Catherine Scott

John Fairley recalls producing Yorkshire Television’s 1973 documentary Too Long a Winter, which introduced audiences to Hannah Hauxwell’s solitary life farming in the Yorkshire Dales. Although regional programming faced difficulty securing national ITV slots, the film became a major success, prompting an emotional public response and turning Hauxwell into a television celebrity. She continued farming and living largely as before while later documentaries followed her travels, and Fairley maintained contact with her until her death at 91. He hopes the documentary will be shown again to mark the centenary of her birth.