Northumberland is a big county with long drives between farm shops, so it helps to know where each one is before you set off. This guide compares four: Brocksbushes near Stocksfield in the Tyne Valley, the Blagdon Farm Shop just north of Newcastle in the south-east, the Village Farm Shop run by Embleton Mill near Alnwick on the coast, and Sunnyhills of Belford by the A1 in the north. The useful question is which shop has the food you need, and where it was grown.
As a Londoner, I know it is not realistic for everyone to live on a farm. A farm shop, farmers' market or community garden can be part of a more direct food routine. Start with a reachable stop and a short list, rather than expecting to change everything at once.
Which farm shop or picking farm should you choose?
If you live in Newcastle or the south-east of the county, Blagdon is the closest, about seven miles north of the city, and it is the strongest choice for meat, with vegetables picked on the estate's own fields. Brocksbushes sits off the A69 about 10 minutes from Hexham and is the place for soft fruit, pick your own and pumpkins, with a café and play barn that make it a family day out. Further north, the Village Farm Shop near Embleton suits coastal visitors staying around Alnwick, Craster and Low Newton, while Sunnyhills is a practical stop on the A1 at Belford for picnic food and holiday supplies.
None of these shops grows everything it sells. Brocksbushes and Blagdon have the most home-grown produce, Embleton Mill stocks meat from its own farm, and Sunnyhills buys in from local producers. Whichever you choose, ask at the counter which items come from the farm itself.
Check the farm’s current crops, opening times and prices before travelling. Picking seasons vary, and a farm shop may sell produce without offering pick-your-own visits.
- Brocksbushes Farm Shop , A Tyne Valley fruit farm since 1979
- The Blagdon Farm Shop , Estate beef and vegetables north of Newcastle
- The Village Farm Shop , Embleton Mill's shop near the coast
- Sunnyhills of Belford , A family farm shop and bistro by the A1
Brocksbushes Farm Shop
Map and location
Brocksbushes Farm Shop, Stocksfield, NE43 7UB. View Brocksbushes Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01434 633100.
Soft fruit, asparagus and pumpkins near Hexham
Billy Dickinson and his mother bought Brocksbushes Farm in 1979, starting with a small seasonal shop open nine weeks a year and pick your own raspberries. Strawberries, other soft fruit and vegetables including asparagus followed in 1983, and the shop opened all year from 1994. The Dickinson family still runs it, with Billy and Caroline's son Harry and his wife Rose now in the business. The farm grows strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, tayberries, blueberries and plums, and more than 120,000 pumpkin plants for its autumn pick your own.
A new farm shop, the Courtyard Kitchen café and a play barn opened in summer 2024. The shop has a butchery with meat from the north of England, and a deli selling homemade sausage rolls, pies, quiches, salads and cakes, plus frozen ready meals and hampers. Local suppliers named on its website include Northumberland Cheese Company, Northumbrian Pantry, Northern Pasta Co, Northumbria Honey, First & Last ales and Lindisfarne mead.
Visiting and buying
The website gives opening hours of Monday to Saturday 8.30am to 5.30pm, and Sunday 10am to 4pm, with breakfast and shop browsing from 9.30am. One page of the site lists Sunday as 9.30am to 4.30pm, so check before a Sunday visit. The shop is off the A69, about 10 minutes from Hexham and 30 minutes from Newcastle, with free parking. Fruit is picked daily in season, roughly late May to September, and pumpkin picking is in October. Ask which fruit and vegetables on the shelves were grown on the farm that week.
Brocksbushes Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
The Blagdon Farm Shop
Map and location
The Blagdon Farm Shop, Milkhope Centre, Berwick Hill Road, Blagdon, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE13 6DA. View The Blagdon Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01670 789 924.
A 2,500-acre estate farm with its own butchery
The Blagdon Farm Shop is on the Blagdon Estate, home of the Ridley family, about seven miles north of Newcastle. The estate farms 2,500 acres in south-east Northumberland, growing wheat, barley, beans and oilseed rape in rotation, and it was one of the first LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) farms in the country. The farm supplies the shop with beef, turkeys, game and vegetables, and the shop says vegetables reach the shelves less than 15 minutes from picking, from new potatoes to sweetheart cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli.
The shop has a craft butchery known for 21-day dry-aged Belted Galloway beef, with whole carcases broken down on site and meat hung on the bone. A bakehouse makes pies and quiches by hand, mostly with the farm's own meat and vegetables. It stocks goods from more than 50 local producers, including Northumberland Cheese Co, which shares the estate, Doddington Dairy, Craster Kippers and Wild Roe Venison.
Visiting and buying
The shop's published normal opening hours for 2026 are Tuesday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm, and closed on Mondays. It is in the Milkhope Centre on Berwick Hill Road, close to the A1 and an easy drive from Newcastle, Ponteland and Cramlington, and Visit Northumberland lists car parking. Christmas orders can be placed in advance online or by phone. Ask at the butchery and vegetable counters which items came from the Blagdon fields.
The Blagdon Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
The Village Farm Shop
Map and location
Embleton Mill, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 3DP. View The Village Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01665 576215.
