A goat farm in the beautiful rural village of Shottle
Tony and Sue have been living at Handley Farm in Shottle since 2012. It is a Chatsworth Estate property as can be seen in all the Chatsworth-blue painted woodwork and pipes against the grey stone buildings.
Since moving to Handley Farm, Tony and Sue have made it their home, not just for themselves and their family, but also friends. It is a working farm of mainly goats however like many farms, a few other animals of interest have joined the crew ā this includes a small family of Aberdeen Angus who make the most of roaming our surrounding fields, some hens who make the most of the views from their retired Royal Mail van house and pen! The clever inhabitants of 15 bee hives enjoy the wild flowers and two horses live at the farm; Orio and Eric alongside 3 dogs; Nellie, Kepp & Mossā¦and of course an obligatory farm cat or two!
Tony & Sue who alongside running The Bull Shed, working at Sueās family hair salon, making and selling goats cheese, also are members of WOOF; Working On Organic Farms programme, welcoming regular visitors from both around the UK and also abroad to come and stay, enjoy the farm estate and learn skills in goat care, a community gardening guided by Community Supporting Agriculture principles and other farm activities!
An unconditional love for goatsā¦or even animals in general ? Looking for a rather different gift for someone, or an idea to relax or a fancy relaxing walk in beautiful countryside ? We may have something for you…
Handley Farm is delighted to present to you our Goat Experience Days which include goat walking, goat baby cuddles (depending on the time of year), a thousond pictures of goats, lots of wonderful memories, a relaxed feeling all the way along and for the most gourmet of us, a country picnic … all of that in the beautiful setting and therapeutic environment of Derbyshireās Handley Farm on Chatsworth Estate land ā what more could anyone ask for !
So let’s have a look at the details of a Goat Experience…
– Private goat-experience typically lasting 2-3 hours. Have the farm to yourself (no double bookings taken for the same time period).
– Meet, brush, cuddle, play with, feed and walk the goats; we can enjoy a stroll in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside through small woodland and fields, weather permitting (as goats are more āwatch the rain from the insideā as opposed to āput an umbrella up and embrace itā animals!). If the weather is not being so kind to us, we can play with, brush, cuddle, feed and be amongst the goats in the barn.
– Cuddles with the delightful new baby Handley Farm kids ā usually welcomed to the world during the last week of May to early June each year. Of course, take as many pictures as you like ā our goats are certainly not camera shy! A view over, or even a walk around the biodiversity community vegetable gardens if interested!
– And, of course, no goat experience would be complete without a friendly and most relaxing welcome from all at Handley Farm and a cuppa!
– If you or a member of your group have limited mobility or use a wheelchair, or any other additional needs that may be useful for us to be aware please let us know if you feel we may benefit from knowing ā we will have our Sensory āBalance Zoneā area open by early March for anyone with additional needs who may benefit from a calming area in the barn to help self-regulate.
– The farm can be muddy, so please wear suitable clothing, and we suggest that you bring a hair tie if you have long hair as the goats do love a little suck!!
Straw hats ? Yummy
Free as a bee ? More fun as a goat !
Best time of the day
Searching for gold !… or I sould say goald
Who let’s the goat out ? Meh Meh Meh
The buffet is open !
Our prices
We encourage you to bring a friend, partner, family member or group as goats are sociable animals and much prefer frolicking in pairs or groups than solo ! There is a group discount for groups larger than 5 people available and we also sell vouchers, which make perfect gift for animal lovers so if you are interest get in touch here !
Bank transfer in advance is our preferred method of payment.
Fancy an added treat of afternoon tea ā make the most of this beautiful environment with an afternoon tea or ploughmans lunch to compliment your goat experience…
We also offer the following additional packages to make a full half day of it:
Country picnic/ Afternoon Tea ā addition of Ā£14.50 per person ā so Ā£39.50 per person or Ā£34.50 per person if larger groups/discount group. (Table will be laid in the Bull Shed venue with a roaring fire on a cold/wet day or out on a picnic table in a field on a sunny day!)
Prosecco + Strawberries ā addition of Ā£10 per person (minimum of 4 people required). Or addition of Ā£15 per person if fewer than 4 people.
