This guide compares five Nottinghamshire farm shops spread across the county: Spring Lane Farm Shop on Mapperley Plains at the north-east edge of Nottingham, Harker's Farm Shop at Clipston on the Wolds near Keyworth, Hardy's Farndon just outside Newark, Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen at Kirklington near Southwell, and Welbeck Farm Shop on the Welbeck estate near Worksop. Each has its own strengths, from home-reared beef to estate cheese and home-grown pumpkins, so 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 or around Nottingham, Spring Lane Farm Shop on Mapperley Plains is the quickest trip, and Harker's at Clipston on the Wolds is a short drive south of the city through Rushcliffe, though it keeps early, weekday-heavy hours. Newark is well served by Hardy's Farndon, just off the A46 side of town. Maxey's at Kirklington sits between Mansfield and Newark on the edge of Sherwood, handy from Southwell and Ollerton. In the north, Welbeck Farm Shop near Worksop is the obvious stop for Bassetlaw, and Retford is around half an hour away.
For a butchery counter with meat from the farm, Spring Lane and Harker's are the strongest choices. Welbeck is best for estate-made bread, cheese and ales, Maxey's for home-grown pumpkins, squash and a sit-down meal, and Hardy's for a café stop with fresh produce and gifts.
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.
- Spring Lane Farm Shop , Mapperley Plains arable and beef farm since 1962
- Harker's Farm Shop , Blackberry Farm on the Wolds since 1954
- Hardy's Farndon , Family-run farm shop and café near Newark
- Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen , Kirklington farm with home-grown pumpkins
- Welbeck Farm Shop , Estate shop with its own dairy herd
Spring Lane Farm Shop
Map and location
Spring Lane Farm, Spring Lane, Mapperley Plains, Nottingham, NG3 5RQ. View Spring Lane Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 0115 926 7624.
Home-reared beef on a working farm since 1962
Spring Lane Farm Shop is a family-run farm shop on the outskirts of Nottingham, set on a working arable and beef farm at Mapperley Plains. It has been selling home and locally sourced produce since 1962 and describes itself as a field-to-fork enterprise and part of the Lambley parish community. Home-reared beef is the farm's headline product, and the shop's own listings also include home-grown Wilja potatoes. The farm sells hay and haylage bales too, a reminder that this is a working farm first, with the shop growing out of it.
The in-house butchery has four full-time butchers and offers beef, pork, lamb and poultry that is either home-reared or sourced as locally as possible. They make more than 15 flavours of pork sausage, including gluten-free, plus burgers from home-reared mince, and cure bacon and gammon for at least three weeks. There is also a cheese and deli counter, a bakery, fruit and vegetables, groceries, local beers such as Lincoln Green and Blue Monkey, and The Old Parlour Café.
Visiting and buying
The farm's website did not show the shop's opening hours when we checked, so confirm before travelling. The Old Parlour Café lists breakfast from 9.00am to 11.30am and lunch from 12.00pm to 4.00pm daily, with cake and ice cream from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Saturday and 9.00am to 4.00pm on Sunday. The phone number above is the one the café publishes. Spring Lane is only a few miles from Nottingham city centre, and there is an online shop with delivery. Ask which cuts are from the farm's own herd.
Spring Lane Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Harker's Farm Shop
Map and location
Harker's Farm Shop, Blackberry Farm, Clipston on the Wolds, Near Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5PB. View Harker's Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 0115 989 2260.
Three generations at Blackberry Farm since 1954
Harker's Farm Shop is based at Blackberry Farm on the Nottinghamshire Wolds, where Rupert and Doz Harker began farming in the 1950s. Neighbours started calling at the farmhouse for fresh meat and produce, and that trade grew into the farm shop. The business is now in its third generation, led by Samuel with help from his mum, Tracy, and the pastures his grandparents worked now support Samuel's own herds and flocks. The farm describes itself as Farm Assured and Red Tracker certified.
The shop is built around a butchery counter, with a team of butchers to help you choose cuts, and locally sourced meat alongside the farm's own. An on-site kitchen makes handmade pies, pasties and other savoury food to take home, and the shop also carries everyday staples, freezer favourites and seasonal offers. Christmas meat can be ordered in advance. Families can see goats, sheep and alpacas in the viewing field, and there is a ride-on tractor area and a mini farm shop playhouse.
Visiting and buying
Harker's website lists its hours as Tuesday to Friday 7.30am to 5pm and Saturday 7.30am to 2pm, closed on Monday and Sunday. The site also publishes separate Christmas hours, including some early Sunday and Monday openings in the run-up to Christmas, so check those before an order collection. Clipston on the Wolds is near Keyworth, around eight miles south-east of Nottingham. Ask the butchers which meat comes from Blackberry Farm itself, and allow time for the animals if you have children with you.
Harker's Farm Shop: website and opening hours.
Hardy's Farndon
Map and location
Corner Farm, Hawton Lane, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 3SD. View Hardy's Farndon on the map.
Contact: 01636 681201.
