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The farmer who turned to singing after bovine TB silenced his fields
Developing
In Short: Dairy farmer Mervyn Kelso turned to singing to cope with the loss of his entire herd to bovine TB.
When bovine TB led to the loss of his entire herd, dairy farmer Mervyn Kelso struggled with the sadness of the empty fields and the silence of the milking yard. His sister suggested he should join the Farmers' Choir, and that turned out to be a 'great lifter,' he said.
Barkley Thompson, the musical director of the choir, said the group was an antidote to farmers' stresses. 'You always come out of that singing feeling far, far better than you went into it,' he explained.
Mervyn Kelso, along with eight other friends, found themselves singing in the choir as part of the King's Coronation concert. 'We were running around with these Farmers' Choir vests, and he spotted us and he stopped and talked to us,' Thompson recalled.
Mervyn would sing in church and so when the Farmers' Choir restarted in nearby Ballymena that autumn, he decided to give it a go. The choir became a source of comfort and a way to reconnect with his community.
The choir was an antidote to farmers' stresses,' Thompson noted, highlighting how the group provided a much-needed outlet for emotional support and a sense of normalcy in challenging times.
What's still developing
- Nothing material beyond the confirmed record.
Sources
- BBClink