Foxholes Farm reach the regional finals for Rural Oscars

Posted on December 12th, 2016, by Catherine Smith

Category: Awards

The East of England’s finalists in the 2016 Countryside Alliance Awards (aka the Rural Oscars) have been announced, with businesses from across the region going head to head for a regional title and a shot at national glory.

The Awards are the Countryside Alliance’s annual celebration of rural produce, skills, enterprise and heritage through our small hard-working businesses. They are now in their twelfth year and have become the definitive rural business award to win. This year we received over 7,500 nominations, meaning these finalists truly are the best of the best. The Awards are public-nomination led across five categories:

• Local Food & Drink
• Village Shop/ Post Office
• Tourism Enterprise
• Farm Enterprise
• Butcher

The finalists in the 2016 Rural Oscars in the East of England are:

Local food & drink category

• Foxholes Farm Shop, Hertford, Hertfordshire www.foxholesfarm.com
• Doddington Farm Shop, Doddington, Lincolnshire www.doddingtonhall.com/eating-and-shopping/shopping/farm-shop/
• Ben’s Restaurant, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk www.bensrestaurant.co.uk
• Maisebrooke Farm, Shipmeadow, Beccles, Suffolk http://maisebrookefarm.weebly.com/maisebrooke-farm-shop.html

Village shop / Post Office category

• Perry Stores, Perry, Cambridgeshire 
• Sarratt Post Office Stores, The Green, Sarratt, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire www.sarrattvillage.org/
• Leadenham PO & Teahouse, 10 Main Road, Leadenham, Lincolnshire http://leadenhamteahouse.co.uk/
• The Udder Room and Post Office, Forelock and Load, Church Road, Barrow, Suffolk

Tourism enterprise category

• Hare Street Farm Barns, Bury Grange Farm, Ardeley, Hertfordshire www.harestreetholidays.co.uk
• Dairy Barns Hickling Bed & Breakfast, Hickling, Norwich, Norfolk www.dairybarns.co.uk/
• Dents of Hilgay, Hilgay, Norfolk www.dentsfarmhilgay.co.uk/
• Long Melford Heritage Centre, Village Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk www.longmelford.co.uk/Tourist%20Attractions/

Farm enterprise category

• Corkers Crisps, Mount Pleasant Farm, Pymoor, Cambridgeshire www.corkerscrisps.co.uk
• Abbey Farm, Flitcham, King’s Lynn, Norfolk www.abbeyfarm.co.uk
• Green Pastures Farm Shop and Garden Centre, Bergh Apton, Norwich, Norfolk www.greenpasturesnursery.co.uk/
• Forelock and Load, Barrow, Suffolk www.forelockandload.com/

Butcher category

• Lavenham Butchers, Lavenham, Suffolk www.lavenhambutchers.com
• C Humphreys & Sons, Fairstead, Essex
• RJ Hirst Butchers, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire www.rjhirstfamilybutchers.co.uk/
• DJ Barnard Meats, Shropham, Norfolk http://djbarnardmeats.co.uk/

Countryside Alliance Awards director Jill Grieve commented: “This has been a record year for nominations, showing how much the public values and supports our hard working rural businessmen and women. For these finalists to get this far is already an exceptional achievement and I look forward to meeting them as judging gets underway. The Rural Oscars were set up to champion those who go the extra mile for their communities and it is an honour to offer a voice to rural business in this way.”