings, machinery ,  70   cows and 26 young stock. The price was 4.5 million francs, or about £460,000.  A great incentive was the fact that Andrew, at 39,   with a derogation  still qualified for a Young Farmer's grant of £6,500 (for which the age limit of 35 is extended for a year for every child   to a maximum of four years i.e.: 39  - the Marshes have four girls). In addition, the French government would also provide a low-cost loan of £65,000. But the Marshes had to move before Andrew's fortieth birthday, which was on 19 December 1998. 

The move took place on December 13. Their farm had been sold, and the contents of their home had already been loaded into a removal van. Their last two nights in England were spent in sleeping bags on   the English farmhouse floors  .   They arrived at the farm in the commune of Grand Madieu on the afternoon of the Monday 14th December 1998, a day ahead of their furniture. On the Wednesday they hit the ground running by taking over the still-working farm. The farmer and his wife came for two days to show them the ropes, and George came too, to help translate so that the Marshes could gain as much information in the short time available. The farmer had given the time with no reluctance, even though he was unhappy about leaving as he had had to retire due to ill health, and none of his children wanted to take up the reins.  Their first French Christmas passed in a whirl of getting to grips with the unfamiliar farming system. 

Their first year has been a struggle, not least because they had to get to absorb the language as well as the way of life.  Whenever they had a problems that they could not sort out themselves, George was only a phone call away and he either sorted it out by phone or made a quick visit.  But now the farm is on its way to being in profit and the Marshes are optimistic. As well as their dairy farming business, they have two gîtes which they rent out to tourists. The girls are members of   Chasseneuil town  band, and have made new friends at the village school they attend. The steady stream of visitors arriving from England are full of praise for the Marshes' new home. They also find the optimism characteristic of French farming invigorating, and a pleasant change from the current mood in England.

 As Andrew says; "The difference is that in England we worked hard and got nowhere. Here we are working hard, but we're definitely moving forward."   He adds: "We have been very pleased with George's service both before and after sale. We could have done the job by ourselves, but there was no way that we could have done it in the time scale we had. George's contacts with people in the system were invaluable to us"  

The Marshes' website is on  http://www.amarsh.com.fr  e-mail amarsh@claranet.fr
Phone/Fax : 00 33 (0)545 85 70 33.