Farm pair tell of sadness as field eviction talks stall
A popular family-run farm that has bounced back from setback after setback will now see long-running events cancelled and the farmers "devastated" as they face eviction this year.
The Fordhall Organic Farm, near Market Drayton, has been developed by Ben and Charlotte Hollins as an events and educational space over many years, and has been in their family for more than 300 years.
Ben and Charlotte took over the farm in 2004 when it was dilapidated, and despite being only 19 and 21 respectively they set about restoring it to its former glory and following in the footsteps of their pioneering father Arthur.
Years later it is now a successful working organic farm, and offers farm trails, group tours, glamping, educational visits, care farming and popular community events.
Now negotiations with the farm's private owner have stalled, and the siblings fear they could be evicted from one of their best-used fields on September 29.
The future of the 12-acre cottage field, used for large-scale events as well as grazing in winter, remains uncertain.
It means this Sunday's Fordhall Family Spring Fair is likely to be the last one ever held at the farm, and the Halloween event has also been cancelled.
Much of the land at Fordhall has been in community-ownership since 2006, with more than 8,000 community shareholders.
The eviction would mean the farm will not have the space to continue to hold large community events.
Devastated
Ben and Charlotte spoke of their sadness and encouraged as many people as possible to visit the farm for the last spring fair.
The siblings are tenants of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative, and Ben lives in the farmhouse and manages the farmland and the livestock.
Meanwhile Charlotte manages the community trust which owns the rest of the farm.
Ben said: “Everyone at the farm is absolutely devastated by the news.
"It will change the way we farm and it will hinder our ability to carry on dad’s legacy here, as we need these top fields for our winter grazing."
Charlotte said: "We're both devastated to be losing that field. We hope we can purchase it in the future but that's not on the table at the moment. We're not going to be able to hold our large scale events for the foreseeable future.
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"It means our Halloween event unfortunately is cancelled also. We've been doing that for over ten years now. They've been really successful.
"The farm is free for people to access. We want to encourage people to access the countryside and understand about the countryside, have fun and break down some barriers.
"It's important for us we provide opportunities for people to connect with the countryside, and these events were an opportunity to do that.
"It's a great loss for the community, a nice day out, and it's part of our charitable objective.
"We will continue to run smaller activities, but they will be for smaller numbers of people and restricted in size. Our larger public events won't move forward for the foreseeable future.
"We'd really welcome everybody to come on Sunday. Let's go out in style, make it a great day.
"We've got lots of local people having stalls, tractors and trailers, activities down the wood and river dipping – very simple, free activities for all the family and we'd love everyone to come and enjoy themselves."
Much of the land at Fordhall has been in community-ownership since 2006, with more than 8,000 community shareholders.
Fordhall Family Spring Fair is being held on Sunday, April 28, from 10am.
The event will feature lambs, pony rides, duck herding, exotic animals, falconry displays, a dog show, tractor-trailer rides, a straw bale maze and a chance to admire the view from the farm.
