BREAKS FOLD FARM 69
‘ We are keen to increase sheep and cow numbers , but you ’ ve got to get it all in the right order and when I met Richard nearly 11 years ago we were both working full-time in our careers . I was a policewoman . I ’ m from Guiseley originally . My mum and dad were avid caravanners and they had come up with the idea of us getting in touch with the Caravan Club to start a 5-van site .’
‘ When the Tour de France / Le Grand Depart was to start we gave a pop-up campsite a go and we haven ’ t looked back . Richard found a toilet block on eBay for about £ 500 and it has kind of evolved from there .’
‘ We moved away from the Caravan Club because they don ’ t really want you to have tents and camping , and we joined the Freedom Camping Club set up
by a couple who are very like-minded to ourselves . They are all for supporting and diversifying whatever your angle whether camping , glamping and caravanning .’
‘ We ’ ve now built up a really strong following with people not just coming from all over the UK but also ( in non-Covid times ) from all over Europe , Australia and New Zealand . We now have 30 tent pitches and 5 all-weather pitches . The all-weather ones are where we currently have Johnny ’ s buses that we manage and run taking care of all the bookings .’
‘ We have missed having our caravan customers this year but Johnny ’ s buses and the TV show has given us a lot of publicity , which has been good in putting us on the map a little more . Everybody loves the Yorkshire Dales but there are certain corners of it that aren ’ t as well known and lockdown plus the TV show have brought us more to the public ’ s attention .’
While Louise and Richard have been largely successful with their diversification attempts they were desperately unlucky with a venture that they started in November 2019 . Buoyed by their camping and caravanning customers they opened a woodfired bistro serving excellent pizza with Italian chef Alfredo at the helm . It was an immediate success , but Louise says that lockdown crucified it .
‘ We were doing so well and it was incredibly heartbreaking . We were thinking here we go ! And then lockdown came . If we ’ d been open for longer beforehand we might have been able to survive but issues with building controls put us back 6 months . Letting staff go was the hardest thing I ’ ve ever had to do . We had a great team . But I still believe that diversification is the only way forward for farms like ours .’
Richard and Louise are currently working on turning what was their café / bistro into a three-bedroomed holiday cottage , adding to their holiday accommodation offering and Louise has the assistance of their good friend Jane Field Lewis who creates interiors on the TV show George Clark ’ s Amazing Spaces .
Improving access to the countryside and working on schemes to benefit the natural environment are the latest elements of Richard and Louise ’ s plans .
‘ We have a really good relationship with Lisa Harrowsmith of Yorkshire Water ,’ says Louise . ‘ Working with them we have planted 4000 trees in Redshaw Gill where we want to now create a circular farm trail route , and we ’ ve put in hedgerows on our top boundary .’
‘ Yorkshire Water are fantastic landlords and we have now become a Yorkshire Water Beyond Nature farm , which is all about improving water courses , conservation , footpaths and much more .’
‘ We were already in Mid Tier stewardship and with the BPS being cut we saw that this kind of work was something that would only benefit us and our visitors . Our camp site revenue enables us to put up walls , new gates and to buy more cattle and equipment . The mix of stewardship schemes , Yorkshire Water ’ s Beyond Nature project , farming , camping and tourism of any kind is our future .’
One of the most recent developments has been Richard ’ s work in the making of three new newt ponds .
‘ We were contacted because we are in an area for newts ,’ says Richard . ‘ We applied to put in three ponds that will all soon be fenced off from livestock .’
And the newest recruit to the farm is Rae a two year old Shire horse who is proving yet another attraction for those visiting .
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