Five years ago farmers made more money selling cow muck than milk

The Northern Echo’s report on the dairy crisis

Falling prices, which had seen supermarkets selling milk cheaper than water, had left many of the region's dairy farmers in a desperate situation with some losing up to 10p for each litre they sell.

Yorkshire Dales-based Metcalfe Farms was making more money selling slurry from its 900 dairy cows than it did from selling their milk.

The owner of the 2,700-acre farm, near Leyburn, said while he was selling the 33 litres of milk each of his Holstein heifers produce daily at a loss, 100 tonnes of slurry scraped from the barns was helping to partially balance the books, as it was being used to power nearby businesses and was also being sold to the National Grid.

David Metcalfe, who launched the power enterprise with his brothers Brian and Philip and Stokesley-based anaerobic digestion firm JFS & Associates, said at the time that other dairy farmers struggling with the low prices could benefit from similar schemes if they grouped together.

He said the 200KW of electricity the cattle, which had been named best herd in the North-East, produce 24 hours-a-day had led to power bills for the three firms on the site falling by 60 per cent.

Also that week, yarnbombing street artists were celebrating the year's Tour de Yorkshire cycle race by decorating a North Yorkshire town under the cover of darkness with hundreds of woollen creations.

YARNBOMBING street artists are celebrating this year\’s Tour de Yorkshire cycle race

The Northern Echo’s report on the yarn-bombing

Around 300 people - aged between one and 97 - had been involved in the community effort to cover Thirsk with a range of knitted and crocheted designs.

The market town woke up to the decorations after 50 of the Thirsk Yarnbombers spent the night - dressed head-to-toe in black - putting the woolly items on display along the race route.

Members of the group used around 750 balls of wool to make hundreds of metres of bunting; decorate trees, bollards, benches and fences; knit life-size people and animals; and make specially crafted door hangers for each of the town's 150 shops.

A huge banner reading "Thirsk Yarnbombers Support the Tour de Yorkshire" was being displayed near Thirsk and Northallerton Golf Club and a statue of James Herriot at the World of James Herriot museum was given a knitted birthday cake and bright pink leg warmers.

Meanwhile, Mr Wright, a plumber from Gilesgate, and around 1,200 others set out on 2016's endurance race through the Sahara Desert in southern Morocco.

Sahara ultra-marathon finisher: ‘I don’t even like running’

The Northern Echo’s report on the marathon runner

Six days and 156 miles later, having braved swirling sandstorms and temperatures soaring into the Celsius 50s, he was among fewer than 1,000 who finished it.

“I was absolutely over the moon, elated,” he said at the time.

“You’ve pushed yourself so much, you’ve had your highs and lows and just need to get to that finish.

“It was absolutely beautiful out there."