CHOC & CHEER

From bright blooms to cuddly lambs and, of course, chocolate, we meet Yorkshire people in the business of Easter

- Bethan Andrews

CANNON HALL FARM

You might have visited this place through your TV screen on Channel 5’s Springtime on the Farm series.

The family farm opened its doors to the public for the first time on Good Friday in 1989.

Today, Richard Nicholson and his brothers, David and Robert run the award-winning attraction alongside their 76-year-old father Roger, with Richard focusing on the marketing. Thirty one years since opening, Easter remains one of their most exciting times with the annual Lambing Festival taking centre stage.

‘We live and breathe it,’ says Richard. ‘My dad’s dedication is a great example to everyone.’

This year’s Lambing Festival will see more lambs born than ever before.

‘We’ve got 450 ewes so we should have 900 lambs. There’s a really good chance of seeing a live birth,’ says Richard. ‘You’ll see everything that goes on at a working farm. Many open farms aren’t really working farms like us, but here you’ll see lambs being bottle-fed, lambs being tubed to get the colostrum into them if they are weak, and people will see the highs and lows that come with lambing season.’

The Easter focus here is to truly show life on a working farm – which means holding back on the petting. Instead, it’s about the opportunity to see new life being brought into the world. Of course, there’s still a lot of cuteness to soak up too.