From The Archives: 60 Years Down On The Farm

Priory Farm, in Nutfield, has been in the Shinner family for 60 years this summer. Today, it is a Mecca for food lovers and the answer to parents’ prayers with its natural Discovery Walk. In the past, it was at the forefront of the pick-your-own revolution. We take a look back with father and son farmers John and Nic

WHEN John Shinner bought Priory Farm in Nutfield in the summer of 1957, he didn’t have a clear vision of what it would become. He just wanted to be a farmer and “avoid becoming a retailer like my grandparents,” he says.

But the 120 acres, which were once part of the Nutfield Priory estate, had to adapt to the vagaries of farming over the decades to survive and thrive. So, when farmers were feeling the squeeze in the late 1960s, John turned his fields over to pick your-own, becoming one of the pioneers of PYO in the UK. Thousands of people travelled across Surrey and the south east at the weekends for an afternoon outing and to pick strawberries for their tea.

Land was also used to grow bedding plants in poly tunnels just off Sandy Lane, now the site of a successful stand-alone garden centre business. The current farm shop started its days in one of the glass houses.

When pick-your-own declined, the farm had to adapt again. It was then that eldest son, Nic, and estate manager, Ian Ford, came up with idea of a discovery walk to bring families back to the farm.

Today, Priory Farm is a focus for food lovers across the south east, with two annual food festivals and an award-winning farm shop that currently holds the title of Surrey Life’s Farm Shop of the Year. One of its regular customers is Surrey resident Dame Judi Dench. She says, “Ever since I moved to this area, Priory Farm has been my corner shop. I go to it for everything, even presents. There’s always a wonderful welcome – it’s good for the soul as well as the stomach.”