Researcher cycling across England to get views of female farmers

A researcher is cycling from Land’s End in Cornwall to the Scottish border on her bike in a bid to interview female farmers.

University of Exeter PhD student Veronica White is aiming to cycle more than 1,200 miles (1,931km/h) by July.

She said she wanted ascertain what women living or working on England’s farms view the future of agriculture to be.

Ms White said: “Women in the UK cycle a lot less than men, and farming is male-dominated – so I aim to highlight the role of women in both these areas.”

Ms White is calling the journey “PhD by bike” and plans to stop at various points along the way to talk to people in farming communities.

She said cycling was “a low-carbon, sustainable way to travel, which is important to me”.

“It will, most likely, be the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said.

“But isn’t that what they say about doing a PhD, too?

“Nobody starts a PhD thinking it’s going to be easy – so why not throw a 1,200-mile cycle ride into the mix?”