FARMER Arnold Davenport has spoken of his heartbreak after being told to quit the home he has lived in all his life -- Harwood's last remaining working farm.

After 43 years, tenant farmer Mr Davenport will have to leave the Nab Gate Farm in Stitch-mi-Lane next spring as part of an out-of-court settlement.

His friend, Martin Ingham, is devastated that landowner Chris Holt could turn the farmland into an extension of Breightmet Golf Course.

Settlement

A case hearing was scheduled between Mr Holt and Mr Davenport at Bolton County Court two weeks ago, but a settlement was reached between the two parties outside court.

Mr Davenport was allowed to remain on the farm -- until May 12 next year.

But Mr Davenport's neighbour and close friend Mr Ingham, who rents out 10 acres of his land to the local farmer, aims to bring in environmentalists and human rights experts.

Mr Davenport, who admits he is one of a dying breed, has never been away from the Nab Gate Farm, Harwood, in 43 years.

If he could remain in the farmhouse, worth about £330,000, Mr Davenport argues that he would be able to continue farming land which he rents from surrounding landowners.

He says he has never had a holiday and has never even visited the nearby supermarket for groceries.

Mr Davenport boasts about keeping "the cleanest farm in the land" and knows every blade of grass, every swallow, barn owl and every hedgerow.

He claims the Stitch-mi-Lane plot has as much historical relevance to Bolton as Samuel Crompton's former home in Hall i'th Wood.

An application to change the use of two fields from farming land to an extension of Breightmet Golf Club went before planners in 1998.

It was rejected, with councillors claiming the farm should remain like a scene from one of Constable's paintings.

But the Secretary of State overruled their decision in 1999 on the basis that the application did not breach planning rules.

Landowner Mr Holt, a member of the golf club and who lives at a farm on the edge of Nab Gate, has refused to comment to the BEN on speculation that the rest of the fields, around 20 to 30 acres, are soon to become an extension of the golf course.

An application has not yet been formally lodged with Bolton Council's planning department.

Local ward Cllr Walter Hall said: "I would like to see the land remain as farmland along with the local residents of Harwood.

"I will be looking into this issue further."

However, Mr Davenport said: "I thought it was all over in 1998 when the council refused it. But it was overturned. Now the threat is here again. But such is life. I can't do anything to stop it now, can I?"

Sheep

He has no idea what he will do when the time comes for him to pack up his belongings and leave.

Mr Ingham fears his friend will be "destroyed" by the move.

And the Harwood farmer, whose livestock includes sheep and hens, admits that he will find it difficult to see a future away from the farm. "I will be heartbroken. I have no idea what I will do," he said.

Mr Davenport first went to Nab Gate when he was just 13 years old and a promising athlete.

William Dawson, the main leaseholder since 1911, died in 1996 but Mr Davenport remained as a tenant farmer.

Mr Davenport has never married, claiming he is too devoted to his farm, with his last romance being with an Austrian girl when he was aged 21.

He is also proud of his track record with animals. "I shouldn't have really been a farmer," he said. "I love animals too much. I couldn't even shoot a fox that had taken some of my prized hens. I'm soft like that."

Although Mr Davenport lives just a stone's throw away from Safeway superstore, he admits to never once setting foot inside the building. He lives off the farm produce and the eggs laid by his 500 hens.

The farm still boasts its original features such as 200-year-old livery stables which used to house the Shire horses, complete with fixtures and fittings. PAST TIMES: Mr William Dawson's father at the farm in the 19th century