Sunday Lunches are highly commended at Fordhall

FANTASTIC - We recently received a glowing review for our Sunday Lunches from Shropshire Star Editor and Food Critic, Carl Jones.

Our Sunday Lunches are our highlight of the week in Arthur's Restaurant. They generally come piled with an array of seasonal and organic vegetables, roast potatoes and of course yorkshire pudding

We have a wonderful team of staff in our restaurant at Fordhall. They have worked extremely hard over the last 12 months and we would like to say a big thank you to each and every one of them.

You can read the article here:

Or call us to book your table for a Sunday of your choice (serving between 12pm - 3pm)  01630 638696

We can take group bookings for up to 36 in our room upstairs also..

Hope to see you soon

Christmas Carols on the Farm!

On Sunday 16^th December, between 3pm-5pm we will be holding our last event of the year, Christmas Carols on the Farm. It is an event for all the family to get together and celebrate the winter season. If you haven't made it to any other events this year, then this is your last chance of 2012!

We will be joined by a group of Carollers who will help us to sing some Christmas favourites and if you all sing loud enough, Father Christmas will make an appearance! 

You can enjoy some mulled (local) wine and home baked mince pies, as well as hot Fordhall baps and a hearty, warming soup. 

Children can take part in Christmas crafts, making decorations out of natural materials to take home and put on the Christmas tree.  There will also be a ‘Yuletide Trail’, which will take children on a hunt around the Farm Yard; there is a prize if you discover all the clues!

Father Christmas will be in his “green” grotto, ready to listen to all your Christmas wishes and children can receive a traditional gift, along with a Certificate of Goodness – if they've been very good this year! J

The event is free, but there is a charge of £4 to see Father Christmas and receive your gift and certificate.  Any funds raised from this event will be reinvested into our continuing education programme.

The Tea Room will be serving hot food and drinks and Farm Shop will be open so you can stock up on Christmas goodies!

Wrap up warm, bring a torch and come and join us for good ol’ sing-song and some festive fun!

November Volunteer Weekend - last one of the year!

November has come and gone so quickly!  I can’t believe it has been a whole month since we held our Halloween event “Fun and Frights Night”.  Time sure flies when you’re having fun…

Last weekend, we held our final volunteer weekend of the year and a brilliant team of willing people turned up, ready to ‘Get Mucky’!  We had a very productive weekend and got a lot of jobs done.

With all the rain we’d had recently, we needed to do something about the gateways at the beginning of the Farm Trail, they were beginning to turn into a bit of a bog!  Some of volunteer team put in pathways using Roman road builders’ techniques. They began by digging out a deep hole, put in a layer of big rocks which were compacted down  and then covered those rocks with a deep layer of gravel. They finished up with a ‘plate basher’ (I’m sure that’s the technical term!) and made sure that the pathway was level. 

Once all this hard work was finished, we were so worried about the cows trampling all over it, that the team then put up a small post and rail fence, just big enough to stop the cows, but still allowing the sheep space to get underneath and continue to graze that area.  It looks fantastic!

Another team went down to the river banks and planted some Alder trees…unfortunately, with all the rain, the River Tern swelled so much on the Saturday night that the saplings were all but drowned!  We are keeping an eye on the little trees and hoping they will survive.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang created some lovely wooden shapes depicting wildlife and plants that could be found around the farm. These will be put out around the Farm Trail in the new year.

These weekends are not only about strength and skills – they are about meeting new people, learning and sharing and above all, HAVING FUN!

The next chance to come and Get Mucky at Fordhall will be 16^th – 17^th February – give me a call for more information!

2 week old piglets!

 I couldn't help but take lots of photos of these gorgeous piglets who were out enjoying what little sun we had on Sunday!

Fordhall goes international!

Earlier today we had a visit from 18 members of the Japanese Agricultural Cooperative.  Membership of the organisation is approximately 95 million and includes almost all farmers in Japan and associate non farmers.

The organisation offers guidance on farming and lifestyle matters, market agricultural products, supplying production materials, loan and savings advice, and it provides facilities for sharing machinery between farms.

At present there are 709 agricultural cooperatives across Japan, which plan to amalgamate into one in the near future.

The group of 18 representative advisors and researchers came to England for 3 days to learn about organic farming and other ways of solving agricultural issues in Japan. As part of their visit they chose to visit Fordhall - we were very proud!

