A Rundown OF Our Best Moments

As 2023 draws to a close, we thought it would be nice to run through the highlights of the year and share some of our favourites. It has been quite a big year for us with lots of new events launching and projects finishing. We feel like we have moved forward quite a bit as a business, we’ve grown, and we’ve learnt a lot along the way.

If we run through the year we can spotlight some of those moments.

Easter

This was our first time opening the gardens for Easter and it was a blast. Such a happy time of year with the life bursting back into the garden and everyone is a bit happier as the sun starts to appear. We had a huge amount of people turn up and the children absolutely loved it, and the Easter Egg hunt was a huge success. We ran it for two days over the Easter weekend and after day one, we ran out of eggs as it was so popular so we had to rush out and get a whole load more.

We will definitely be holding this again in 2024.

Garden Opens

We made the decision to move our August garden open to June, to capture the garden at its best, and also the weather, if we are being really honest. This was so much more enjoyable for us and I’d say we managed to host it over the one good week of sun for the summer. We partnered with The Little Chart Room for our first attempt at pop ups dinners. We pulled this together in the five weeks before, and the tickets sold out in 4 hours so we had to extend it for another night. We loved hosting these and working with such a talented team. Common Coffee was a huge part of this and as three businesses working together this was a really enjoyable and successful collaboration.

Say tuned for 2024.

LEAF Open Farm Sunday

This is a national scheme and this was the first time we have taken part in it and boy did we underestimate how popular it would be. We thought we would have 200-300 people and the end we had 1050, which was amazing. We set out to help educate people on farming and what it involves and generates. The feedback was phenomenal, so we have lots of exciting ways to grow and improve this.

We will definitely be hosting this in 2024.

School Trips/Farm Visits

We have always done farm visits, but we opened the gates to a few new groups this year including local schools and international farmers. It was fascinating watching these children’s faces light up as they engaged in what a farm offers and does, whilst the sharing of knowledge across borders benefits both parties involved.

Rosemains Steading as a C.I.C and starting Maker’s Markets

This year Rosemains Steading has become a C.I.C (Community Interest Company) and as part of that they have started Maker’s Markets. We have hosted two now, one in September, and one in November and we have loved them. Local businesses have been invited to join the residents and sell their products and we think they have been pretty successful. The whole aim of the CIC is to aid collaboration between the residents, and also help them become more resilient. It’s a really exciting project to become part of.

Path network

This was a personal highlight for Will and I. It has been a few years in the making, but the satisfaction from seeing people enjoy the walks who were able to before has been amazing. I think Will’s favourite moment has been seeing the amount of pram wheels in the ground, as it proves that its helping mothers get out who will have been quite restricted as to wear they can walk. We are currently working on signage and ironing out the last few bits, but we hope you have benefitted from the paths as much as we hoped.

There might be lots more that we have missed, but please do feel free to email us with your personal highlight at Preston Hall, as it gives us such a boost and shows us that what we are doing is the right thing for those around us.

Lots more to come in 2024.

Highlights of 2023