Joseph Dickinson and his brother Edgar turned a loss-making farm into one of Huddersfield’s best known and most successful businesses.
Longley Farm at Holmfirth was first known for its cream in the mid 1950s and has gone on to make many products from yoghurts to cream, soft cheese and buttermilk.
But Joseph, who served in the Royal Navy during World War Two and has died aged 96, was also a very community-minded man and was a member of Holmfirth Rotary for more than 50 years and a governor at Holmfirth High School where the new maths block carries his name.
Joseph Dickinson’s 18th birthday coincided with the first day of the Second World War.
By 1941 he was working round the clock at Thomas Broadbent’s making armaments as a student at the Technical College and in the Home Guard, fire-watching on Castle Hill.
He volunteered to join the Royal Navy in April 1941 and by 1943 was promoted to Officer Cadet, squeezing three years training into six months.
Just before his 23rd birthday, Joseph boarded HMS Lothian. The destination was Australia via Panama and the Lothian would be the headquarters ship for the British Pacific Fleet.
Steaming 67,000 miles, he remained with her right through to demobilisation in September 1946 . He only slept two nights ashore and knew the ship like the back of his hand, was senior engineering officer and the youngest Lieutenant in the navy but it took its toll.
When he returned he weighed only 8 ½ stone (55 kg) and said that he was not sure he could have gone on much longer.
Post-war Britain was no land fit for heroes and Joseph joined the ranks of the unemployed. He decided to emigrate to Australia , but there was a 12 month waiting list for a passage.
Fate intervened in February 1948 when his great uncle bequeathed Longley Farm to him and his brother Edgar. At that point it had 10 cows, a horse, 30 acres and a debt greater than the value of the legacy but it was a start.
Over the next 10 years, Longley Farm became a showcase for upland farming and was featured twice on television in 1960 and 1963.
The big opportunity came in 1954 with the end of rationing when cream making was started. There had been none on the market for 15 years and the product sold itself. Many innovations followed.
Joseph was always community minded. He was active within the Farmers’ Union (NFU) and later the Association of Dairy Farmers (RABDF). He travelled widely within the Commonwealth in a group headed by Prince Philip, visited Downing Street, had dinner at Buckingham Palace, advised Government on agricultural policy and was awarded an OBE for services to agriculture.
Along with his brother, Edgar , Joseph gave up dairy processing in 1996 so he could concentrate on farming, the year he became president of the Jersey Cattle Society.
Farming was his love and the Holmfirth Herd of pedigree Jerseys was a major part of his life. He never retired and at the age of 96, was working on detailed drawings of new animal housing.
Joseph Dickinson’s love of farming, his engineering knowledge , the support of Ella, his wife and his naval experience were all ingredients that went into the creation of a hugely innovative international business.
He never left Longley Farm and passed away peacefully at home, exactly 70 years after first moving there and five years after losing Ella. He is sorely missed by his children Jimmy and Sally along with their children and grandchildren.
Joseph’s funeral will be at Holy Trinity Church, Holmfirth this Wednesday (February 28) at 10am.
