Welcome to Hardwick Park Farm

Hardwick Park Farm is situated within the grounds of the great Hardwick Hall Estate, Derbyshire. Hardwick Hall is one of the greatest Elizabethan houses in the country. You can experience dramatic interiors and spectacular architecture; or enjoy woodland walks and trails around the farm and surrounding parkland, where our livestock happily graze all year round.

                        Open Farm Sunday 1st June 2008

10:00 - 4:00 pm

We would like to say thank you to everyone below that helped us make Open Farm Sunday 2008 and a success despite the weather being a little damp to start with.  Also to those of you who braved the weather and joined us for part of the day.  We had all sorts of activities for the children and various demonstrations,  which covered a variety of topics and appealed to a wide range of people.

Open Farm Sunday is a national event organised by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming).  It is a fantastic free day out for all the family. 

We had meet the farmer with guided walks and talks, various farming demonstrations, machinery and livestock. 

Other farming and countryside displayed were on show from the following organisations:

The National Trust

National Farmers Union

RSPB

Young Farmers

Arkwright Spinners

Derbyshire Bee Keepers

Hi-Peak Feeds Ltd

Scarsdale Veterinary Hospital

Nottinghamshire Trading Standards

Bolsover Council Dog Warden

Viessmann Renewable Energy

Each display was in connection with farming and the countryside in their own unique way.

Their were various craft activities for the children to partake in.

Light refreshments and toilet facilities were be available all day. 

For those of you who bought a picnic well done, for those who warmed up our delicious Cornish Pasties, see our next opening time to come back and get some more.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to our Open Farm Sunday Event  in 2009 the date will be  7th June 2009 and Thank All of the Organisations above for their help and support in organising this event and making it a success and hopefully see you again next year.

Clare

Fine Farm Produce Award Winners 2007

The National Trusts Hardwick Park Farm Share Farmers Richard and Clare Aldis have been awarded the Fine Farm Produce Award 2007 for their lamb and beef.   (Report to follow)

The livestock including both rare and traditional breeds

The farm comprises of a large variety of differnet types of livestock, this includes traditional and rare breeds in the form of Longhorn Cattle and Whitefaced Woodland Sheep, along with Pure Hereford Cows and around 500 commercial ewes are currently a feature in the open parkland.

And new for the Autum of 2007 are our rare breed breeding pigs; Sweet & Sour our resident Gloucester Old Spot Sows, along with Peter the Large White Boar.  Both Sweet & Sour are now in pig and we hope to hear the pitter patter of tiny trotters early in 2007.  It is hoped that with careful management, the numbers of traditional and rare breed animals on the farm will increase in the years to come.

Click here to read more information on the different livestock on the farm

Returning the land to its original state

In October 2003 the farm entered a Countryside Stewardship Scheme agreement designed to restore the parkland and create further open access.

Some of the planned restoration includes the restoring of the historic landscape of Hardwick Park through reversion of arable land to grass, extensive grazing and the removal of inappropriate fence lines.

Click here to read more about the plans to re-establish Hardwick Parks historical past

Planning a visit to learn about the Farm

As part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, the Government pays certain farmers to invite groups of the public to visit their farms to learn about the countryside.

Groups can be school parties studying farming as part of the National Curriculum, or groups wishing to learn about food production, farming, wildlife conservation, landscape and historical features.
These visits are free of charge to the group.

Click here to read about the educational opportunities in visiting the farm.

One to Watch

BBC 1 Wednesday 17th October @ 9pm - The Nature of Britain.  This programme featured the Hardwick Estate and Farmland, looking at arable reversion and how this has encouraged the wildlife back into the Parkland.

Hardwick featured in the East Midlands regional slot towards the end of the programme detailed above. To watch again click below:

Click on link below for further details: