Our fabulous Yorkshire Garlic supplier, Whirlow Hall Farm Trust, is a registered charity on the edge of Sheffield providing a real farm experience for all. With agriculture, horticulture, beekeeping and a vineyard, it’s truly a classroom in the countryside!
The farm was set up as an educational trust in 1979 by Alan Aikin. Alan grew up in the inner-city and was sent to a farm as an evacuee during WWII. He was so profoundly affected by his experience of farming and the countryside that years later he decided to set up a centre for all ‘inner-city’ children to come and experience the wonders of the countryside and develop their understanding of where their food comes from.
Whirlow is a fully-functioning working farm spanning 180 acres with a variety of livestock and growing spaces. With a flock of 200 North Country Mules ewes, a small herd of Aberdeen Angus and Galloway suckler cows, pigs, free-range hens and turkeys there’s always plenty going on whatever the time of year. There’s fresh, seasonal fruit and veg on sale in the farm shop depending on the time of year and you can pick your own fruit picking during the summer months.
Manager Sam Trepte says:
‘The Trust is a unique environmental and educational charity, providing an outstanding learning experience to over 10,000 children and young people a year, many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds and the innercity. For many of our young visitors this is the first time that they will have visited a farm or the countryside. By holding a newly-hatched chick, bottle feeding a newborn lamb or simply seeing a pig with her piglets for the first time they are having an unforgettable experience.’
Whirlow welcomes schools and groups on day trips and longer residential stays offering handson experiences for children and young people to gain skills in working with animals, growing and harvesting food, cooking and taking part in adventure activities.
Weekend visits are available in residential units offering great facilities for self-catering groups. Farm tours are available to the public all year round on weekends and bank holidays. Tours are free but donations to the Trust are welcome.
