About The Yorkshire Handy Woman
I guess this is the ‘Who am I? What makes me tick? Why am I The Yorkshire Handy Woman?’ page.
Why not scroll down and have a read of my bio seeing as you are here!
Otherwise, why not click the ‘VIEW MY WORK’ button below to see what I’ve been up to recently.
My Services
Garden Maintenance
Weeding, Pruning, Mowing and Clearance
Garden Landscaping
All aspects of landscaping covered
Painting & Decorating
All painting & decorating work covered
General Handywork
Fixing it or building it, I can help
Building Flat-Packs
Not your thing? It is mine!
Custom Builds
Unique solutions to add storage
Cob Builds & Planning
Garden Studios. Pizza Ovens & more
Business update – June 2023
It is with very deep sadness that I must advise that I am forced to temporarily close The Yorkshire Handy Woman to any new or further business for at least the next few months.
Unfortunately, in early February 2023, I suffered an injury to my right shoulder, which despite my best efforts, has not healed in the timeframe I had been advised and had planned and hoped for.
I have been advised today, 2nd June 2023, that my injury is still months away from healing enough to work, and I have been advised I MUST continue to rest FULLY, or my shoulder will likely never heal.
I had hoped that I would be able to make a return to work in mid-May, and when that passed, I’d hoped for mid-June, but having seen my GP today, mid-September is the best I can currently hope for.
Over the course of the next few weeks my shoulder is to be more fully investigated, and I will keep everyone posted on what is to happen in terms of the business reopening or potentially having to close permanently.
I am completely gutted right now, but having faced this scenario once before, I know myself well enough to know that I have the Yorkshire grit it takes to suck it up, heal and come back better and stronger than ever.
That will be my goal now!
About The Yorkshire Handy Woman
It wasn’t the academic side of school that lit me up as a child or young person. It was the woodwork, the metalwork, the arts and the crafts. Technical drawing and planning how to build things were another great passion. I see solutions where others see just the problem, and through the skills I’ve gained, I’m able to make the solutions a reality.
In more recent years power tools have become my obsession, along with mini diggers and dumper trucks. I’m a woman who can. Simple. I refuse to believe that I can’t. That is me. That is all.
Following an accident as an HGV driver in September 2011 that nearly lost me my right leg below the knee, I bought land in Cornwall to create a smallholding from empty fields. The project was as much rehabilitation as it was creating gainful self-employment.
As well as learning to walk again, I learnt that I am resilient, full to the brim of Yorkshire grit and as stubborn (or stoic, you decide!) as they come.
In fact, I learnt so much about myself and what I am capable of as a result of the accident and the ‘Field to Farm’ project, that when I sold up the farm I bought a house in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and have just finished renovating and developing that.
Now that I have honed my skills on land and property development projects over the last 9 years, I am ready to be The Yorkshre Handy Woman that you are looking for, so that you can get the jobs you need doing done, by a very capable woman.
Due to my own personal history, and prior to the accident in 2011 that changed my life and my perspective, there were many occassions when I needed to pay someone to come and do jobs for me, and most often those people were men.
As a woman who has not always felt safe with men coming in to my personal space, I’m setting up The Yorkshire Handy Woman so that I can come in to your home and garden to do the jobs you need doing, as a female, and without raising your anxiety levels.
Women have a protected right under the Equalities Act to be able to look to hire women to do jobs for them, when hiring a man could be detrimental to their well-being, so here I am. Why not get in touch!
Field to Farm Project
Groundworks & Infrastructure
When you buy empty fields, you literally have to put everything in place. There was no electricity or water, so the cables and pipes needed trenches, conduits and connections, I even built the roads, parking area and hard standing.
Animal Enclosures and Housing
Again, with nothing in place other than Cornish hedges, every enclosure had to be fenced to protect the chickens from predation and the pigs from escaping, not to mention protecting the market garden and Lavender zones from rabbits.
Years Experience
“I contacted Di as I wanted a very specific piece of equipment making, but I wanted the look of the Biltong Cutter to be simple, yet stylish. What I got from Di was exactly that. Where others see problems, she sees solutions and stylish solutions at that. I Highly Recommend her”
K Roodt – N E Derbyshire