Meat from a mixed family farm at Embleton
The Village Farm Shop is run by Embleton Mill, a mixed farm near Embleton on the Northumberland coast. The Robertson family has farmed here since George Robertson became tenant in the 1860s, and three generations live on the farm today. David Robertson moved to Embleton Mill in 1980. The farm keeps Limousin beef cattle and sheep on grass, has free-range Saddleback pigs in its woodland, and grows wheat, barley and oilseed rape over 235 hectares of arable ground in a rotation.
The shop stocks meat from the farm at Embleton Mill alongside local butchers, including home-cured ham from Carter's. Its deli counter is known for homemade sausage rolls, with quiches, pies, pasties, soups and salads, and cakes baked in-house. There is fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, locally smoked fish, local cheeses, sourdough, and ales, spirits and wines from Northumbrian producers. The village Post Office is inside the shop.
Visiting and buying
The website does not publish the shop's own opening hours, only the Post Office hours inside it (Monday, Thursday and Friday 8am to 3.30pm, Saturday 8am to 11.30am), and says shop hours differ, so ring before you travel. The website gives the farm address above, while Living North lists the shop at NE66 3UH, so check exactly where to go. Embleton is a few miles north-east of Alnwick and handy for Craster and Low Newton. Ask which meat came from Embleton Mill.
The Village Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Sunnyhills of Belford
Map and location
Sunnyhills, South Road, Belford, Northumberland, NE70 7DP. View Sunnyhills of Belford on the map.
Contact: 01668 219662.
A family-run stop near Bamburgh and Holy Island
Sunnyhills is a family business run by Toby and Tori Sumpton, who moved from Yorkshire to Northumberland in March 2015. It sits about 500 metres from the A1 at Belford, a short drive from Bamburgh Castle, and the staff all live locally. The website does not say that anything is grown or reared on site, and its meat comes from Carters Butchers of Bamburgh, so think of it as a shop for local food rather than produce from its own fields.
The farm shop sells fresh fruit and vegetables, pies, locally baked bread, fresh meat, BBQ packs, cheese and everyday groceries, with a wide range of drinks and a gift shop. The deli sells hot and cold food to take away, and the licensed bistro serves breakfasts, home-cooked lunches, cakes and seasonal evening meals. Sunnyhills also delivers local produce to homes and holiday lets in Belford and the surrounding area.
Visiting and buying
The website says Sunnyhills is open seven days a week but does not list times, and notes that seasonal opening hours apply, with bistro evening opening also seasonal, so ring 01668 219662 to check, especially out of season. It is just off the A1, which makes it a useful stop on the way to Bamburgh, Holy Island or Berwick. If you are staying in a holiday let nearby, ask about delivery, and ask which producers supply the fruit, vegetables and cheese.
Sunnyhills of Belford: website and opening hours.
Knowing a farm shop you can return to is also one of the most practical ways to be ready for disruption. Read The Be Ready Campaign: A UK Guide to Stocking Your Home With Healthy, Local Food, and use the Be Ready Map to find more local food across the UK.
Plan your farm visit, produce, quantities and picking dates
Choose one or two farms or farm shops that fit your route. Write down what you want, how much you need and what you will do with it when you get home. If one crop is unavailable, decide whether to choose a different farm, change the meal or return another day.
- Confirm the crop, public opening and any booking requirement.
- Ask whether you can pick yourself or buy already picked.
- Check the price unit, payment method and containers.
- Ask about access, parking and the correct visitor entrance.
Farm shop and fruit-picking questions
Where can I buy local food in Northumberland?
Brocksbushes Farm Shop is near Stocksfield in the Tyne Valley, the Blagdon Farm Shop is at the Milkhope Centre north of Newcastle, the Village Farm Shop is run by Embleton Mill near Alnwick, and Sunnyhills of Belford is just off the A1 in the north of the county.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Northumberland covers a wide area, and this guide spreads its choices across the county. Each farm section gives its location so you can compare the journey before you set off.
Can I pick at every farm or market?
No. Farm shops and markets may sell ready-picked food without opening fields to visitors. Ask the individual business about picking access, the crop and any booking requirement.
Plan your farm shopping with My Shopping List and Harvest Checker
Open My Shopping List to record produce, quantities and estimated costs. Mark items as bought when you collect them and keep the plan for your next trip.
Use Harvest Checker after a grower gives you a picking window. Enter those dates and compare them with your visit date. The tool uses your entries; it does not fetch live availability from farms.
My Shopping List
Keep the produce you actually need in one place before you set off.
Use My Shopping ListHarvest Checker
Compare your visit with dates confirmed by the grower. This does not check live stock.
Use Harvest CheckerUse the tools with your My Ideal World account. Guest and free-account limits apply; paid members have unlimited tool access.
Explore more farm shops and picking farms in My Ideal World. Browse the Farm Shops app below or beside this article, then check the grower’s current crop and opening before visiting.
Sources
- Brocksbushes Farm Shop , farm shop page
- Brocksbushes Farm Shop , about us
- The Blagdon Farm Shop , contact and opening hours
- The Blagdon Farm Shop , our farm
- The Blagdon Farm Shop , our food
- The Village Farm Shop , Embleton Mill
- Embleton Mill , about us
- Embleton Mill , farming
- Sunnyhills of Belford , official website
- Northumberland farm shops , Living North
- Northumberland farm shops , Visit Northumberland
Research reviewed 25 October 2026. Farm and visitor sources support the descriptions above. Historical information is identified where relevant; no firsthand visit, current stock check or certification is claimed.