Hundreds of visitors from across the country enjoyed fine ales and live music at Fordhall Farm, near Market Drayton, last weekend.
The community-owned farm’s first ever beer festival attracted people from as far away as Devon, Kent and Lancashire as town and country came together for a weekend designed for all ages.
Visitors were able to sample beers made by breweries from across Shropshire and Staffordshire, along with music from a number of local bands.
The festival was combined with Fordhall Farm’s more traditional summer fair with activities for all the family, including face painting, tree climbing, tractor rides and woodland art.
Fordhall Farm’s Charlotte Hollins said: “The beer festival was a new thing for us and something we were trying out which worked really, really well and we’ll definitely do it again. We had lots and lots of local ales, with five or six different beers from breweries throughout Shropshire and Staffordshire.
“It was a really good addition to the summer fair we normally put on and having the bands at the festival went down really well.
“People seemed to stay for hours and we had a lot of people who travelled from across the country, including Devon, Kent and Lancashire which was really encouraging.”
The farm has announced plans to renovate and convert a former dairy barn into a shop, cafe and classrooms capable of hosting school visits and funds raised over the weekend will go towards the project.
Charlotte said: “We’re already planning for next year when we’ll celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative, so the event will be a big thing.
“We’re really grateful to everyone that came along on the day and to all our volunteers who worked extremely hard as well.”
By Winston Brown