Born in Sandford, Arthur left school at 15 to work at Millbank Farm. By the age of 18 he was put in charge of milking the cows and at 21 he’d bought his first farm, Greenwood Farm, producing milk and fouls. He then moved on to Moor Farm, Godshill, which after keeping cows for five years, switched to arable farming. He then became a tenant farmer at Apse Manor Farm in the early 1970s and ended up at Cliff Farm.