Gulliver’s World

Please find a sample article from our quarterly magazine Gulliver’s World, a mix of editorial articles, club news, people and points of interest that are connected to the figurines featured.

The peaceful entrance to this farm belies the energy bubbling under the surface at Fordhall Community Farm initiative (FCLI) in Shropshire. For this is the farm owned by over 8,000 shareholders, who clubbed together to preserve its unique organic heritage ensuring that Charlotte and Ben Hollins could continue to honour their father’s memory. We talked to Charlotte to find out more about the initial campaign and the new appeal…

Saving the farm from development was the first step, and Ben and I can only thank and pay tribute to the dedicated hard work of the many hundreds of supporters and volunteers who willingly gave time to the fundraising campaign to raise £800,000 to buy the land and thus preserve the farm with its incredible 65-year history of organic farming. This was a fantastic achievement in itself. The farm is now owned by the Fordhall Community Land Initiative with Ben and me as tenant farmers, continuing the generations-old Hollins family tradition on this land.

The significance of the farm is that my father, Arthur, bucked the trend in post war Britain and vowed never to put chemical fertilisers on the land. He saw that, rather than nourishing the soil, chemical fertilisers actually made the land less productive and so he resolved to work with nature, to find out about bacteria and fungi and he endlessly experimented and researched how best to establish and maintain soil fertility all year. This resulted in an organic system of grassland management called Foggage farming. Arthur farmed sheep and dairy cows, and was one of the first suppliers of organic LIVE yoghurt in the UK. Today, Ben and I are custodians of this unique grassland for the FCLI and we farm beef cattle, sheep and pigs according to father’s principles, using the natural system of the earth for sustainable farming — which by its very character upholds the environment.

The new campaign is set to raise money to renovate redundant farm buildings to provide facilities such as a classroom, local food tearoom, butchery and washrooms. We will renovate in a sustainable way using sheep’s wool for insulation, solar energy and ground source heat pumps. Our plan is to run events and generate income from these buildings which will enable the FCLI to become self sufficient with an assured future independent of grant aid. All profits are, and will be, reinvested for the benefit of the community, as one of the aims of the initiative is social enterprise, to help people understand where food comes from and to reconnect with food, with seasonality and to understand how the whole cycle from “pasture to plate” operates.

We welcome volunteers and visitors all year, either when the farm shop is open — four days a week — or at our organised volunteer weekends. There are many regular events which help the local and wider community to access the farm and understand the importance of food and farming and full details are on our website. We are thrilled that one of our supporters, also a collector of Lilliput Lane cottages, wrote in to the club suggesting the idea of creating a model of the farmhouse. Our mother, Connie, has long admired the cottages and she is absolutely delighted that a model has been made and says it is a ‘dream come true”.

The building dates back to the seventeenth century and is currently being restored. Some of our volunteers have researched into its history and are to produce a booklet showing how the building has changed over time. Amongst the many roles the house has had — as well as being a much loved home — are cheese and yoghurt making rooms, a restaurant and it was the centre of a country club, complete with tennis courts and outside swimming pool, that hosted visits from organisations and individuals from all over the country. More recently the room to the left of the front door was the office for our first campaign. If only walls could talk then many a story would be told of the affairs of this ancient farmhouse! The cottage will be available directly from us, as well as many other stockists nationwide. But, if you do choose to buy from the FCLI, then a contribution will go directly to our fundraising campaign and, to thank you for your support, Ben and I will sign the deed card.’

Article by Val Baynton.

Gulliver’s World Binders
Each binder costs £7.50 and holds twelve copies of
Gulliver’s World – the perfect place to store your club magazine. Contact the club office to place an order.