WILL Cockbain, chairman of Cumbria and North Lancashire Rural and Farming Network, has been awarded a fellowship of the Royal Agricultural Society in recognition of outstanding service to, and achievement within, agriculture.

Mr Cockbain, whose family hill farm is near Keswick, was appointed to the old Maff Hill Farming Advisory Committee in 1995, was Cumbria NFU chairman in 2002, and the NFU’s national uplands spokesman from 2004 to 2012.

He was also the North- West Sustainable Food and Farming Champion from 2006 until 2011. He sits on the board of Natural England and chairs Cumbria and North Lancashire RFN.