User:Talking goldfish/Draft Article on Cattows Farm

Cattows Farm is a 300-acre working farm owned by the Ludlam family, situated in the heart of the National Forest in rural Leicestershire. The farm produces and rears an array of vegetables, fruit and meat products and these are available to purchase in the Cattows Farm Shop. Each year in August, Cattows Farm is home to the Strawberry Fields Festival.

A wide range of soft fruit and vegetables are grown on the farm ranging from strawberries to savoy cabbage, parsnips to purple sprouting broccoli, with much more besides. Asparagus is freshly cut during the months of April, May and June, shortly followed by the soft fruit season.

History
The Ludlam family have been farming in the village of Heather since 1899. Alfred Ludlam moved to White House Farm with his daughter Ada and son Allen from Glenfield Mill, Leicester, where it is recorded that he was a miller and farmer of 15 acres.

By the age of 14 Allen was an orphan and was sent to boarding school. Over the years the acreage surrounding White House Farm grew from 12 and after initially training as a butcher, Allen later farmed the land. He hand-milked his cows and established a milk round in the surrounding villages, selling the milk by measuring ladles from the churn.

In 1972 Cattows Farm was purchased by the family, increasing the acreage from 69 to 310. At that time the farm was milking 120 head of friesian cows, had 80 beef cattle and grew 150 acres of wheat and barley.

In 1981 the decision was taken to stop milking, but the beef herd was increased to 300 head of both finished beef cows and calves.

The year of 1986 saw one of the most dramatic changes in the farming policy when two acres of barley was ploughed up and strawberries planted in its place. Only a light crop was harvested that year and the strawberries were sold at the roadside. It was 1987 when the strawberry field was opened to the public, and Heather Pick Your Own was born. Raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries soon followed and after originally using a 15ft x 12ft garden shed as a sales area, a new bigger 'strawberry shed' was built in 1992, which is now the tea room.

The next changes on the farm occurred in 2004, 100 acres of woodland were planted as part of the National Forest tender scheme round 10. The woodland is open to the public and surrounds Cattows Farm and the village of Heather.

September 2005 saw the opening of Cattows Farm Shop & Tea Room when it became apparent that the farm was opening to the public more and more at various times of the year.

The farm now grows a whole host of vegetables and fruit, there is a herd of suckler cows and saddleback pigs are also bred from time to time.

In 2010 the Ludlam family formed their own music and arts festival, the Strawberry Fields Festival. Alan and James Ludlam both share a passion for music and had talked about holding a festival for many years. A chance meeting with Ian and a conversation with an old school friend Mike helped this ambition become reality and Strawberry Fields Festival was formed. This has now gone on to receive a National profile and has attracted festival goers from the length and breadth of the country, not to mention huge names in the world of music.

Cattows Farm Shop & Tea Room
The Cattows Farm Shop was opened in late 2005 in what was a natural progression to the already established practices of the farm.

Having been open to the public for 'pick your own' strawberries since 1987, and later asparagus, the farm have also sold potatoes and autumn bedding plants from the farm gate. In 2004 they sold their first Christmas trees and as it now appeared they were serving the public more and more throughout the year, the decision was taken to fill in the seasonal gaps with other produce and open The Cattows Farm Shop throughout the year.

The farm shop also boasts an array of award-winning jams, chutneys, milk, cheese, eggs and cakes from small specialist producers both locally and a little further afield. Leicestershire reared and butchered beef, lamb and pork is also sold in the farm shop throughout the year.

The Cattows Tea Room shares the same building as the Cattows Farm Shop and is open 7 days a week for main meals, light bites, homemade desserts and the Sunday Lunch. The seating area offers views of the Leicestershire countryside and the Tea Room is fully licensed to sell alcohol.

The Tea Room has won the netmums.com Gold Award for the most family-friendly place to eat in North West Leicestershire.

Links

 * Cattows Farm Shop Website