A vivid memoir of the life and times of Helmsley farmer Paul Dunn, based on his own diary.

The changing face of farming over the past 60 years is richly captured: from friendship on threshing day to machine harvesting; from the days when farmers used to struggle to grow the biggest crop they could, to the era of 'set-aside', when they are paid to grow weeds.

There's also a vivid account of a Helmsley boyhood. Paul didn't enjoy primary school, he writes. But "there were a few pleasant memories of going up to the playing field to play football and cricket and going to Duncombe Park to watch their nativity play. I liked the school dinners. In those days we used to get venison...."

Friend and fellow farmer Jim Wilkinson, from Thirsk, describes Dunn & Dusted as "better than the Archers".

"It is the life story of someone that we have known personally down several decades," he says. Paul unfolds the hard parts and the easy parts year by year of his journey."

Dunn & Dusted is available from bookshops in the Ryedale and York area.