Becca and I took them on a tour of the farm, on a windy autumn day, with our translater in tow. We talked about the community ownership scheme and the organic farming system we run - including 'Foggage'. Then it was back to our new sustainably renovated barn for a hearty buffet lunch.

We think they found the share issue without financial dividends an interesting one to understand, but they did seem to enjoy themselves - they certainly took a lot of notes!

Here is a pic of our tour group just before they left. We would like to say a big thank you for choosing to visit Fordhall and also for our origami gift. Maybe we will get the opportunity to visit Japan sometime in return....

 

Charlotte

 

P.S. Don't forget we have Autumnal Family Activities this Thursday 10am-12pm, £2 per child - limited places so please book.

Autumn Activities at Fordhall Farm

We began our day today with the fantastic news that Sophie Hopkins (one of the original Fordhall Farm team) gave birth to a beautiful baby boy yesterday! Congratulations to Sophie and Hugo and welcome to the world baby Owen!

After our flurry of excitement, we got back to business. There are lots of fun activities coming up over the next few weeks beginning with….

The wonderful Jonathan Day who is appearing live here on Saturday 27^th, he will be performing a mix of contemporary and traditional folk along with the talented Simon on double bass.  Jonathan has been touring the world promoting his new album Between the Worlds.  He was on Genevieve Tudor’s Sunday Folk show on BBC Radio Shropshire last Sunday. If you missed it (or don’t get Radio Shropshire) here is the link to listen again http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yzsnv 

During the interval a hearty Fordhall supper will be served (vegetarian option available).  Local ales and wines will be for sale too.  Tickets are only £15 and include food. 

Don’t forget that British Summer Time ends on Sunday morning 1am…the clocks go back and we all get an extra hour in bed! Hooray!

So, with the extra hour of sleep you should all be raring to go on Sunday evening when we are holding our Fun and Frights Night.  This has been very successful over the past 2 years and we are quite excited about it (see previous post for more detail).  The office smells of fresh pumpkin and apple and my desk is surrounded by skeletons and gravestones ready for spooking on Sunday!  Tickets are still available for this event, £3 in advance (£5 on the gate) Adults go Free!!

Two Little Monsters!

Still want more? We have a lovely family activity on Thursday 1^st November (where has the year gone!?).  Come and join in the Autumn Abodes Activity with Beth and create cosy homes for sleepy hedgehogs and snug nests for hibernating mice.  With the winter coming in, wildlife all around the country will be gathering food and preparing their beds for the cold months ahead.  It’s only £2 per child and booking is essential. Suitable for 4-11 year olds.

For more information or to book onto any of these events or activities, please call us in the office on 01630 638696.  

Fun and Frights Night

Things are coming together for the Fun and Frights night this Sunday.

Last night, 14 year old Henry Stanhope delivered 50 pumpkins (along with help from his Dad); they are currently being gutted in the office ready for carving during the event.  

Henry Stanhope and his pumpkins

Volunteer Will donated apples from his garden orchard and I collected some more from Concord College this morning, these will be prepped ready for apple bobbing on Sunday. 

Lots of thought and planning is going into the creation of the Spooky Tunnel and I will be digging up the remains of Mr Ghoul to put in the feely boxes along his Creepy Trail – eyeballs, scabs, skin –the lot!

If you’re not running around Ghost Hunting, then Smoky Cauldrons will be in place to keep you warm.  Resident Story Teller will be in the Haunted Classroom and just in case you forgot your scary outfit, we’ll have a Face Painter on standby to turn you into a gruesome monster! At 6.30pm the Fancy Dress Competition will be held, every child that enters gets a prize!

Phew! When you are ready for a sit down – The Cabin will be open serving hot food and the Tea Room will also be open serving hot drinks and cake.  Now with our new alcohol license in place, local ales and wines will also be available.

Two Ghouls enjoying a Fordhall Bap and a hot drink

If you haven’t got your tickets yet, there is still time…Its only £3 in advance (£5 on the door) and the best bit is adults go free!  Give us a call in the office 01630 638696 to buy your tickets.

Beware...these monsters may be here again this year!

October Volunteer Working Weekend!!

Last weekend 13th and 14th we held our autumn working weekend. We were lucky enough to be joined by a fantastic bunch of volunteers who had come from all over the country, even from overseas, to get stuck in to what turned out to be some very mucky jobs!

