THE farming FAMILY BEHIND THE holiday letting BUSINESS...

Honies Farm was first purchased by the Hardstaff family in 1995 from the Moore family; it had previously been owned by the Walker family who are the Hardstaff's farming neighbours at Thorpe Lodge Farm to this present day.

For the first ten years of farming at Honies, the buildings that are now four holiday Barns were put to good agricultural use; the grain stores were upgraded from bin storage to bulk and the barns were used to store agricultural machinery, fertiliser and also straw which was then transported back to Linby for spreading on carrots through the winter months.

During this time the Hardstaff family were able to secure the purchase of Stoke Field Farm, increasing the farming area up to 700 acres.  But with the increase land came the increase of crops produced making increased requirements for storage, so Cardyke Farm was created. This is a new modern farm stead, including a workshop, machinery and fertiliser storage and crop storage all under one roof all located at one central location on the farm meaning that Honies Farm Barns were no longer required.

Michael & Kirsty Hardstaff moved to live at the Honies Farm in 2007 prior to their wedding in 2008 and spent five happy years living at the farm.  From here Michael commuted daily to Hall Farm, Linby which had been the home of the Hardstaffs for 300 years, to help run the family farm  and Kirsty to Collingham where she had a successful livery, training and show jumping yard.

In July 2016 the concept of Honies Farm Barns was conceived which allowed Michael & Kirsty to preserve and breathe new life into what were becoming redundant buildings and turn them into the beautifully restored properties that they are today.

Michael & Kirsty now live at Linby where Kirsty continues to run her successful  equestrian business and Michael helps manage the family farm. Over the years the farming business has changed and adapted from a mixed traditional farm with milking cows, sheep, cattle and crops to the present day growing a range of arable crops including a range of cereals for human and animal consumption, carrots for major supermarkets, potatoes for the chipping market, asparagus, sugar beet and a range of energy crops.

The Barns at Honies Farm are being embraced as the  next step forward for Michael & Kirsty and the Hardstaff family.