When bovine TB led to the loss of his entire herd, dairy farmer Mervyn Kelso struggled with the sadness of the empty fields and the silence of the milking yard.

It was a traumatic time for a man who had farmed his whole life, and it was hard watching his neighbours tend to their cows.

His sister suggested he should join the Farmers' Choir and that turned out to be a "great lifter".

Fast forward four years, and Mervyn has sung for the King, met musical royalty and his choir is up for a national award.

Mervyn's first batch of cows were lost in November 2021. At the same time, a friend who had been around the County Antrim farm for three generations died.

Then another 120 cows had to be removed, followed by 40 more two months later.

"The department decided to buy the herd out," said Mervyn.

"So by March 2022 we had no stock, no milking stock or adult stock."

Mervyn and his wife Ruth, who live near Portglenone, relied on their faith for "the strength to carry on".

Mervyn would sing in church and so when the Farmers' Choir restarted in nearby Ballymena that autumn, he decided to give it a go.

He said it had been rewarding and different - a relief to the tough challenges of day-to-day farming.

"Farming is one very lonely job, even more lonely than it was a generation ago, because labour is so difficult to get," he said.

"And it's a very dangerous job, especially for a man who's working on his own.

"It has the effect of depressing you, and that's why being involved in such a thing as a choir or any social event outside farming is good for anyone."

Mervyn's wife Ruth is also a member of the Farmers' Choir

"It was a hard time for both of us and the choir was definitely a great lifter," she said.

"Mervyn was so enthusiastic and enjoyed it so much.

"It was just great to have something to lift us because you weren't busy on the farm - well, you did some extra odd jobs, but it wasn't like the usual level of busyness."

She said she has made "some lovely friends" and they get to see each other at choir rehearsals, concerts and céilís.

"Sometimes you see a different side of a choir member when you're not just sitting beside them singing, and that's really good, socially," she added.

Barkley Thompson said the choir was an antidote to farmers' stresses

Barkley Thompson is the musical director of the choir.

He grew up on a dairy farm and remembers his father talking about people at harvest time, helping each other out then sharing "a bit of craic and banter".

He said the choir helped fill a social gap that has emerged in rural life as farming has become more automated.

"Social isolation and loneliness - the sad thing is in rural communities, people don't always like to talk about that and acknowledge that," he said.

"And that's why the choir is important to so many people.

"It's not just about the singing. It's about the friendship."

Nine of the friends, including Mervyn and Ruth, found themselves singing in the choir as part of the King's Coronation concert.

They met the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and Mervyn also met one of his heroes - Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, whose father was a sheep farmer.

"We were running around with these Farmers' Choir vests, and he spotted us and he stopped and talked to us," he said.

"And he thought we were worth chatting to because we were farmers."

Mervyn Kelso and his wife Ruth were both part of the choir delegation that sang at Windsor

Barkley saw membership of the choir grow after the coronation appearance.

"It's work that I see as very, very important in rural communities.

"I'm a teacher - teaching can be stressful and farmers have their stresses on the farm, and you can see it on their faces.

"They go into their practice, they just leave - and I leave myself - feeling so much happier and upbeat."

The choir is the only one from Northern Ireland and, Barkley said, the only rural one, to be nominated for the Making Music UK volunteer group of the year award.

Mervyn and his sons started rebuilding the herd in 2022

Mervyn has now largely handed the reins of the farm over to one of his two sons, offering assistance when required.

They began rebuilding the herd in the summer of 2022, with the first heifers arriving from Denmark a few months later.

"We had started off from zero, built right up to what we see here today, " he said.

"So there's been tremendous work put in by, well, myself, but my son mainly, my two sons."

"You always come out of that singing feeling far, far better than you went into it," he said.

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