Have you suffered an injury in the workplace?

Here’s a question for you: which of these three work-related jobs ended in my first physiotherapist appointment in more than a decade?

A) Digging a series of trenches in muddy clay soil.

B) Lugging around pallets and numerous trays of strawberries and raspberries?

C) Pruning raspberry bushes.

The answer, of course, is C, but more about that in a minute

Now I’m not the springiest of chickens, being the wrong side of 40, but I’ll admit there’s barely been a day where I haven’t come home from the farm hobbling or aching.

And talk about workplace injuries! I’ve endured plenty of blisters, bruises, cuts and bumps over the last five months, with raspberries being a near constant factor in my ever growing list of injuries and ailments.

Raspberry plants are vicious. Their stems are covered in tiny thorns so your hands will get covered in tiny, little cuts if you’re not wearing gloves while pruning or manhandling them.

I made the mistake of using an alcohol-based handwash a short while after finishing an afternoon of gloveless pruning. I’m shuddering just thinking of the pain while I’m writing this.

So gloves are a must when dealing with raspberries, and especially if you’ve got to spend the best part of a day pruning them.

The polytunnels at Ford are around 80 yards long and there are eight to a block. There are four blocks altogether, with strawberries on one side of a central track and raspberries on the other.

Yes, this is me. Taken after pruning a row of raspberry plants.

There are three rows of potted raspberry plants in each tunnel and each pot usually contains a handful of plants, which can grow up to ten feet high. But these impressive blighters have a habit of producing new shoots, and these must be removed from time to time so moisture is concentrated in the fruit-bearing vines.

A typical raspberry plant before pruning...

Because the pots are on the ground, removing the new shoots means getting down on your knees or crouching. Simple, you may think, and you’ve got to expect the odd tough job in this gig, but remember: each row is 80 yards long, there’s three to a tunnel, and the best way to get from plant to plant is by crawling.

And after pruning. It's very satisfying seeing all the space around the vines afterwards.

It takes the best part of a working day to finish one tunnel: a day spent most crawling or on the knees, while the solid use of secateurs for several hours straight results in numerous blisters, even if you are wearing gloves.

I could barely stand up after my first day of raspberry pruning, and my right knee did not enjoy the experience. I was hobbling for several days afterwards but walking started to become painful, with my right hamstring becoming increasingly tight.

Time can be a healer, of course, but a few weeks afterwards I found myself in the tunnel again for more of the same with my knee still reeling slightly from the first experience. Ryan very kindly leant me his new knee pads, which made a huge difference and allowed me to walk fairly normally afterwards, but towards the end I felt a back muscle twinge while twisting.

I noticed the twinge more when playing snooker the same night, thinking it was just another one of the aches and pains which are de rigeur working on a farm, but they worsened as the week went on and a day of digging a trench in wet clay soil probably didn’t help.

By the end of the second morning of digging I was barely able to walk and even the slightest twist to my right was verging on Chinese torture. In the end I had to admit defeat and left early, something I felt slightly embarrassed about but there was no denying I couldn’t do anymore.

The pain around my rib, side and shoulder blade continued over the following week and made sleeping painful and difficult. In the end I had to book a physio appointment in Denmead, and although I’m still getting the odd pain here and there, the combination of treatment, ice and exercise does seem to be working.

I've also just remembered that I tried to snip the top off my index figure on another pruning experience. Graham and I were introducing three new Bulgarian workers to pruning and removing runners, so I chipped in by showing them early on how not to use a pair of secateurs by using the brand new, razor sharp secateurs on my flesh.

I have sustained other injuries – the skin on some of my fingers has become rough and weathered, for instance – but I’m actually not complaining. To quote my former sports editor, Dave, who has also followed my path and become an orchard worker since accepting voluntary redundancy, it’s nice to come home physically tired rather than mentally tired.

And another bonus: I’m gaining muscle and have lost two and half stone and counting since switching careers, which is a major positive. The physicality of the job has also prompted me to exercise more so I’ve got back into running and cycling again. Physical work isn’t for everyone, and it may yet break me, but for the meantime I’m more than happy to put in some muscle.