The muddiest job of all was the challenge of repairing the board walk down in the meadow, for those of you who have visited Fordhall you will be aware that the meadow is quite a quagmire even at the best of times, and it certainly didn't disappoint. The board walk is a set of boards built and layed out so people can walk across the meadow without getting stuck in the mud. However, it can happily take the weight of people, but unfortunately the cows proved to be too much and many of the boards sunk into the mud. A small team of well prepared volunteers worked all weekend on designing and re-building a better and more secure way of keeping the boards above the mud, they did a fantastic job and although one or two got stuck and lost a wellie or two, they all had great fun!

 

 

Other jobs that were done were:

1) Re-roofing the portacabins

2) Weeding and clearing round the young newly planted trees

3) Fixing the fence around the picnic area

4) Designing and painting signs and items for halloween

Last but not least:

5) Sewing the yurt insulation ready for their renovation, using the many buttons that were kindly donated by supporters to give the yurts a cosy and fashionable finish.

Also, on the weekend we held the BIG draw kids activity, to get children and families into showing off their artistic sides and creating a 'Green Space' that had inspired them in 2012. This event was held on Sunday and was a huge success. The activity was held outside in our picnic area in the glorious sunshine surrounded by the farms beautiful green space, a perfect place for getting the creative juices flowing.

A huge THANK YOU!! to everyone who came and took part in the weekend and gave up their free time to get mucky on the farm. We couldn't do what we do without the help and support of all of our volunteers and it was a pleasure to see some new faces joining us for the weekend.

Hope to see you all again at the farm in the future, here's to another great weekend!

Beth Kennett

The BIG Draw 2012!

The BIG draw is back at Fordhall for another year! Everyone is invited to come and join us at the farm to unleash their creative side in this fun filled activity where children and adults can display their artistic talents either by drawing or building models out of recycled materials.

The big draw is a free activity that was set up by Quentin Blake (the illustrator of Roald Dahl's books) to try and get children and adults alike into bringing out their artistic sides in free events. Whether you like to be precise in your drawings or have more of a rustic hand here's the place to have a go and have some fun.

Last years big draw theme was fantastic creatures where imaginations were key in creating your own unique animal, for example a 'sheep,pig,cow' combining a mixture of all three or a ten eyed, six legged mole. This years theme is '2012 Green Spaces', using your imagination and memories to create your most inspiring Green Space of 2012!

Come along and see what you can create!

Beth Kennett

The rain comes and still keeps coming...

After a few weeks of relatively dry warm weather, the end of September has been, well.... its been wet! In fact it has been the rain over the last 2 days which has created the most dramatic change in our landscape.

Looking down the Long Meadow towards Tern Hill at Fordhall Farm, the River Tern is normally behind the trees on the left.

Our lovely river at normal levels.

The river tern which surrounds the farm has completely flooded and our meadows are all under water. Our lovely recycled plastic boardwalk which follows the rivers edge is now a bridge, and our wetland meadows are now river beds.

Luckily, at Fordhall we have plenty of higher sandy fields that our cattle and sheep can retreat to. Meaning they still have somewhere relatively dry to graze.

Although it looks dramatic, allowing land on fields like ours to flood does mean there is less water travelling into people's homes and businesses further down the river course. Just as floodplain land should.

And if we are lucky when the river levels subside, they may leave behind some fertile silt for our pastures.

The view from my office window. The sheep at least can retreat to higher drier ground.

Fingers crossed for a bit of dry weather...

Pies at Ludlow Food Festival!

Last weekend(7^th – 9^th September), we packed up the vans with 1500 porkpies, 20 cases of meat and a selection of merchandise and trundled down to Ludlow Castle to take part in the famous Ludlow Food Festival. We had a fantastic spot inside the marquee that was full to the brim of foodie artisans from all around the local areas.  I could have spent a fortune over the three days!

Pies!

Our stall soon caught the attention of the hordes of people walking around the marquee, as Wally (the baker) laid out his porkpies in a very artistic fashion. I tried to help layout one morning, but didn't do it quite right apparently…Who’d have thought laying out porkpies could be so hard!

Wally's beautiful pie pattern

The days were long, but good fun. It’s a great opportunity to meet people from all over the country. Many people we spoke to were shareholders, those who weren’t took part in our raffle to win a share in Fordhall Organic Farm – we had a lucky winner in Mr Kennedy, whose share certificate shall be winging its way to him shortly!

