We live at the foot of the beautiful Maer Hills, on the borders of Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire, and so there is a wealth of goodies available within the area. The area is famed for its dairy production, so we can source milk and cream from Well’s Dairy near Stafford (sadly we do not have the unit to sell our own direct into the farmshop!) and the local artisan cheese range is immense! We stock Deaville’s organic cheeses from 5 minutes away, the world renowned Mrs Appleby’s from Hawkestone (www.applebyscheese.co.uk) plus a great many other cheeses produced from the milk of the cows within our three counties. The locally made farmhouse butter that we also stock is extremely popular and we must not forget to mention the delicious Snugbury Jersey ice-cream (www.snugburys.co.uk) produced only 20 minutes away in Nantwich!
The diversity of farming on our doorstep is wide. Among our friends are not only dairy farmers and beef producers like us, but also sheep and pig farmers producing top class lamb and pork. The eggs for the farm shop could not be more fresh, as we have two suppliers, both free-range and both local, only 5 minutes either side of us. Vegetable growers there are too, and we source our potatoes from less than a mile away and our winter veg comes in from Galbraiths in Shebdon (his dirty carrots are legendary) and cabbage, parsnips and sprouts come in from Bob Richards and family from Sambrook. Our own land is light enough to produce our own list of summer produce.
We also avidly support the local artisan bread-making industry by stocking freshly baked bread from two Shropshire bakers: Snape’s, from Woore (again only 5 minutes away) and from T.O. Williams of Wem. Staffordshire breweries are also a proud part of our local heritage. We stock Titanic ales (www.titanicbrewery.co.uk) , organic Freedom lager (www.freedombeer.com) and Lymestone beers (www.lymestonebrewery.co.uk) – all produced in and around the Potteries.
So we live in a wonderful area, with such a long list of small producers bringing top quality fresh produce to the marketplace. It is a beautiful area too to explore…the Dorothy Clive Gardens (www.dorothyclivegarden.co.uk) are less than a mile away and we are only a short drive from beautiful villages and towns like Eccleshall, where we have a stall on their monthly Farmers Market, and Nantwich. Cycling through our rural lanes is a pleasure. We are proud of what our area has to offer!
