Hawley Farm

We arrived at Hawley Farm in 1984 and milked a herd of cows on the small farm, we had fun and games in bad weather when the milk tanker came to collect the milk and the cake lorry tried to deliver. The hill and the oak trees were not helping us getting large lorries in and out when the snow was on the ground, we could tell you some more stories when you arrive for your holiday!

The large listed buildings were a worry, in bad weather we have seen the roofs lift up and down as the wood had rotten and nowhere to bang a nail in. But lucky they did not blow away. The walls were falling out and they were dangerous. We were bound to keep them up, as they were listed buildings.

So we tried for planning to find a use for them, we had kept cattle in the Wagon House and pigs in the Cider Press and in bad weather sheep in the Stables!

We were granted planning for holiday accommodation for the big barn, but it was several years before we made a start, as this was a very large job! A ring beam had to made to stop the walls falling out and a lot of underpinning, we had sleepless nights as at the time we were very busy on the farm also.

Luckily they were finished in 2010 and we had some lovely guests come to stay so all was good. Our three boys had all grown up, our first one was married in this year then the next one in 2014 and have both flown the nest. Winston and Cathrine who work on the farm with us now were married in 2017. We finished the Stables in 2018 so they are now complete. Sleeping up to 15+2 in all three.

The milking was relocated to Harrisons Farm in 1995 as the access is much better for the lorries and they are so much bigger now. This was farmed by Graham’s father who had retired in this year. The farm buildings at Hawley are now used for calves, sheep and storage.

In 2020 we all had to contend with the Covid epidemic with lockdowns and depressing news headlines. The farm keeps going which is a great distraction to all that was going on in the world, keeping us busy looking after the animals.

We opened when we were allowed in July 4th 2020 and many very grateful guests returned and enjoyed a great summer holiday here until another lockdown in November. Christmas was disappointing for us and many as no family get together. So here it was just the two of us.

We opened again 12th April 2021 and our lovely return guests came and the weather was great. The vaccination campaign had started that changed the whole picture. With more growing confidence things had opened up.

In May and June 2021, we had two wonderful grandchildren, both boys born to two of our sons families, with in three weeks of each other. This was the best news we could of hoped for after all the gloom!

The grandchildren grow and are great. Many happy hours for us with them.

We continue to provide holidays for lovely guests. Please book direct from our website. Thank you.