The Warrington sisters on taking on family farm after dad's death

Sisters Fiona and Alison Wilshaw say the lambing season is going well so far

Two sisters have spoken out about having to "pull together" to take over the reigns of their family farm after the heartbreak of losing their father.

Fiona and Alison Wilshaw have been running Bates Farm in Risley, Warrington, Cheshire, since their father, Michael, died in October.

Twenty-five-year old Fiona said there had been challenges navigating their first year without his guidance.

She said: "It's a big change but it's going well so far."

It comes during the lambing season which is the busiest time of year.

Fiona said they have had a lot to get their heads round but their father, who ran the farm for 30 years before he died of cancer, helped them as much as he could even when he was poorly.

Bates Farm has about 200 lambs

"He was really manning the fort however he could," she said.

"So it's definitely a gap we've had to fill, navigating our way without the guidance.

"But fortunately a lot of his friends are very involved and they keep me in the loop and give me pointers when I need to be thinking about different things."

The farm has 100 ewes and about 200 lambs along with 300 head of cattle, turkeys, pigs and arable crops.

The sisters open the gates to the public during seasonal events such as lambing season and Halloween where people can pick their own pumpkins.

Alison, 26, said: "Fiona looks after the farming side of things such as lambing the ewes and making sure everything is going well from an agriculture perspective.

"I'm a bit more creative. I head up the events in terms of the marketing side and get the social media ready, putting the events online and managing the admin and enquiries."

The sisters say they have seen lots of twins during this lambing season

Fiona said all is going well with lambing.

"We've had lots and lots of twins which is good because each ewe can feed two lambs so hopefully not too many on the bottle."

When lambing is over Fiona will turn her attention to the crops.

She added: "It's a big change but it's going well so far. We're all pulling together."

The sisters are not only following in their father's footsteps by farming, they are also fundraising like him, too.

The seasonal events on the farm have helped to raise almost £11,000 so far in his memory for Cancer Research UK.