It’s always been part of our plan for building our seed business to have a small farm for development purposes, and We’ve been looking to acquire a farm in the Cotswolds for a long time now but we never found anywhere quite suitable, though, until the opportunity came up to buy Honeydale Farm last October.
Jim and Wendy had farmed the hundred acres at Honeydale since they married but were ready to retire to the neighbouring village. Cotswold Seeds celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and that coupled with low interest rates made it feel like the right time for us to buy the farm. With some trepidation, we decided to go for it, and after that things happened very fast, almost too fast, in fact.
The farm was being sold at auction by Tayler and Fletcher at the Fosse Manor Hotel just down the road. I went with my son Jack and though Matthew White, our land agent, took charge of the bidding for us, it was all very nerve-wracking. When the hammer fell, I remember feeling such mixed emotions, excitement coupled with anxiety and panic, a sense of the ground opening up. I think anyone who’s ever bought land or a farm at auction, or even a house, will sympathise.
The next morning we received lots of phone calls from neighbouring farmers who’d found out overnight that ours was the successful bid. They were so supportive and happy for us that it made the stress of it all worthwhile. As did walking round the fields and paddocks that first time, knowing it was ours and starting to plan how best to use it.
