Travel and all the associated experiences do not come for free! As much as I pride myself on finding the best deals possible, it still costs a lot of money. And as a student I’m already on a limited budget, so every summer I end up working at whatever place will hire me to pay back my overdraft and get some savings together ahead of the next academic year.
This summer I only had a few weeks where I was available to work. This was down to a mandatory 2-week practical course with my university followed by a week in Gran Canaria at the beginning of July, and then heading off to Germany for my study abroad year in September.
Of course this made the already difficult task of finding a job even harder. Despite the apparent worker shortage I was reading about in the media and the fact that I already had work experience, nobody ever wants to hire a student for just a few weeks. I think I applied to about 60 jobs in my home city with absolutely no success…
The only option remaining was to head down to Cambridgeshire to work for an agency supplying seasonal workers for farming jobs. Sam had worked there for a couple of weeks the previous summer and reported that it was hard work but paid decently for our age, and more importantly they accepted the vast majority of people who applied to work there.
Sure enough, after filling in a short online form I was accepted – no questions asked. So Sam and I made plans to head down together and do a 4-week stint working on whatever jobs we were given. I was a little apprehensive about the unknown, and knew that we might meet some *interesting* characters, but was willing to give it a shot regardless.
The Job
We didn’t get off to the best start, given that we were scheduled to travel down on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK (over 40°C!) and in fact we had to push back our arrival by a couple of days as it was impossible to get there. No trains were running, and driving in that heat wouldn’t have been the best idea. Work on all the farms was also cancelled due to the heat, so thankfully we weren’t missing out on earning.
With a very helpful offer of a lift from a family member, we finally made it to the agency site a couple of days later and spent the first day settling in and sorting out paperwork. The agency offered various forms of basic accommodation, but like most short-term workers, we chose to camp in our own tents. This was the cheapest option available, and of course since we were there to make money we wanted to keep living costs as low as possible.
As expected, the site was definitely far from glamourous (my personal least favourite part was the shower block – where only 2 out of 5 showers actually had shower heads, the water was always freezing cold, and the floor was coated in a thick layer of black grime under the mats…) but it offered enough to get by. My aim was to spend as little time there as possible, instead taking all the jobs I could and exploring the surrounding area on days off.
One of the few things I did like about the campsite was the small lake just down the road. Whenever I wanted a break, to clear my head or just to sit and chill, I would come here. I’ve found that living outdoors gives you a much greater awareness and appreciation of the beauty of nature… just sitting by the lake at sunset, watching the birds come in to roost, in those moments I was perfectly content.
As for the jobs we did, well, there was a variety. We started off rogueing sugar beet, which is basically a fancy term for weeding. Starting at dawn we’d walk up and down fields all day spotting weed beet and getting them out of the ground. Usually this involved kicking the root, yanking on it and invariably cursing at it when it refused to come out…
It was simple but tiring work, and after a few days it did get pretty boring. But on the plus side I did see a lot of wildlife – so many hares, and even a couple of deer now and again.
The other main job I did was a “travel” job. Usually this kind of job would involve a semi-nomadic existence living out of a couple of cars and travelling further afield from farm to farm. The particular job we were offered was different though – we were to head to a farm in Dorset and spend a couple of weeks or so there harvesting their thatching straw crop. I was actually quite excited for this one! Thatching is such a unique traditional craft and I thought it would be cool to be a part of that in some way.
Sure enough this turned out to be my favourite job. The days were very long and the job physically demanding, but we had the luxury of a fully functioning shower and even an outdoor chest freezer for us to use. Being able to sit in the courtyard of the farmhouse after a proper shower, ice cream in hand, certainly improved the experience!
With the exception of this job (where we worked pretty much every day) I usually took Sundays off to rest, recharge and explore the local area. Naturally Sam and I spent some time in Cambridge, the nearest city to our campsite. I’d been there before for a day or two and it was nice to revisit! I also did a couple of solo trips to Bournemouth and Ely, the latter of which I later revisited with Sam as I enjoyed it so much. We also managed to squeeze in a day in London on the way home 🙂
Now for a little summary of all this travel.. (I’ll talk about my work experience further at the end of the post)
Ely
Ely is a small city set in the Fens to the north of Cambridge, and is famous for its medieval cathedral. Sam and I actually planned to head here together when we were unexpectedly given a day off due to shortage of work, but he was later asked to fill in on a job last-minute for somebody else, so I came alone.
As English cities go, Ely certainly is a pretty one! Along with the cathedral, there are historical buildings, cute cafes and a waterfront area by the river which was beautiful to walk along in the summer weather.
