Philip Erasmus Trevelyan is a British organichill farmer, entrepreneur and former film and television director, most noted for the 1971 documentary filmThe Moon and the Sledgehammer.
While at the RCA, he directed and edited the film Lambing, which was awarded the National Nature Film Festival 1st prize and was broadcast on BBC TV. His second film was The Ship Hotel, Tyne Maine, a documentary centred on a Tynesidepub, concentrating on a group of people who go there every Sunday to drink and sing. This was awarded a silver medal by the Royal College of Art. His third film as director was The Farmer's Hunt, a BBC film of stag hunting on Exmoor. His fourth film was The Moon and the Sledgehammer. His next film was Big Ware, a TV documentary about George Curtis, a traditionalist potter. Between 1972 and 1974, he directed seven titles of the series Portraits of Places, written by and featuring Ray Gosling. In 1976, Trevelyan was hired to direct a dramatised film about the Mongols and the building of Isfahan, to be produced by David Frost, however the Iranian Revolution curtailed the project. His next film was co-director and editor of a film entitled Basil Bunting, which was shown at London and Cannes. K.491 was an exploration film about Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24. His last film was in 1985, Surrealism in Liverpool, a Granada TV film celebrating Surrealism and the arrival of an international exhibition as the new Tate Liverpool.
Farming
In 1974, the Trevelyans bought a hill farm, Hill Top Farm in Spaunton, North Yorkshire. The farm was certified organic by the Soil Association in 1985, and they aim to follow sustainable farming practices. They farm Swaledale sheep to produce shearlings primarily for meat that is sold locally but also for wool. Rabbits, a pest are killed and also sold for meat. The farm has wind turbines and solar panels to generate electricity, which is used to power freezers for meat and a Kewetelectric car. In 1997, Trevelyan founded the "Lazy Dog Tool Company", which specialises in handmade hand tools for "chemical-free weed control". The tools are instead designed for weeding by the traditional, but labour intensive, practice of removing individual plants. The tools are ergonomically designed and are manufactured from stainless steel at the workshop, on the farm. The tools are popular with organic farmers, conservation groups, and horse owners. This has featured on Gardeners' World. In 2003, it was awarded a Green Apple Award by The Green Organisation. In 2005, Trevelyan also started a flour milling company Yorkshire Organic Millers, to mill locally-grown organic wheat. On 23 January 2008, Hill Top Farm was visited by HRH The Prince of Wales. In 2013, Trevelyan published a book entitled Julian Trevelyan: Picture Language, a pictorial exploration of the life of his father Julian. Andrew Lambirth, writing in The Daily Telegraph, commented that the book "is an anecdotal and appreciative account of art. It makes riveting reading, but the real surprise is the richness and variety of the illustrations, many previously unknown." An exhibition was held at Bohun Gallery in Henley-on-Thames, in association with the publication of the book.
Personal life
In 1974, he married Amy Eleanor Pryor, youngest daughter of the entomologist M.G.M. Pryor and his wife Sophie, herself granddaughter maternally of George Darwin. The Trevelyans have two sons, Jack and Matthew Robert, and a daughter, Susannah, an independent film maker.
