Prominent farmer and best-selling author James Rebanks has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cumbria.
James Rebanks received the university’s most prestigious award to recognise his role in raising awareness of agricultural life within the Lake District and beyond.
Now in his 50s, he left school as a teenager to work on his family’s farm in Matterdale.
He later studied A-levels at Carlisle College through evening classes before achieving a double first in history at Magdalen College, Oxford.
Mr Rebanks said: “It’s a proud day. I’m a super proud Cumbrian who has written about Cumbria and I tell people all the time about how important this part of the world is, so that anyone here thinks I’m worthy of any kind of recognition is a very nice thing indeed.
“I’m here with my mum, my mother-in-law, my wife and my youngest son. To get that recognition in front of them is very nice as well.”
When asked if he had a message for graduates, he added: “I’m going to tell them to not worry.
“Do your best, keep plodding through life, find the right people to put around yourself, but don’t beat yourself up if you have bad days or failures or moments when you’re bang average because that’s going to happen to absolutely everybody.
“Life isn’t Instagram. It’ll have ups and downs and challenges, setbacks and that’s just part of life.
“In those moments where it isn’t going perfect, I’d just urge them to keep a sense of context on that, keep their heads up, keep plodding through. We’re just lucky to be alive at the end of the day.”
Professor Brian Webster-Henderson OBE, deputy vice chancellor of the university, said: “James has played a significant role in shifting public awareness and perceptions of the challenging realities of agricultural life within the Lake District and beyond.
“His is an authoritative voice on the rural economy and the lives of farming families.
“It is immensely important that we should honour a proud Cumbrian who has made such a global impact.”
Following his degree, Mr Rebanks returned to work on the family farm. He also created a consultancy focusing on heritage, culture, economics and tourism.
He served as an expert advisor to UNESCO’s World Heritage Sustainable Tourism Programme and helped the Lake District secure World Heritage status.
His farm, Racy Ghyll, is managed with his wife Helen and their four children. It is known for regenerative grazing and nature-friendly management, hosting workshops, training courses and educational visits.
The farm breeds Herdwick sheep and Belted Galloway cattle. Sheep bred in his flock have achieved show success and record prices, while a bull from the herd matched the breed record by making 20,000 guineas.
His first book, The Shepherd’s Life, explored his family’s relationship with farming and the Cumbrian landscape. Published in 2015, it became a Sunday Times number one bestseller, won the Lakeland Book of the Year title and was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize.
He also wrote English Pastoral: An Inheritance, which examined how the modern world has negatively impacted rural landscapes.
The book won the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing and the Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing.
More than 1,500 students from across the globe have been celebrating their academic achievements at the university’s graduation ceremonies this week.