After arriving mid-morning on the train, I decided to head for the main attraction first: the cathedral. It was quite different in style to other cathedrals I had seen in the past, but that just makes it all the more interesting, and it certainly is an impressive building.
I walked around the cathedral grounds for a bit, then sat down on a bench to take part in a webinar hosted by my exchange university in preparation for my year abroad. This took much longer than expected, but I was quite content sitting there in the sunshine with the cathedral as a backdrop. It was a typical summer day with people strolling by and birds singing, and I was really enjoying the break from work!
Towards the end of my webinar I began to hear some beautiful choral music coming from inside the cathedral. I slipped inside to listen, and although I’m not religious it was really quite something to experience. Cathedral acoustics are wonderful, and I just stood there at the back for a while letting the harmonies wash over me and feeling the peace and stillness.
From here I spent a bit of time wandering around the nearby streets before heading back into the centre for some food. I don’t usually visit places solo, so I wanted to challenge myself by going into a café by myself and sitting alone (for some reason I’ve always felt self-conscious about this!) So I found a cute little café just outside the cathedral grounds, ordered a very nice cappuccino, and sat there for a while taking in my surroundings.
After that I couldn’t resist trying some chips from the local chippy! I took them into the cathedral gardens to eat, and although all the lawn grass was brown and dead from the heatwave, there were still a lot of pretty flowers around.
This was actually a sort of side-garden to the main grounds, maybe a kitchen garden? It was quite small, but very colourful and a real joy to wander around.
The main grounds also contained an interesting garden known as the “Physick” garden. The idea of this was to recreate the traditional garden that would have been here during the medieval period, when the cathedral also housed a monastery. The monks would have grown medicinal plants here to treat common illnesses – something which eventually led to the development of more modern medicines. I thought this was a pretty fascinating concept!
I had no idea that so many native British plants could be used as remedies or cures, and it was especially interesting to see that the monks had knowledge and treatments for mental health issues as well as for the physical. This garden was newly planted when I visited (that’s why it looks a bit sparse) but I’m sure in a couple of years it will be thriving.
I then did a bit more exploring of the side roads around the cathedral and came across some really lovely houses! This one looked especially pretty with all the flowers in full bloom:
Later in the afternoon I made my way down to the river and the waterfront area. This was possibly my favourite part of Ely purely because there was so much life going on and it just gave me easygoing and laid-back vibes. I walked along the river away from the mooring area and soon found myself in fields amongst other walkers, dogs and lots of wildlife.
I ended up sitting on the riverbank for quite a while journaling and soaking in the surroundings. It was a peaceful antidote to the high-intensity nature of the farm work, and I even got chatting to some friendly dog-walkers whilst I was there. And yes, I was also inspired to get myself a boat in the future and spend a summer motoring about in the Fens…
Dorset
As previously mentioned, I later spent about two weeks in Dorset harvesting thatching straw. As well as the vastly improved living conditions and the access to a freezer, there were a couple of other perks to being here!
First of all, the sunsets were just stunning…
Once I had finished work, showered, and made food it was usually already close to sundown. I’d often come and sit in this field just around the corner from the farmhouse to watch as the sky flamed into all these incredible colours and patterns. No two days were the same, and once or twice I even got to see some hares close-up as I sat there quietly watching. Definitely a major highlight!
I also got the chance to spend a couple of hours in Bournemouth one afternoon. Our work team leader needed to sort something out there and we also had to take Sam to the train station as he was returning home for a few days, so the entire group came along. We all went off to do our own thing, and so I headed down to the beach.
After spending so much time in the open fields with just a few people around, it was a certainly a shock to be amongst all the crowds! So I decided to walk along the promenade away from the busiest areas in the hope of a little more space.
Bournemouth certainly isn’t a secluded unspoilt beach, but it does have a certain British seaside charm. As I made my way up towards Boscombe Pier I passed by a row of brightly coloured beach huts as well as some more unusual attractions like the gym on the beach and some European-style beach restaurants. I even saw a group of people doing a silent disco!
After about 40 minutes I reached Boscombe Pier and decided to have a wander along it for a better view of the beach. It’s not the nicest pier in the world but the views were pretty decent!
From here I took a leisurely stroll back along the beach towards Bournemouth. I even had time to sit on the beach for a bit in a quieter spot and then went for a paddle in the shallows.
Of course, a British seaside trip wouldn’t be complete without fish and chips! Earlier I had spotted a Harry Ramsden’s chippy at the Bournemouth beachfront, where you could order at a machine just like in a McDonalds. I appreciated this novelty and there was a big queue (usually a sign that a food place is good) so decided to get some chips there and take them onto the beach to eat.
