A new start after 60: I turned my homely lifestyle into a global phenomenon

Kate Jackson's cosy, creative existence in rural Northumberland has spawned a YouTube channel, two websites, an online shop - and financial independence

One sunny day in 2017, Kate Jackson, then 61, took a wooden wool-spinning wheel into her garden. She propped her iPad against a brick, pressed record and started talking as she spun - about crafts, the countryside, her menagerie of animals (cats, chickens, bees and Eileen the goose). Jackson enjoyed watching videos about gardening and quilting on YouTube, so one day she thought: how hard can it be? I made a resolve to upload once a week."

She called her channel The Last Homely House, which is a place to feel comfortable, secure and welcomed. That's what I wanted my channel to be." It now has 123,000 subscribers. Last May, Jackson - who lives in rural Northumberland - set up a sister channel, called The Last Homely Garden. She has an online shop, nearly 40,000 Instagram followers, and even a fan-run Facebook group. She has become the linchpin of a thriving online community.