John D Taylor

From Pushchair to Ploughshare; a Yorkshire Farmer’s Tale is the autobiography of John Taylor, born in 1937 in Hull, Yorkshire. At the outbreak of the Second World War he moved with his brother Geoff, his cousin Mike, and their mothers and maternal grandparents to live in a rented farmhouse in Upper Nidderdale. The four and a half years in Middlesmoor was to determine the future course of the two brother’s lives. In 1953, with a desire for their sons to become farmers, John’s parents sold their house in Ganstead, near Hull and bought Hill Farm at Thirtleby, East Yorkshire. For over 40 years Taylor Brother’s farmed Hill Farm, beginning with a dairy herd selling the milk through vending machines in Hull as partners in F & T Vending Ltd. Other enterprises were to include, broiler chickens, turkeys and pigs. John developed an interest in computers and in 1986 created Tabrotec Ltd that operated Britain’s first computerised on-line auction, selling pork and bacon pigs direct from farms to abattoirs, many years before the Internet made such a facility common place. Losing his son in a tragic accident on the farm there followed a very dark period in his life, the trauma of which led to the sad breakup of his previously very happy marriage. Retiring in 2002 he happily remarried and with his wife Irene, traveled extensively to many countries around the world, which he relates with many humorous anecdotes in his book.