Ben Williams was two weeks short of his 16th birthday and about to sit GCSEs when his father died suddenly from a cardiac arrest. Taking his exams was such a blur that Ben, now 29, says he can’t remember much about them.
Although he got into sixth form Ben never went. Instead he took over running the family farm in Pentyrch aged 16. As his friends at Radyr Comprehensive were celebrating the end of GCSEs, Ben got stuck into caring for 54 cows and 600 breeding ewes at Garth Farm, which has been in his family more than 60 years.
Working the hill farm also made him feel closer to his father Ted, whose sudden death at the age of 43 left his wife Karen and four children reeling. Thirteen years on the dairy and sheep farm is thriving and Ben’s younger brother Ethan, who was only nine when their father died, is now working with him.
