Kenyon Hall Farm has been farmed by the same family since before 1500, with myself and my wife, Barbara, being the current farmers.
My family were tenants until 1919 when my grandfather, Walter Boardman, bought the farm when part of the estate was sold off. This was not a good time to expend a lot of money with the great recession about to arrive, but they pulled through. Like the majority of farms in the United Kingdom, Kenyon Hall was a ‘mixed farm’. In our case growing wheat, barley, grass and potatoes, and looking after milking cows, beef cattle, pigs and hens. This made the farm virtually self sufficient for food, with the surplus being sold in the market place.
When the farm was bought in 1919 the majority of the work was still being done by horses. Milk was taken in a horse and trap to the station at Newton-le-Willows, and then on to Manchester. During the winter, every week a load of hay was taken to a brewery in Bolton, and a load of farmyard manure collected from the abattoir in Leigh on the way back. Not a bad days walk!
The grain was stored in the farm barns and thrashed during the winter. The potatoes were stored in a ‘hog’ in the field and also graded and bagged during the winter - not a pleasant job when the rain or snow was coming horizontally. The working week was five and a half days and the work was arduous at all times of the year. Sacks of potatoes and oats weighed 50 kilos, barley 75 kilos, and wheat 112 kilos!
The farming pattern changed very little during my grandfather’s time, except of course that much of the work was done increasingly with tractors. The last horse, called Boxer, left the farm in 1963. My grandfather married a girl, Muriel Clint, from Wavertree in Liverpool. During the Second World War many of their friends and family chose to live on the farm rather than suffer the bombing in Liverpool. In 1964 the reaper and binder, stationary baler and thrashing machine were retired and a trailed combine harvester was bought. A grain dryer was installed in the farm yard.
In 1965, my grandfather retired and my mother took over. She was very fortunate to have an experienced and loyal workforce led by Stanley Monaghan, who by coincidence had also joined the farm in 1919. Stanley eventually was awarded a BEM for services to British agriculture for more than 60 years work at Kenyon Hall. He started as a horseman and ended up as head tractor driver and combine driver. Other long serving staff included George Dodd and Geoffrey Dootson. My mother followed the same arable rotation as before, and reduced the number of livestock. The last house cow was sold in 1967.
Barbara and I joined the family business in 1978. The farm was a ‘sleepy’ 166 acre arable farm. It needed waking up. That year we planted the first two acres of strawberries and the pick your own enterprise and farm shop have grown out of that. By buying small parcels of land as they became available, and renting land from neighbours, the total size of the farm now exceeds 500 acres. In 1978, five full time people were needed to farm 166 acres. We now have a staff of only two (Tom and John) for the much larger farm. This is due to much larger and more efficient agricultural machinery.
In the first few years, the farm was only open to the public for about six weeks in June and July each year. Although the range of crops expanded as we added gooseberries, currants and raspberries within the first two years, the length of season stayed the same. Herb plants were the first of the plants we grew for sale - we now have over 200 varieties.
The first expansion to the length of the season was in the mid 1990s when we planted the first field of asparagus and at the same time started to grow bedding and basket plants. From this humble start, the plant centre as you see it now has grown. For two years before we opened the new farm shop, we stayed open all summer, planted more pumpkins and sold Christmas trees and turkeys in December.
The building of our new shop commenced in October 2010 and we were able to move in and open in June 2011. We have tried to retain the family feel, with myself and Barbara still working full time. My youngest son James came back to the farm in 2016 to be the Farm Shop manager and in 2020 we welcomed back our eldest son Simon to manage the horticultural side of the business. As well as having our family re-united and working together, we're delighted with the group of friendly and enthusiastic staff we have and we hope you enjoy your visit!
Tod Bulmer
My family were tenants until 1919 when my grandfather, Walter Boardman, bought the farm when part of the estate was sold off. This was not a good time to expend a lot of money with the great recession about to arrive, but they pulled through. Like the majority of farms in the United Kingdom, Kenyon Hall was a ‘mixed farm’. In our case growing wheat, barley, grass and potatoes, and looking after milking cows, beef cattle, pigs and hens. This made the farm virtually self sufficient for food, with the surplus being sold in the market place.
When the farm was bought in 1919 the majority of the work was still being done by horses. Milk was taken in a horse and trap to the station at Newton-le-Willows, and then on to Manchester. During the winter, every week a load of hay was taken to a brewery in Bolton, and a load of farmyard manure collected from the abattoir in Leigh on the way back. Not a bad days walk!
The grain was stored in the farm barns and thrashed during the winter. The potatoes were stored in a ‘hog’ in the field and also graded and bagged during the winter - not a pleasant job when the rain or snow was coming horizontally. The working week was five and a half days and the work was arduous at all times of the year. Sacks of potatoes and oats weighed 50 kilos, barley 75 kilos, and wheat 112 kilos!
The farming pattern changed very little during my grandfather’s time, except of course that much of the work was done increasingly with tractors. The last horse, called Boxer, left the farm in 1963. My grandfather married a girl, Muriel Clint, from Wavertree in Liverpool. During the Second World War many of their friends and family chose to live on the farm rather than suffer the bombing in Liverpool. In 1964 the reaper and binder, stationary baler and thrashing machine were retired and a trailed combine harvester was bought. A grain dryer was installed in the farm yard.
In 1965, my grandfather retired and my mother took over. She was very fortunate to have an experienced and loyal workforce led by Stanley Monaghan, who by coincidence had also joined the farm in 1919. Stanley eventually was awarded a BEM for services to British agriculture for more than 60 years work at Kenyon Hall. He started as a horseman and ended up as head tractor driver and combine driver. Other long serving staff included George Dodd and Geoffrey Dootson. My mother followed the same arable rotation as before, and reduced the number of livestock. The last house cow was sold in 1967.
Barbara and I joined the family business in 1978. The farm was a ‘sleepy’ 166 acre arable farm. It needed waking up. That year we planted the first two acres of strawberries and the pick your own enterprise and farm shop have grown out of that. By buying small parcels of land as they became available, and renting land from neighbours, the total size of the farm now exceeds 500 acres. In 1978, five full time people were needed to farm 166 acres. We now have a staff of only two (Tom and John) for the much larger farm. This is due to much larger and more efficient agricultural machinery.
In the first few years, the farm was only open to the public for about six weeks in June and July each year. Although the range of crops expanded as we added gooseberries, currants and raspberries within the first two years, the length of season stayed the same. Herb plants were the first of the plants we grew for sale - we now have over 200 varieties.
The first expansion to the length of the season was in the mid 1990s when we planted the first field of asparagus and at the same time started to grow bedding and basket plants. From this humble start, the plant centre as you see it now has grown. For two years before we opened the new farm shop, we stayed open all summer, planted more pumpkins and sold Christmas trees and turkeys in December.
The building of our new shop commenced in October 2010 and we were able to move in and open in June 2011. We have tried to retain the family feel, with myself and Barbara still working full time. My youngest son James came back to the farm in 2016 to be the Farm Shop manager and in 2020 we welcomed back our eldest son Simon to manage the horticultural side of the business. As well as having our family re-united and working together, we're delighted with the group of friendly and enthusiastic staff we have and we hope you enjoy your visit!
Tod Bulmer