New Hall Farm
From chest
freezers
to farming
fulfilment
Proud to be associated with
Richard Haigh of New Hall Farm
Waterfront Insurance Brokers
International House, Chapel Hill
Huddersfield, HD1 3EE
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» » CHRIS BERRY TALKS WITH
Richard Haigh at New Hall Farm,
Hopton
Born a landless peasant - to
owning 300 acres, that’s how
Richard Haigh has seen his
dream come true. He’d always
wanted to be a farmer but hadn’t
known how he was going to
achieve the status when he left
school at 15. Haigh’s Farm Shop,
the business he started with
his wife, Catherine at Elmgrove
Farm in Mirfield is one of the best
known in West Yorkshire and
attracts thousands of customers
from throughout the area every
week. It was the key to his
ambitions.
Richard is justifiably proud
of what he and his family have
achieved and are continuing
to build on. New Hall Farm in
Hopton that he bought in 2004
and where he lives today, gives
him immense satisfaction and
with the neighbouring Cockley
Hill Farm purchased in 2006 and
subsequent acreages added
since then, the overall farmed
R. P. Masters
& Son Ltd
FERTILISER • AG SLAG
LIME • GRASS SEED
T. 01302 707055
M. 07802 922498
E. [email protected]
Rose Cottage, West End Lane,
Balne, Goole, East Yorkshire, DN14 0EH
16 Spring 2017 www.farmers-mart.co.uk
acreage including rented land
now runs to 500 acres.
‘It’s such a grand view,’ says
Richard. ‘People come here to
New Hall Farm having come
through the urban jungle that is
Ravensthorpe and can’t believe
the rural idyll they’ve found. The
land is transformed within just a
mile.’
While Richard may not
have known the exact route
to becoming a farmer and
landowner, he had his head
firmly switched on when leaving
school.
‘I was born in Huddersfield
and we lived in Lepton until I was
two years old before moving to
Hopton Lane where I lived until I
was 20. That’s just three-quarters
of a mile from New Hall Farm and
as young lads we used to play
in Hopton Woods. My granddad
was a wheelwright, Fred Haigh,
in Kirkburton and he and his
wife had five children. He was
determined that they should all
get a proper education as he
felt wheelwrighting had had its
day. My dad, Albert became a
schoolteacher.
‘I’d worked since 10 years old
when I could during weekends,
evenings and school holidays
on a small dairy farm in Lower
Hopton for John Micklethwaite.
I remember my first job was
carrying pails of milk to pour
into the cooler. I always knew
I was going to be a farmer but
I didn’t want to go and work
on a farm when I left school in
1960 because I thought I’d just
get stuck there and never get