A Hardy family farm business for almost 50 years
Hardy's Farndon is a family-run farm shop, café and gift shop at Corner Farm on Hawton Lane, on the edge of Newark. The Hardy family set it up almost 50 years ago, and it has served Farndon, Newark and the surrounding villages since. Holly Hardy, who was born into the farming family and previously worked as a commercial property agent, now works with the farm shop and the Corner House Café. The family talks about connecting the land it farms with the food it sells, and mentions responsible farming and investment in wind turbines.
The farm shop sells fresh seasonal produce, meats, artisan cheeses, breads and other food and drink, and says it buys locally and British whenever it can. The Corner House Café serves home-cooked breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea seven days a week, to eat in or take away. There is also a gift shop with goods from local and regional suppliers, click and collect, hampers and a Christmas market.
Visiting and buying
Hardy's website gives its hours as Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 9am to 4pm. It is a short drive from Newark town centre, and it works well as a stop off the A46 or A1. The website does not list which crops the family grows for the shop, so ask staff which fruit, vegetables and meat come from the farm itself and which come from other local suppliers. Book ahead for afternoon tea at busy times.
Hardy's Farndon: website and opening hours.
Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen
Map and location
Brickfield Farm, Hockerton Road, Kirklington, Nottinghamshire NG22 8PB. View Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen on the map.
Contact: 01636 814566.
Three generations of pumpkins grown from seed
Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen is at Brickfield Farm in Kirklington, between Southwell and Mansfield on the edge of Sherwood. The farm grows its own vegetables, and its best-known crop is pumpkins, grown by three generations of the Maxey family. Every pumpkin is home-grown from seed, sown by hand in April, planted out in June and harvested in autumn, in orange, green, blue and white and in sizes from miniature to extra large. Squashes such as Crown Prince, Onion Squash, Spaghetti Squash and Turk's Turban are grown too.
The shop sells local produce and homemade food, with butchery and deli counters and an in-house bakery making sausage rolls, brownies, millionaire's shortbread and flapjacks. The Kitchen restaurant serves breakfast and lunch, including burgers, sausages, bacon, jacket potatoes and loaded fries. The original farm shop building is now The Barn, a gift and home shop stocking local makers alongside familiar brands.
Visiting and buying
Maxey's website lists the farm shop and Kitchen as open Monday to Saturday 9.00am to 5.30pm (hot food 9.00am to 3.30pm), Sunday 9.00am to 4.30pm (hot food to 3.00pm) and Bank Holiday Mondays 9.00am to 4.30pm. Its Pick Up A Pumpkin event runs through October, with an admission charge and under-16s free, so expect it to be busier then. Kirklington is about four miles from Southwell and twenty minutes from Mansfield or Newark. Ask which vegetables on the shelves are from the farm.
Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen: website and opening hours.
Welbeck Farm Shop
Map and location
Welbeck Farm Shop, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S80 3LW. View Welbeck Farm Shop on the map.
Contact: 01909 478 725.
Made at Welbeck bread, cheese and ales
Welbeck Farm Shop opened in 2006 on the Welbeck estate in the north of Nottinghamshire, in the area known as the Dukeries. It was set up to sell fresh, locally sourced food and drink, and much of what it stocks comes from producers on the estate itself. The Made at Welbeck range includes artisan bread, handcrafted ales, cheese and milk from the estate's pedigree dairy herd. Meat and game are reared on the estate or sourced from local farms, which makes this one of the best places in the county to buy food with a clear origin.
The shop has an award-winning butchery counter for meat and game, a deli, a bakery and an off licence, with seasonal fruit and vegetables delivered by local growers. Alongside estate and regional food it carries some lines from small specialist producers further afield. The Harley Café is on site, and the shop runs click and collect for Christmas and New Year food, plus events through the year.
Visiting and buying
Welbeck's website lists its hours as Monday to Saturday 9.00 to 17.00 and Sunday 9.00 to 16.00, with free parking. The shop is on the A60 in Sherwood Forest, about 15 minutes from the A1 and M1 and a few miles south-west of Worksop; Retford is about half an hour away. Creswell station on the Robin Hood Line is the nearest by rail. Look for the Made at Welbeck labels, and ask at the butchery which meat and game were reared on the estate.
Welbeck Farm Shop: 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 Nottinghamshire?
Good Nottinghamshire farm shops include Spring Lane Farm Shop at Mapperley Plains near Nottingham, Harker's Farm Shop near Keyworth, Hardy's Farndon at Newark, Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen at Kirklington near Southwell, and Welbeck Farm Shop near Worksop. Check each website for current hours before you travel.
Are all these farms in the same town?
No. Nottinghamshire 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
- Spring Lane Farm Shop , official website
- Spring Lane Farm Shop , departments page
- Spring Lane Farm Shop , Old Parlour Café
- Harker's Farm Shop , about
- Harker's Farm Shop , contact and opening hours
- Hardy's Farndon , official website
- Hardy's Farndon , about
- Maxey's Farm Shop & Kitchen , official website
- Welbeck Farm Shop , about
- Welbeck Farm Shop , visit us
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.