Honeysuckle Farm: The Yorkshire farm in a seaside town which is thriving as a tourist hotspot

Not having tried it before, Barrie, his wife Val and their two sons Martin and Tim were uncertain over how well it would go, but the farm business was on its last legs and opening up to the public was a last resort, given the news delivered to Barrie Gardham on Christmas Eve 1991 that the bank was to foreclose on the farm.

Honeysuckle Farm opens its gates for the new 2023 season today (Saturday 18 March) and is open weekends and holidays throughout the season until the children return to school after the summer holidays.

“We had to diversify and this was our only option really,” said Martin. “It was to do what we have now continued to do for over three decades or lose the farm. The agricultural advisory people ADAS came over and their advice was that since we had facilities like ponds and woodland, horses of our own, cows, sheep, pigs and small pets like rabbits – and we were based in a tourist town, a seaside town - why didn’t we open to the public.

Over three decades later Honeysuckle Farm has become one of the most popular East Riding destinations for holidaymakers and local families, particularly from Hull and West Riding, and it is still the only working farm that operates as a visitor centre.

It’s not the size of Cannon Hall Farm’s visitor attraction by any means, with its massive farm shop and how big that it is today and the Gardhams have not become TV superstars like Farmer Rob and Farmer Dave, but the reason for going down the visitor route was similarly motivated in finding a way of continuing to run the farm.

Martin said that their initial move into farm tourism, back in 1992, was done without much in the way of pomp.

“In the 90s when things were really bad we just had an honesty box for people who came to the farm, because we all had other jobs at the time, to try and make more money to fund everything. There was no Internet, no mobile communications, no social media and we couldn’t afford much publicity. It just grew over time, people told other people and we became known as somewhere to come.

“We were absolutely amazed how it grew. These are now such different times to 30 years ago and things have changed so much. Back then it was just pretty much a case of opening the gate and people came. There are now so many more things you have to now think about from car parks, to health and safety considerations.

The one thing that hasn’t changed at all is that people keep coming back to Honeysuckle Farm and by doing what they did back in the early 90s the Gardhams have been able to continue farming, make new friends, bring on their next generations and are now welcoming newer generations of the families that have continued visiting.

Martin said he enjoys what Honeysuckle Farm had to become.

“We know many of the people who come as the same families will come back every year, often several times a year and those who came as children with their parents and grandparents are now coming back as parents and grandparents with their next generations.

“Myself and my wife Catherine have a daughter Isabelle, aged 10, and son James, aged 5. James loves being a guide to visitors.

“People are attracted to farms historically, culturally and emotionally. People like animals and enjoy being in the countryside. That’s what we do here, we give everyone our countryside and the opportunity to see our animals grazing and to feed them.

“I like meeting people, everybody’s got an interesting story, and for six months of the year it’s all about tourism, as well as farming, and for the other six months it’s all about the farming stuff which has to be done. Switching hats to tourism is a different sort of farming, showing people the countryside, the animals and explaining why they are there to provide the food we eat.

Honeysuckle Farm is what the Gardhams term an authentic farm because they have kept it largely as a mixed farming enterprise with livestock that people would expect to see over its 70 acres.

“We have tried different things,” said Martin. “But we’ve mainly just stuck with our basic farm breeds. We have a suckler herd of 20 Hereford cows and buy a new bull every couple of years. We calve during Christmas. We have a flock of 70 Suffolk-cross and Lleyn-cross ewes and ideally they average two lambs. We started lambing them earlier this month.

“Lambs are always a big attraction at Easter; and we have Boer goats that we kid as well. We have just one sow, which has eight piglets.

“Horses have always been an attraction at Honeysuckle and presently we have three Shires – Winston, Georgie Girl and Bob who was born last year. Georgie Girl’s foal.

“Ferrets are particularly popular with everyone and the rabbits; and everyone loves feeding the trout in our pond. We don’t have spectacular rides or anything glitzy but we do provide children with fun in our woodland where they make dens and tipis, we have some little play forts and some trails.

Martin only has one small regret, and it’s to do with the name.

“I wish we’d called it Honeychuckle Farm, but hey, we are still here 31 years on and ready to open our gates today and welcome everybody back again. Let’s hope we get a good Easter. This is very much a weather-influenced business.