Truth Behind Farmer Who 'Refused' To Move From Middle Of M62 Revealed

The granddaughter of the farmer who famously 'refused' to budge when authorities tried to build the M62 through his land has revealed what life is like in the unusually-placed home.

Kimberley Pollard's granddad, Ken Wild, became a cult hero in the wake of claims that he would not move from his home, leading to the carriageway between Manchester and Leeds being built around it. But it appears that all is not what it seems.

Ken Wild's granddaughter, Kimberley Pollard, spoke to The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. She said that life on the farm was more peaceful than you might expect: "I used to stay in a big bedroom on the westbound carriageway side. It had a four-poster bed - you could get lost in it. There was triple glazing which kept out lots of noise.

"You'd sometimes wake up if someone beeped their car horn in the middle of the night, but the sound of the motorway used to send me to sleep."

She also addressed and refuted the rumours about his stubbornness, saying: "The story is my granddad was a stubborn old Yorkshireman who refused to move - but he's actually from Lancashire.

"He had a broad Yorkshire accent from living up here for so long."

She added: "He was far too subdued for that - and he wouldn't have had a choice in the matter because the farm was rented from Yorkshire Water."

A documentary from 1983 was uploaded online previously, revealing that the actual reason Stott Hall Farm is slap-bang in the middle of the motorway was because a geological fault beneath it would have been a nightmare to sort out.

Watch footage from the documentary here:

Credit: ITV

In the 26-minute ITV film (under the banner of Clegg's People), journalist Michael Clegg investigates what this house and its unorthodox surroundings are all about.

He said: "A geological fault beneath the farmhouse meant it was more practical for engineers to leave it rather than blast through and destroy it.

"Outside the noise is relentless but inside it's as peaceful and cosy as any farmhouse."

Featured Image Credit: Google Street View

James Dawson

James Dawson is a Journalist at LADbible. He has contributed articles to LADbible’s ‘Knowing Me, Knowing EU’ series on the EU referendum, the 'Electoral Dysfunction' series on the 2017 general election, the ‘U OK M8?’ series tackling mental health amongst young men, and for its ‘Climate Change’ initiative in partnership with National Geographic.

@thejaytoday