In just eight years, Cobble Hey working farm has become a beautiful country garden containing a wide range of natural environments including a cottage garden, woodland, ponds and streams, rockeries and lawns. It has a real commitment to delivering a sustainable visitor attraction and holds a Green Tourism Gold award for their hard work.

The Farm serve local food in the tearoom and use own home grown/reared produce wherever possible. They always re-use materials within the garden and have a strong recycling policy. Cobble Hey has switched to energy saving lighting and have a wood burning stove which uses thinning from their own woodland, and ash from the stove is used on the gardens.

They also have a strong commitment to education and working with local schools and other partnerships, employing a specialist team who have looked at the entire National Curriculum. This team consist of a specialist secondary teacher of Technology (Food), ICT and Horticulture and a local primary teacher, along with support from FACE, LEBP and RSPB etc. They can now offer a tailor made visit for every individual school.

They can focus on food and farming in a number of ways including from field to fork; how the countryside has changed over the years or take a detailed look at habitats, as an RSPB wetland bird hotspot or focussing on their new wildlife garden created by a local primary school in association with a BTec High School group.

There is a strong policy on conservation and the environment at Cobble Hey. The land is a haven for wildlife and through links with the RSPB preservation projects have been  flourishing. Habitats of lapwings, curlews, oyster catchers and red shanks on the farmland are protected and monitored, in an attempt to enhance the populations of these farmland birds.

For further insight they have created a lapwing walk in partnership with the RSPB and the Countryside Rangers, allowing visitors to view these spectacular birds in their natural environment, while enjoying some breathtaking views over the Forest of Bowland.

The lapwing walk now has specially created way makers carved from recently felled garden oak trees (the old ladies).

To add to this a wood carving course to create more markers was completed by the Intergenerational programme from Garstang High made up of year 8 pupils and the older Generation.

Key information

• Winner of small Visitor Attraction and Rural Tourism Award
• Highly Commended Award for Best Tourism Experience 2005-6
• Dedicated education team
• Varied and flexible education provision
• Full insurance and risk assessment available