Delicious time
The yummy table
The G.O.A.T tea party
5 goats on Goatadvisor
Thank you to Handley Farm Team. We visited the farm for our daughters 21st and had a fantastic time, its not just about a walk as you get a full interactive experience! We had a warm welcome from Sally and although we couldnāt go on the planned walk in the fields because of the weather we spent several hours in the barn meeting the animals, feeding the Goats and chatting about the farm, whatās not to love! Lots of opportunities for cuddles and goat selfies with animals that are loved and cared for, so we highly recommended it ā Go you wont regret it !!
Stuart
/
Goat lover
Our Apiary
Bees, pollen, Paul and honey…
Tony always had a hive or two and when he and Sue had a long-term lodger called Ian staying, who was keen to learn the art of beekeeping! It was 6 years ago and my second year of retirement when Farmer Tony asked me if I would like to āhelpā Ian with the Bees. Ian was, in fact, planning his wedding and would be moving away from the area and a replacement was needed. I took on the challenge, the first season helping Ian, but since then Iāve taken on the role of Beekeeper.
The last 5 years have been a period of ups and downs, healthwise with Covid and lockdown, and with my heart surgery, and honey crops and bee colonies going from good to indifferent, until last year. An old friend had the misfortune of having a bad reaction to a bee sting and had to give up his bee keeping. He offered all his kit and 6 colonies of bees to us which Tony snapped up. We jumped from 2 hive to 8 and from there ended the season with 14 (weāve lost some over winter now). Fortunately I have been ably assisted by Jon since then, and we are aiming to increase our colonies to 20 by the end of the season.
2024 was a great year, providing more than 800lb of beautiful local honey and accopmanies baked camembert beautifully (and jars can be bought) in The Bull Shed…bring on 2025!
Paul with his “slice” of hive
Spot the Queeny...
…inside The Apiary
Fruit Orchards
Apple pies and cider!!…
We were successfully granted a government payment from Countryside stewardship to plant 180 fruit trees at Handley Farm. We envisaged this to have multiple benefits;
to support the environment through their absorption of carbon dioxide and regulation of temperature,
provide a more balanced microclimate for pollinators like butterflies and bees
to support growing British variety traditional fruit trees for local consumption
to create a calm environment for community visitors to access and benefit from
In January 2024, we gathered a group of local volunteers to join us in planting 180 fruit trees of 24 different varieties, including apples, plum and damson, across two orchard plots at the farm; the top orchard which backs onto our apiary of 8 bee hives and the lower orchard near the herb labyrinth.
At the point of planting, we were kindly donated some root enhancing fungi by a supporter; Nick, to support growth of a very robust secondary root system to support nutrient and water uptake from early on.
We had a grand total of 14 apples grow at the end of their first season!!
Each tree has been protected with deer fencing, tripod frame and named with a wooden engraved sign for each treeās specific variety. In December 2024 a team from a local business came for a day out of the office and supported weeding around the base of all trees and addition of new mulch. We have only had 3 trees die out of the 180 in the first yearā¦maybe related to the wassailing, heartily singing accompanied by an accordion, flames .
We look forward to holding a pruning workshop maybe next autumnā¦when we shall also possibly try to make a little cider!!
First dig …
A feel-good weekend !
Lucy planting her “Beauty of Bath” Apple tree!
A team effort …
The best stress-therapy !
A spot of wassailing !
Belper Tool Shed
Connection, conversation and creation ā thatās what joining our Shed is all about.
Our Shed encourages people both men and women of all ages to come together to make, repair and repurpose, and support our care farm, in our purpose built tool shed on Handley Farm.
Improving wellbeing, reducing loneliness and combatting social isolation, as well as being productive and useful in passing on the skills you have and new skills you will learn are all part of daily life up here.
A huge thanks to those who have been a part of this journey so far – concreting the shed floor, erecting partitions, building the work benches and inserting the windows and doors! – company, cups of tea and conversations along the way have been great.
Finn living his best life in the garden
Lucy makimg sure that the goats are smart
The G.O.A.T Summer
Anyone who wishes to pop over to join in, or find out more, drop Tony a message on the Bull Shed phone: 07877723075 or by email on: [email protected]