If there were no farms, I would miss...

We also took our "If there were no farms, I would miss..." board. It was a slow start, but we soon had a great selection of answers from people of all backgrounds and all ages.

Food Festival Team

The weekend went well and by Sunday evening we had sold out of porkpies and we were exhausted!  We packed up slowly and made our way home. 

What a busy month September is turning out to be with the Beer and Music Festival at the beginning of the month, Ludlow Food Festival in the middle and the John Kirkpatrick folk evening coming up this weekend…very glad I go on holiday soon…!

Beer and Music Success!!

Well, I think I’ve finally caught up with myself after the Beer and Music Festival! 

Saturday morning, the marquee was up, the bar was set and the stage was ready to go – all we needed were the musicians and the crowds!  At 11am, the first of the punters began to show…by 11.30 we had a good gathering and the first band were on. 

Local music, local ale, local food, local sunshine!

A beautiful sound was heard across the farm from the lovely local ladies of Daisy Jaks. They were followed by our very own Katie Caldecott and her magnificent band, Pre Sleep Monologue.  Next up was a very talented local family in the form of Heidi and the Brownies.  On next was Blues Boy Dan with his incredible voice, followed by Moonshine Runners, banjo and all, the day turned into evening with the lovely Rob Jones.  Unfortunately, one act couldn’t make it last minute – but no fear – Jonathon Day came to the rescue with his amazing folk tunes, he gave everyone a taster of what was to come during his world tour (stopping at Fordhall Farm on 27^th October).  Brilliant.

Heidi Browne

The Relix got the dancing started with a great variety of party songs and then the Del Ray Rockets took to the stage with their “high-octane rockabilly”.  These guys played an amazing selection of rock’n’roll tracks and threw in some punk and rock covers at the end – the crowd went wild for them!



Emilio hulahooping!

The weather was kind to us all day, which meant that people could sit back in the sun relax and enjoy the local music with a glass of local ale.   Children could get their face painted, play with hula hoops and splat the rat or have a go at welly waning and a sack race (the adults seemed to enjoy having a go at that too).

I woult like to say a huge thank you to all our wonderful volunteers.  They ran the bar, ran the car park, face painted, sold ice cream and manned the gate – as well as helping in the week to build the stage and set up and tidy up on Sunday.

Wonderful Volunteers

Thank you also to all the bands who played throughout the day and to all the local breweries who supplied their ale, Hobsons, Woods, Titanic, Slaters, Three Tunns, Corvedale, Salopian and a special thanks to Market Drayton’s Joules brewery who supported the event.

Here’s to next year’s festival – bring it on!

8 Weeks at Fordhall [Part 3]

Well, doesn't time fly? It only seems like last week that I was given the volunteer induction and tour of the farm and here I am, 8 weeks later, on my last day. What a great 8 weeks!

It’s been a valuable experience. It’s great to know that somewhere in the world; there lies this really nice and open working environment which strives to keep everyday fresh and interesting. Of course, it’s a workplace, but that doesn't stop smiles and progress.

I seem to have landed here at a busy time, which revolves around the beer and  music festival that occurred last week;which was a great success may I add! In my first week, I was adding entries onto event websites for the festival. In my second, I designed the poster. In the third, I was distributing the flyers…all this in amongst the ‘non-beer fest’ work I was doing. I’ve loved every second and I hope to come to all future events here.

Brier and I working at the Beer and Music Fest

Just read my first blog again and it amazes me how fast the time has gone and how much I've taken on board. I'm more comfortable on the phone talking to people and I've felt much more independent on my own in the office. I've felt like a valued member of staff and I couldn’t thank the staff and volunteers here enough for making me feel welcome, and especially to the three girls in the office who gave me the opportunity to work here and who helped me along and made me laugh. A lot.

So to wrap things up, if you came to the festival, I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you all have a great 2012 and if you ever have free time and you'd feel better doing something constructive, I’d recommend coming to Fordhall, even if for just one day a week...Anyway, I’m off to go do uni things now. Thank you for reading my blog, and seeing as I'm coming back in my holidays, this isn’t farewell. It’s speak to you soon. J

William Panter

The Bands!

