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From riches to rags – and back again
Sir Christopher and Lady Musgrave had it all – before fate forced them into the Jobcentre.
Both lived fast-paced champagne lifestyles, with Sir Christopher raking in cash from his lucrative engineering consultancy, while wife Carol carved out a successful career in roles ranging from teaching to modelling, even becoming Miss Whitbread at the renowned round-the-world race.
They worked hard and played harder – until it all came to sudden halt in 1995.
In December that year, Lady Musgrave, now 58, suffered appalling injuries when her car collided side-on with a bin lorry, while in January 1996 Sir Christopher, now 59, suffered a nervous breakdown as his frantic lifestyle drove him over the edge.
Both were forced out of work, and after 'years of hell', found the last of their money had trickled away.
With few options left, in 2001 they went into the Jobcentre in Fareham, and signed on to the New Deal for Disabled People.
They began to get back on their feet, and in August of that year, they sold many of their belongings and bought six acres of pastoral land in Hipley, Hambledon, and The Barn Farm – an educational farm and free-range egg producer – was born.
They received crucial support from the Fredericks Foundation. The charity gave the couple a 4,000 no-interest loan to complete a walled Dutch barn, allowing them to launch their operations onto a different level.
Since its founding, the farm has grown from just two sheep, two goats and a few chickens, to more than 1,000 animals, and a turnover in six figures.
Last week the pair launched their own brand of home-grown meats.
Carol said: 'We've both had a high life, travelled the world, fast cars, fast parties. It led to burn-out and total depression. We've worked so hard, and have had so much help because of our illnesses, and now here we are.'
The new Barn Farm meat brand was launched with the help of 1979 Formula One world champion Jodie Scheckter's Salisbury farm, Laverstock Park.
Within days of receiving the meat back from Laverstock, the couple had sold the lot to many of their existing customers, and are confident the new range of beef, pork and lamb will be a hit, as appetites for quality local fare continue to grow.
They aim to recruit six people to help work at the new branch of the business, and at a tea shop they intend to set up at the farm.
Lady Musgrave also has plans to write a cookery book and a children's book, and is now working her way towards a pilot licence.
What does she think about the help she has received from New Deal and the Fredericks Foundation?
'We're not the typical recipients,' she said. 'But it's not about who we are, it's about our circumstances. We had to explain to Fredericks what we were planning to do with the money. We wanted to make money, to build up a business, and they liked the idea.
'Everything has been on our own merit, and we have had to do the same as everybody else, regardless of who we are.'
TIMELINE
1949: Sir Christopher born to 'the ancient and warlike family of Musgrave'.
1950: Carol Lawson born in Andover.
1971: Sir Christopher founds Rolls-Royce dealership Clarendon Carriages.
1973: He rebuilds a 19th century ship, sailing to Africa and the Caribbean, where he survives a shipwreck off Barbados.
1978: Carol made Miss Whitbread; starts Angela's Model Agency in Fareham.
1982: Sir Christopher starts his engineering consultancy.
1995: He marries Carol, making her Lady Musgrave
1995: Carol has a car accident, followed a month later by Sir Christopher's nervous breakdown.
2001: Now out of cash, they sign onto the New Deal programme at Fareham Jobcentre. Several months later, they buy a patch of farmland, start breeding animals, and move onto the land in 2004.
2007: They finish the barn, aided by the Fredericks Foundation.
REAPING the rewards
For these two enterprising aristocrats, their pastoral lifestyle could not be further from their fast-paced past.
Sir Christopher's daily routine consists of waking at 7am, feeding and caring for the animals and putting them out to paddock, before hitting the hay himself around midnight.
He told BusinessWeek they would not have it any other way. 'It has been a rollercoaster in many respects. We've had some dips along the way, but we're on the way up now,' he said. 'For 20 years in engineering, I was used to shooting from one end of the country to another, doing about 50,000 miles a year.
'Now if I do 50 miles in a week it's a lot. Things have changed quite dramatically, and for the better.
'The hours are long, and its a different kind of skill in working with animals. It's gratifying, feeding them and looking after them.
'We still enjoy a party now and again, but we've been there, done that. Both of us in our diverse ways have had quite an exciting life, so it's good to wind down.'
'There are echoes of The Good Life in this, but rather than aiming to be self-sustaining, we're aiming to build a business and grow a really good, ethically-sourced product.'
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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