I first met Jane, one half of Daniel Farm, at Ryton Market. She was selling eggs.
At the time I was contemplating becoming a home baker. I had such a thing for pretty looking, overpriced cupcakes, and for some bizarre reason I could just imagine myself up at 2am icing cakes for a wedding the following day (nuts!) Still, I wanted to source local suppliers, so I was delighted when Jane told me about her chickens. All 6,000.
They had recently purchased Daniel Farm in Wylam. And they had big plans. This was back in December of 2014.
It’s now April 2015, and they have made those plans, those dreams, a reality. And I’m so proud of them.
‘The girls’ and I met up in the car park of Daniel Farm last Friday. Another dreary spring day here in Northumberland (seriously – where is the sun this year?) The farm area is pretty open, you can see it from the car park. The farm shop and cafe stand opposite in a lovely new timber building. The original chicken farm house and buildings are behind that (so don’t get confused when you arrive!) There is a small fee to enter the farm (£3.50 for adults, £2.50 for children) but the fee is to help support growth of the farm (they have even more plans) and you get a hot drink included in the price (juice or milk for the little people). So it’s actually a really good deal.
To add to that, if they’re not too busy in the cafe when you buy your entrance ticket – you get Sophie thrown in with the price. Sophie works in the cafe but also with the animals – multi-skilled. And she’s lovely. The children loved her too. My Harry is quite shy with new people, but he immediately took a liking to her (red welly lady) and even held her hand! The animals love her too. Especially the Shetland Pony. And Sophie kindly brought the donkeys and ponies over to the children to stroke.
I really have a thing for farm animals. Take me to a zoo full of exotic animals, I’d much rather sit in the petting corner all day. Farm animals are so friendly. They have such kind faces. Pigs in particular – I think it’s their human looking eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I still love a bit of steak – so I know why they’re in a farm to begin with. I also love taking photographs of these beautiful creatures. I could spend all day there getting to know their mannerisms and capturing their bold characters. But, we didn’t have all day, and once the toddlers had exploited their inquisitiveness, they were calling for cake.
So I knew there was a farm shop, but I didn’t know there was a FARM SHOP! Wow! It was beautiful. The Butchery alone was stunning, with some of the nicest looking meat I’ve seen in a long time. The remainder of the shop was full of lovely local produce from bread, to Sloemotion Gin (yum), Wylam Beer, Cheese and of course Daniel Farm Eggs!
Next door is the cafe, and the cake counter greets you with a big warm hug as you enter – you can’t say no! Hey, you’ve already got a coffee included in the farm ticket, so you’re not going to turn down a slice of Red Velvet Cake are you!
Inside the cafe, the tables are set amongst yet more local artwork, handmade gifts and crafts all ready for purchase.
Over towards the back, they have cleverly cornered off a portion of the room with sofas, large coffee tables, a gorgeous rocking chair and a fabulous box of books for the little people. We commandeered a couple of the sofas, devoured our cake and the kiddies snuggled up to Emma for a late morning story.
I genuinely LOVED it here. I cannot wait to see how their plans develop. It’s in such a lovely spot, with it’s own mini-valley to the rear. I hear there maybe mini-diggers on the cards too, so I know that it will become a true favourite with my Harry and his little buddies.
I look forward to returning soon, not only for more cake, but a proper mooch about the shop, a good freezer stock-up with the butcher, and I really want to get some photos of those 6,000 chickens (the weather was against us when we visited, so I missed them!)
Enjoy some pics of our visit. And if you want to learn more, visit their facebook page (I believe a website is in the pipeline!)
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