Daisy Jaks

As it is only 3 days to go until our Beer & Music Festival, we thought we should acquaint you with the bands that are on the line up. Whether you’re into rock, blues, funk or folk, there’s something for everyone. If you haven’t yet, why not get tickets for the family? There’s still time to book, its only £10 in advance (£12 on the door) and under 14s go free!  Camping is also available for only £5 a pitch.

Heidi and the Brownies

The Daisy Jaks will be kick-starting the day with their folk/pop sound, a perfect way to get you in the festival mood. Next up, Pre Sleep Monologue will take to the stage and continue the vibe with their original acoustic rock, paving the way for Heidi and the Brownies and their quirky pop sound.

Tap the Keg

If blues is more your thing, then Blues Boy Dan might well be your cup of tea (or pint of beer)! Tap the Keg will get your toes tapping with some fantastic dancing tunes.   The Moonshine Runners (previously Beyond the Bangg) will keep the party going – I’ve been told they come complete with banjo player! Rob Jones & Ed Crowley, will play an acoustic set of solos and duets with some great classics as well as self-penned tunes. Then get ready to get your funk on when The Relix come on stage, warming the crowd up for our headliners The Del Ray Rockets who will bring the festival to a close with their lively rock ‘n’ roll and high octane rock-a-billy!

Blues Boy Dan

Be sure to check out the times for the line-up and also the real ale line-up on the website www.fordhallfarm.com. There will be local cider and local wine also available for non-beer fans, and soft drinks for the kids and tee-totallers. 

To book your tickets call 01630 638696

It’s going to be a fun-packed day, we can’t wait!

See you there,

Will Panter

Arthur Hollins back to open new Restaurant!

Ben Hollins, Chris Eldon Lee, Connie Hollins, Allan Price (as Arthur), Steve Glover, Charlotte Hollins cutting the bale twine!

Last Wednesday evening saw Fordhall Organic Farm in Market Drayton launch our brand new eatery; 20 years after Arthur Hollins shut the doors on the Fordhall Farmhouse restaurant, he returned to open the doors at ‘Arthur’s’ – the new evening restaurant at Fordhall Farm.

The sun shone down on guests as they arrived for the launch celebration, with the strum of an acoustic guitar in the background and the chiminea alight, they gathered in the Fordhall Farm courtyard awaiting the grand opening. 

Chris Eldon Lee, our chairman of the board of trustees of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative (FCLI) welcomed the fifty VIPs to the event with a heart-warming speech, praising the Fordhall enterprise for how far we have come from the days of the campaign back in 2005, he said “It’s a momentous occasion for us all…”

“Arthur's restaurant embodies the whole philosophy of Fordhall Farm because we can now serve sustainably produced, locally grown, organic food in a sustainably produced building; just as Arthur Hollins envisaged. And all the profits will be fed back into our vital community and educational work"

Chris went on to introduce our special guest of the evening, Arthur Hollins, played by local actor, Allan Price.  Now that was a surreal moment!

Whilst ‘Arthur’ gave the opening speech and cut the baler twine to declare the restaurant open, our honoured guests and local dignitaries toasted with a shot of “yogtail”, one of the many inventions of the real Arthur Hollins back in the 1960’s. This is a curious mix of yoghurt and alcohol, which was quickly downed in one by our guests.

“They’re alcoholic and good for you; a rare combination.”

We believe we can claim Arthur’s to be Shropshire’s greenest eatery, with the distance the produce has travelled measured not in food-miles but food-yards.

Guests were treated to local Wroxeter sparkling wine, with a selection of canapés, giving them a chance to sample our restaurant’s menu including: pea and Shropshire Blue risotto, roast Fordhall sirloin steak with Yorkshire pudding and horseradish cream, lovage polenta cake with rocket pesto, and strawberry pavlova, just a few of the delights coming out of the kitchen run by our fantastic chef Barney Richardson. He creates ‘real’ food with elegance; sourcing all their main ingredients locally or organically - of course.

Bryan and Hannah enjoying the canape's

The evening was a great success. We were delighted that Allan agreed to play Arthur for the opening, he had him down to a tee, including the fluffy grey hair. It was particularly heartening that the name for the restaurant was not chosen by us but by our customers. And the icing on the cake was Barney’s exquisite selection of canapé’s, demonstrating the very best of seasonal local food.

An enormous thank you must go to everyone who made the evening a success.

