A site for 100 Dartmoor farmers — copy, video, and a brand story

What the site is

Dartmoor Farmers is the website for the Dartmoor Farmers Association — over 100 farmers across Dartmoor. The site tells the story of Dartmoor farming, from the heritage of commoning and conservation to the farm-to-fork journey of Dartmoor beef and lamb. It showcases partnerships with Goosemoor (wholesale distribution) and Educatering (school meals), profiles individual farmers, and highlights environmental stewardship work.

The challenge

The association needed a site that could convey the depth and authenticity of Dartmoor farming to multiple audiences: consumers, partner organisations, schools, and policymakers. The content had to be written from scratch, the site needed to feel warm and grounded rather than corporate, and the project included a full video production component — filming on working Dartmoor farms and producing professional videos for the site.

What I built

Full site design and build. Designed and developed pages for Our Story, Meet the Farmers, Nature on our Farms, Goosemoor & Educatering, Farm to Fork, and Contact.

Copywriting. All website content written from scratch, working directly with the farmers to capture their stories accurately.

Video production. For the first round of films I produced, edited and directed everything myself — on-site filming at multiple Dartmoor farms, followed by editing, post-production and publishing. Videos embedded throughout the site to bring the farming stories to life.

Mobile optimisation. Full responsive design with particular attention to performance on mobile devices.

Hosting and migration. Site transfer to SiteGround, plus DNS and email configuration.

Why it matters

This is what “local” looks like in practice — driving up onto Dartmoor with a camera, sitting at kitchen tables, learning enough about the farming year to write the copy without sounding like a brochure. It helps that I come from a Dartmoor farming family myself, so the subject matter wasn’t new to me.

The video work

Stills from the on-farm video series — filmed on working Dartmoor farms, including Greenwell Farm with Mat Cole, and produced alongside the website itself.

These days I work with a dedicated videographer and photographer rather than holding the camera myself — the same logic as hiring a web developer instead of doing it yourself: a specialist turns the work around faster, and that ultimately saves the client money. They’re available to any of my clients who want professional photos or video for their site.