A little bit of history

The Blackmore Family have farmed in Clayhidon since 1580 and first came to Palmer’s Farm in 1729 where we have remained ever since. We are incredibly lucky to have a family tree which goes all the way back to this time, so no pressure there then!

Over the years there have been many changes as you can imagine, the farm has been home to pigs, cows, chickens, hounds, donkeys and many shire horses. There were cider orchards and even a cider press. It was actually quite typical that farms would make their own cider and the farm that made the best, would draw the workers in from miles around, so as you can imagine it was a pretty serious business!

And a recent tradition (started 1895) is to plant Redwood trees for each generation that farms here. The first tree was for my Great Grandfather Alec, on the year of his birth. Since then there have been two more, one for my Grandfather Tom and most recently for my Dad on his 60th birthday.

Today it’s our dairy girls and cattle that take up most of our time, but Dad also loves his pheasants too. Palmers Farm has been in our family for many hundreds of years and now it’s our job to take care of it and ensure it’s set up for the next.