One of the many accolades of the evening came from the Mayor of Market Drayton, Steve Glover. He said “I last came to Fordhall Farm five years ago with a young man undergoing work experience. I can remember their small offices squeezed into portacabins and the run down buildings. It is wonderful to see what has risen from the ashes five years later. It can only continue to get better and better.”

Our chef, Barney, with mother of Fordhall, Connie

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the evening, the food actually tastes! It takes me back to my time in Africa when everything you ate was fresh from the land around you. There is nothing better. These are the best canapé's I have ever eaten. I wish the team at Arthur’s Restaurant the best of luck, I am sure it will be a great success.”

Chris Eldon Lee wrapped up the night’s festivities “I especially love” he says “the fact that we can enjoy such fantastic food, knowing that all the profits are going back into the community – everyone wins.”

We would like to say thank you to everyone who attended and to all the wonderful Fordhall staff, especially Katie and Becca, who worked extremely hard to ensure the evening went smoothly.

Arthur’s Restaurant is open on Friday evenings from 7pm, booking is essential.

Call 01630 638696 to reserve your table. We can also cater for group functions or private parties - try us out :-)

PLUS Don't forget it our Beer and Music Festival in just over one weeks time - have you got your ticket yet??

William Panter: 8 Weeks at Fordhall [Part Two]

Hello again :)

Three weeks ago, I told you of how I’ve settled in to the office here at the Fordhall Community Land Initiative; three weeks later, I can confidently give you a rundown of what’s been going on around me recently.

First of all, our 3rd annual Music & Beer Festival is just around the corner, and we’ve been doing all sorts to spread the word. Posters, flyers and huge banners are now in place in the local area, and we’re feeling excited. What’s more, this Friday, Becca will be blogging the official band line-up. We hope to see you there, and remember: with our marquee, it’s a rain or shine event!

Beth’s Wildlife Activities on a Thursday have also been going down a treat! This Thursday (the 16th) will be Pond Dipping, and there will be activities going on until the end of the month, so you’ve still got chance to get the kids out and about and interested in the great outdoors this summer! We have lots of events going on; just visit http://www.fordhallfarm.com/fordhall_events.php to find out what’s happening.

So far, I feel I have picked up a lot of skills and improved existing ones. My communication skills have been enriched with consistent use of emails and using the phone. I’ve also had a chance to be creative, making various posters and flyers to different things. Another thing I have grown accustomed to is Fordhall’s house style, such as colours and designs used on promotional material.

I will blog again on my last week to let you all know about the experience as a whole. Until then, make the most of the summer!

Who ate all the pies?

Since October 2011, the boys down in the butchery and farm shop have been creating some mouth-wateringly delicious pies, pasties and sausage rolls.  They started off with a plain pork pie and soon started being a bit creative. They now bake a Pork and Stilton, Pork and Pickle, Ploughman’s, Chicken & Stuffing and a Turkey pie! My favourite is the Ploughman’s by far – but all of our customers seem to be going for the plain as their top choice. 

The pies are created by our lovely butcher Charlie and lovely baker Wally.  

Wally told me that it takes FOUR days from start to finish...

On Monday, Wally makes the pastry; he uses a Pastry-Break which works like a giant rolling pin.  Charlie will cut the meat and mix it in the giant mixer with different seasonings to create the perfect fillings to go in the pies.  

On Tuesday, they will press the pies with a Pressing Machine.  This is how they make the pie shape and fill it with the tasty fillings.

On Wednesday the pies are cooked in a giant oven, during this process, the meat filling will shrink, so once they’ve cooled down the bakers will jelly them.  This is when they fill up the empty space inside the pie with a savoury jelly which not only adds to the tastiness, it also gives them a longer shelf life.

On Thursday, Wally loads the van up with the pies and delivers them to 8 local shops and delicatessens.  

Phew – 800 pies done and dusted until next week!

Pastry Breaker...

...it works like a giant rolling pin!

Cut sections for pie bases

Freshly Baked Pies!

Every Wednesday when the pies are cooking, the smell wafts up to the office here and my mouth starts watering…luckily, I can pop downstairs to the Farm Shop and buy one.  

If you fancy tasting one, but can’t get to Fordhall then you can find our pies at Brown & Green’s Trentham, Derby and Newant, Maynards Farm Shop, Green Fields Donnington and Priors Lee and at the Drayton Deli in Market Drayton.

Mmmmm, delish!

  

The finished product, Ploughmans Pies.