The Farmers Mart Apr-May 2020 - Issue 68 | Page 53

MOOR CLOSE FARM 53
• APR/MAY 2020
‘THE MASSEY FERGUSON
DEALERSHIP FOR YORKSHIRE
Franks Curtis & THE NORTH EAST’
Sales www.f
• rankscurtis.co.uk
Parts • Service
Offering a full range of quality new & used machinery from
Massey Ferguson, Strautmann, Alpego, OPICO & many more...
Wishing Michael & Rachel Morley of Moor Close Farm continued success.
Franks Curtis Ltd, Beansheaf Ind Park,
Kirby Misperton, Malton,
N. Yorkshire, YO17 6BG
and tranquillity that comes from
being on a farm down the end of
a lane about half a mile from the
road are all very much positives
about staying.
What Michael and Rachel have
achieved, in getting Peddlers
Den fit for purpose and open,
could not have been undertaken
without the established farming
concern
Michael’s parents – Richard
and Sarah – built up the farming
enterprise at Westfield Farm
over a period of 40 years,
Richard having originally been a
farrier. Michael joined the farm
after his studies at Bishop Burton
College in 1997. The Morleys
trained Point to Pointers, as well
as Michael riding them for some
years and Sarah is still involved
with the races at Charm Park and
works at York racecourse.
‘Our arable farming enterprise
sees us growing combinable
crops,’ says Michael. ‘This year
we have 220 acres of winter
wheat, feed varieties Gravity and
Kerrin; 50 acres of winter barley;
90 acres of oilseed rape, just
short of 40 acres of spring beans
and 10-15 acres of spring barley.
We also grow some oats on
contract. Our land at Westfield
Farm varies from gravelly very
nice land to strong clay and here
at Moor Close it is very loamy
down to sand. It’s a massive
range with some that dries freely
and some that stands the water.
We also have 25 acres of perma-
nent grassland, making a bit of
haylage. We rent it to our good
friends Richard and Lucy Lunn
who have their own farm shop
The Horny Cow. It’s where they
graze their Highland cattle.’
‘I undertake all the farming
work with the assistance of one
other man. I min-till as much as
possible. That’s something dad
started long ago to keep costs
down.’
‘We introduced B&B pigs 8
years ago, bringing them on
for Ian Mosey. We put up two
sheds and we are about to put
‘ we really wanted to do something that
wasn’t subsidy related, something that
would replace the single farm payment ’
up a third to take our numbers
from 1200 to 1800. We get them
at 5 kilos and take them to 35-40
kilos, with five batches coming
through per year.’
‘I introduced cattle, buying
some Angus X Friesian heifers
at 6 months of age from a local
farmer last year and sold them
at Ruswarp at 16 months earlier
this year,’ says Michael. ‘As long
as there’s a margin I will proba-
bly have a go again.’
‘Moor Close came up 5 years
ago. My grandfather had been
a tenant here for 80 years, he
was 93 when I approached him
to ask whether he was able to
get me the tenancy by writing
to the landlord. We ended up
buying the farm instead as the
landlord wanted to sell. Rachel
and I clubbed our funds together
and mum and dad helped us
mortgage the remainder.’
‘It was a bit of a mess and
needed a lot of work,’ says
Rachel. ‘We moved here in the
April, married that May, then
moved out in November to live
in a caravan next to the old pig
shed as the house by then had
no roof as we were renovating.
It had been borderline derelict,
the fencing wasn’t good and
the whole farm had been badly
neglected.’
‘We weren’t sure what to do as
a diversification project at first,’
says Rachel, who comes from
Cloughton near Scarborough
and had been teaching in
Bridlington. The couple now
have two daughters – Scarlet
(5) and Lily (3). ‘I wanted to
be able to build up some kind
of business so that I was still
at home. We’d thought about
growing mushrooms, having
hens in hen sheds, but we really
wanted to do something that
wasn’t subsidy related, some-
thing that would replace the
single farm payment.’
Michael invited a friend
who works between farmers
and supermarkets to give his
suggestions. He took one look
and said the old building now
Peddlers Den would make ideal
holiday accommodation. Their
accountant mentioned that in
his experience the farm holiday
cottage market was now all
about offering something new.
‘The idea evolved from there,’
says Michael. ‘Rachel has stayed
in a lot of hostels all around the
world on her travels and we
decided we would go for a bit
more luxury than you normally
get from a bunk barn. It’s all
gone from there!’
www.peddlersden.co.uk