Farmworld

Farmworld started as a farm educational and leisure park south of the town of Wrexham on the North Wales and England border. It opened in 1990 following repeated school visits to the farm in the previous decade looking at farming and food. The visitor experience centred on dairy cows and milk production, lamb feeding and animal care, and land use by means of a mechanised tour on a trailer unit powered by an agricultural tractor. The tours were led by the farmer William Newton Jones who for fifteen years (retired 2006) explained the complexities of land use, animal husbandry, integration of woodlands and landscape, and ultimately its relationship with the day to day consumer of British food.

Food production

The farm had been closely allied to food production in the locality of Wrexham since 1933. Owning the Wrexham Dairy located in the centre of the town, it pasteurised milk and produced cheese and sold a range of dairy products in the region. The dairy opened one of the first milk bars in the local town, this closed in 1953 as similar nationalised facilities grew across the UK. The farm continued to supply a range of produce into local markets, and produced large volumes of foodstuffs, especially milk, for the commodity markets. Farmworld now has interests in the manufacture of dairy and cheese products.

Farm history

The roots of the farm appear in 1689 when a stone cottage and stable was built on a winding track, just to the south west of a small river supplying fresh water. In 1800 a range of farm buildings were built in red brick and slate, and planning was put in place to greatly improve the farmland to increase food production for the growing population of that time. In 1902 the farmhouse was replaced in the style of an Edwardian villa, but as the great depression took hold in the 1930s the farm declined. The farm received investment in the 1960s and 1970s and today is in the care of The National Trust.

Farmland future use

Whilst the mother farm is held inalienably (for ever) in and for the care of the nation, two blocks of land are held for investment for future land use and food production. The first is adjacent to one of two reclaimed collieries, and has the beginnings of an educational centre and is supported by considerable bridle and cycle paths created by local projects. The second sits along four fishing lakes of varying size, that cater for the beginner through to the experienced angler. History records considerable changes in land use say each thirty years as population grows, and in more recent times in response to the globalisation of food supply.

Consumer health

Whilst the diet of the nation has centred on varying advice from experts and changes in what is a good nutritional balance, the importance of mental health has grown vastly in the latter part of the 20th century. While the food that we eat is the first dictum of our bodily health, likewise open countryside and the landscape that we shape as a nation is important to our well-being. The early part of the 21st century has seen a return to home cooking and an interest in the source and methods of preparation of our food. This is coupled with a consumer movement to maintain a vibrant countryside that provides a resource for exercise, but just as important mental stimulation. The interaction with nature and particularly animals for some groups of people with certain challenging conditions, provides therapeutic values that are essential for balance and human well-being.

The Countryside in revolt

The Tithe War (1918 to 1939) ^[1] saw the cessation of the Tithe which was finally expunged in 2009.^[2] Ancestors of the founding family of Farmworld fought through the great depression to remove the centuries old tax from the countryside, as modern Britain adopted a tax regime based on the labour markets ability to pay. The movements of groups of farmers throughout the breadth of Britain culminated in hearings in the Royal Courts of Justice in 1939 and the action seeing the Tithe expunged.^[3]

Branding

Farmworld entered the market as a brand, seeking to preserve inviolate the position of the food & farming industry in the United Kingdom around the turn of the century. The brand has trading interests, and separately has embarked on a long range expedition of philanthropy seeking to harness the subject areas of farming, food, health and land use. The term is used for different purposes and by different organisations in a variety of countries.

References

External links

• Agri-Tourism in the Hudson River Valley, New York State, USA
• British Nutrition Foundation
• Communities & Local Government on Land Use
• Countryside Recreation Network
• Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
• Diffusion of the Dairy Educational Farm in Japan
• National Autistic Society, The
• World Health Organization