Ed grew up on the farm and many of the initial ideas for the farm park were inspired by his childhood. Ed’s a bit like Peter Pan – he’s never really grown up! He left the farm in 1992 to become a medical representative. He thought up the concept of West Lodge Rural Centre whilst sitting in a traffic jam on M11 between appointments in 1993 – yes he’s that old!

He returned to the farm that year and began converting the old Rickyard Barn into a tea room with the support of his parents, Tony and Margaret. He’s never looked back!

Mo qualified as a nursery nurse in 1988 and worked in special education for 14 years. She set up the children’s day nursery on the farm in 2003. She and Farmer Ed have 3 children who are all growing up very fast.

In between school runs, sporting fixtures and general kids taxi service Mo still oversees the running of the nursery and does most of the marketing and social media for the farm.

James arrived at the farm as a work experience student in 2004 while studying Conservation and Land Management at Northampton University.

He then joined the farm team and worked part time in any hour he wasn’t at college but he never left! James has always been very passionate about the countryside and loves working in the great outdoors and playing on big boys toys and managing our big build projects. Most of us would agree he’s definitely at his best behind a microphone!

Ed joined the kitchen in October 2016. Having previously worked in a Michelin starred restaurant it was quite a culture shock joining our small farm café.

Ed has transformed the food that we now serve offering greater choice with more options for special dietary requirements. Ed works hard to source locally produced food and use food produced here on the farm with minimal wastage. Ed was the driving force in developing our new butchery and delicatessen in 2020.