Unfortunately these were a huge let-down due to the tiny portion sizes… Usually I order small because they give you far too much, but clearly going to a chain instead of an independent place was a bad idea. They were pretty nice chips but I ended up having to buy an actual meal at a supermarket as well. Pretty disappointing stuff.
On the whole though, I had a really nice afternoon with some much-needed alone time away from the other workers. Not sure I would choose to holiday here but as a break from work it was just what I needed!
London
Going to London was a bit of a spontaneous decision – we would most likely need to head there anyway on our way home, so we thought why not make a day of it? Of course with only a few hours in the city we wouldn’t be able to go to many places, but from previous visits we have some favourite spots and we thought it would be nice to head to these again.
Our first stop was the Chinatown area in Soho. We visited this part of London for the first time last year and fell in love with these little fish-shaped sponge custard snacks sold at the bakery there, known as taiyaki. So now, every time I’m in London I make a stop to get a few! They’re made super fresh right in the windowfront and they never disappoint.
Chinatown is popular, but not overcrowded, and there’s always a vibrant atmosphere. Since I haven’t been to Asia yet, places like this are the next best thing until I can afford to head out there myself!
After that we decided to head over to Hampstead Heath, an iconic green space close to the centre of London. I’d heard a lot of good things about this place but had never actually visited myself, so now was the perfect time.
It was only a short walk from Hampstead Heath station to the Heath itself, but we (or rather Sam) got distracted by Daunt Books, an independent bookshop on the road opposite. I’m not much of a reader myself, but I enjoy looking round bookshops and Sam is really into reading, so we popped in for a look.
I’ve been to some great bookstores in my life, but this one is definitely up there. The books are organised into categories by country or region – a really novel concept (no pun intended!) which promotes non-Anglophone authors and mixes fiction with non-fiction. With my love for travel, I thought this was a great idea and aside from the that, the store is also just quite aesthetic:
Continuing with the literary theme, we also made a stop at Keats’ House, which was just round the corner from the bookshop. Sam had studied Keats’ poetry during his A-levels so I thought it would be cool for him to see the house where Keats lived and worked.
We didn’t want to pay to go inside and instead were quite content to sit out in the garden and have a few snacks whilst learning a bit about Keats’ life from Google (spoiler alert: he did not have a happy life). His house was pretty nice though:
From here we headed on up the hill onto Hampstead Heath. Like everywhere else in the UK this summer, the grass was brown and dead from the drought and heatwaves, but there was still a great view down to central London with all the landmarks of the city skyline. There were quite a lot of people up here but there was more than enough room for everyone to have their own space (though I saw long queues for the wild swimming pools)
Our final stop on our mini-trip to London was to Camden Market. It may be touristy but in my opinion it’s one of those places that is touristy because it’s good. Camden is honestly my favourite place in London to get food. Street vendors here sell cuisines from all over the world, from Venezuelan to Vietnamese and everything in between. I never know what to pick but whatever I do decide on usually ends up being very tasty!
This time I decided to go with a Vietnamese noodle bowl and it was an excellent decision, would very much recommend:
And that’s it for the travel round-up! I honestly didn’t really expect to be able to do much in the way of travel whilst working this job, so I was happy that I got to see a couple of familiar and new places.
The Summary
So, how did I find the experience of working farm jobs?
The pros:
- Decent pay for my age and experience (and a higher rate for overtime)
- Complete flexibility on jobs worked and contract length. If you wanted a day off you would just tell them in advance, and you could stay for the whole season or just a few weeks
- I got to see some pretty cool wildlife. There were so many hares in the fields (including babies!) and I got lucky spotting deer a few times as well
- Had some lovely days exploring the local area on my Sundays off
The cons:
- Poor standard of living (showers were not great and the kitchen was functional but nothing more)
- Physical demands of the job. I knew it would be physically tough before I came and was already pretty fit, but its hard on the body to work long shifts and then to sleep on roll-mats in a tent. Recovery from the exertion was difficult
- Didn’t like some of the other people there. The worst thing was people smoking inside the car – even with the windows down I breathed so much of it in! But I also just got bad vibes from a couple of people and the language barrier didn’t help (a lot of the workers come over from Europe)
Overall it was pretty much as I expected, and I didn’t really have any other options anyway.
I do feel like I learned from my experiences here and the people I met, and in turn I hope that they learned from us too. Would I work here again? Not if I can help it, but if I need to make money and there’s no other option, I would consider coming back. If anything though, working here has given me motivation to budget better and make money in other ways throughout the year, so that I can still travel without having to work these sorts of jobs to replenish my savings!