Our farm
Four generations on the same side of the valley.
The Fairclough family has farmed these 120 acres since 1952. We still grow what we sell, sell it at the gate, and cook the rest.
02 — Since 1952
A short history of the farm.
Forty acres and an orchard
Grandad Jim buys forty acres on the east side of the valley, with a damson orchard nobody else wanted.
Mum’s jam
Margaret starts selling damson jam from a table at the gate. The recipe hasn’t changed since.
The shop opens
The old dairy becomes the farm shop, with our own lamb, eggs and vegetables.
The kitchen
The cart shed is turned into a café, and the damson & almond tart arrives.
Huts on the bank
Two shepherd’s huts at the top of the orchard, and the cottage restored.
Four generations
Hal, Bea and their children run the farm, with eighteen people in the shop, kitchen and fields.
03 — How we farm
Slowly, and with the hedgerows left in.
No-dig market garden
Two acres of vegetables grown without digging or sprays, fed with compost from the farm.
Hedgerows & orchards
Four miles of laid hedges and three old orchards, home to dormice, owls and our bees.
Grass-fed and rotated
Sheep move across the fell and meadows; the hens follow them round the orchard.
In the orchard
The hens follow the sheep, and the orchard does the rest.
04 — The family
Still the same family, still at the gate.
Hal
Third generation. Walks the damson bank every morning from August to see what’s ready.
Margaret
Started the jam table at the gate in 1978, and still makes every batch herself.
05 — The farm from above
Find your way around.
Tap a number on the map.
Come and see what’s ready.
The shop opens at nine, the kettle’s on by ten, and the fields are open for picking most days from June to October.