FARMING

I’m delighted to share with you this month some more images of the Farming Community in the area. This goes along side my story of Eric Beech and Brown Heath Farm in the History File section. As there are so many images I’ve divided them in half with the rest to follow in March.

Farming has always been one of the most important aspects of village life and cultivating the land has long been a necessity. Now in the year 2022, it might seem less important, but if you look at the aerial pictures of the village seen below, you can see we are still surrounded by working farms, although each on a bigger scale than in the days when there were up to 50 small farms in the whole parish. We still have three large dairy farms, at Manor Farm, Clay Pits Farm, and Cotton Abbotts Farm, but the other farms produce mainly arable crops, or have herds of store cattle or flocks of sheep. Many of the former farm buildings have been converted into houses or flats. The dairy industry has twice suffered greatly from foot and mouth disease since I’ve lived in the area, and the demise of the dairy industry can probably be also put down to the time when the UK joined the European Common Market, when milk quotas were introduced due to overproduction. Farmers diversified in many ways, and there are many good examples, eg, the Ice Cream Farm, a Fish Farm, the Crocky Trail, or one of our favourites Walk Mill with its milling, baking and excellent café. It even sells its flour, oilseed rape oil and honey.

The area now produces huge quantities of arable and other crops, including grass for silage or hay, although some crops are grown to be ploughed in, being a natural fertiliser. Maize, wheat, barley, oil seed rape, linseed, beans etc, are grown in great quantities, and every year we seem to produce a huge mountain of potatoes in our fields. At one time in the 1990’s there were several local farms growing turf for new housing.

Christleton was always known for its market gardens, producing food not only for sale locally at The Farm Shop*, but for the stalls in the traditional Chester Market where, the Bewley, Rose, Arden and Kirk Families from the parish were well known. The land between The Glass House in Christleton and Huntington, which now covers the A41/A55 extension, The Park & Ride site, Sainsbury’s and most of Caldy Valley was all market gardening, with Kirk’s Nurseries being well known at Littleton. They not only produced traditional market produce of cauliflower, sprouts, lettuce and tomatoes. but also cut flowers and orchids. Arden’s & Randal’s Farms in the village were once large egg producers, a role now taken superbly on, by the Handleys at Manor Farm along White Lane.

It’s sad to report that the Christleton Farm Shop at Boughton has now closed, bringing the end of an era of producing and selling food in the area. Thanks to the Randal Family for all their hard work over many years.