Dove Farm is a family owned, working farm. The farm and our award-winning
self catering cottages are situated between Ashbourne and Uttoxeter, on the
Staffordshire/Derbyshire border. We enjoy a scenic location, with country
walks, looking out over the river Dove, and still only 4 miles from Alton
Towers.
The home farm at Ellastone, comprises 90 acres of permanent pasture - quality
grazing for our small herd of traditional British White cattle and flock of
pedigree Ryeland sheep. Alpacas have been a more unusual contribution to the
rural landscape, and our miniature donkeys, a rather noisy addition to the
farm!
Our free range hens and ducks, happily do just that, and roam about as they
please. Fresh eggs are the perfect ingredient for your country break Sunday
breakfast.
Our main farming activities take place further away – we farm approximately
300 acres of arable ground, growing wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape.
Henry also carries out arable work on other farms, for example, combining,
ploughing and drilling corn. Some agricultural machinery trading, completes
the range of farm enterprises.
Dove farm has been farmed by the Stretton family since 1962, although the
farm itself can be dated back to the early 1400s, and has historically always
been a dairy farm.
Mr Stretton senior, milked cows here for over 30 years, and Henry too, continued
with dairying when he took on the farm in 1995. Conservation and protection
of wildlife and countryside have always been strong priorities for us.
Economic and political trends caused us to do some hard thinking about the
future of the business, and we embarked upon a massive change programme for
such a small farm!
The 18th century brick barns, which had served for so long as milking parlour
and cow sheds, became our three self-catering holiday cottages with adjoining
business room – ideal for small corporate events. We welcomed our first
guests in summer 2002 and have been busy ever since! We specialize in short
breaks for larger groups, special occasions and reunions. We have good disabled
facilities and we are completely family friendly. Whether for business or
social events, we provide four star accommodation and great customer service
for groups.
We are proud to continue with a farming business here in Ellastone, and consider
ourselves fortunate, to be able to share the farming lifestyle with our children.
Much has changed, in a very short time, and will no doubt continue to do so,
as rural businesses keep moving forward and adapting.
We hope you like what you see, as you browse through our award winning website.
We look forward to welcoming you here at Dove Farm.