MY FIRST CAR
BUSINESSWOMAN Hannah Russell paid £1,000 for her first car, a Ford Fiesta, which she bought when she was 17.
“I passed my test in the summer and got the car soon after,” she said. “It was a teal blue and I loved it. It was fantastic to be mobile.”
Hannah, who is a bestselling author, awardwinning businesswoman and public speaker, recently joined the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) as an ambassador.
She will support the Clapham-based charity’s aims in helping the people, landscape and wildlife of the Dales and surrounding areas.
Now she drives a Nissan Navara pick-up truck which she loves because it suits her outdoor lifestyle. Hannah is a wildlife lover who advocates access to the countryside.
“The Navara is great for me. I can put animal feed in the back. I have working dogs and it’s great for them and it’s a good car to drive,” she said.
“I tow a trailer sometimes but it has reversing cameras which I couldn’t do without. The Navara is a real workhorse.”
Of her new role, she said: “I'm delighted to be working with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. The Dales has always been home to me.”
Hannah’s first book, about her miniature Shetland pony Little Alf, was published when she was just 17, following significant injuries to her back which meant she couldn’t pursue her career as a riding instructor.
She has since gone on to write a further 18 and is in the process of opening a visitors’ centre on her smallholding at Swinton Green, Nidderdale.
“As well as writing the books, I have gone on to start a few different business adventures, working with home interiors, conservation projects and recently launched a business in the fashion industry. Over the last five years I have also travelled up and down the UK speaking to groups and sharing my story.”