The farm welcomed a very special royal visitor last week!
September 30, 2026
What a year we’ve had! As we celebrate 20 years of community ownership, the farm welcomed a very special royal visitor last week, the cherry on top of our celebrations!
HRH The Princess Royal, visited the Fordhall Community Land Initiative to celebrate our 20th anniversary as custodians of England’s first community-owned farm and to hear about the Initiatives plans to welcome in a further 1,000community shareholders.
We were delighted to share the farm with The Princess, from our community garden and River Friendly Farming projects to the unveiling of a plaque celebrating our 20th year of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative. At the heart of the visit was the working organic farm and its connections to the community.
The tour began in one of the farm’s many eco-buildings, the Straw Lodge, a space built for the community, by the community. There, The Princess met Market Drayton Mayor and Mayoress Tim and Clare Manton, MP Helen Morgan, Deputy Chair of Shropshire Council, Gary Groves and Chair of Moreton Say Parish Council, Geoff Turner, along with the Hollins family and members of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative Board.
She then met the Fordhall Events Catering team, run by tenant farmer Ben. After starting on the farmers’ markets, he now caters across the country and employs close to 150 local people - Arthur would be proud. At the end of the visit, many of the farms’ founders and supporters gathered outside Arthur’s Farm Kitchen, where The Princess unveiled a plaque to commemorate the farm’s 20 years of community-ownership. Everyone was very taken by her warmth and obvious love and care of the land.
In fact, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal reminded us very much of the late Arthur Hollins and his love of nature. Arthur never favoured the word organic much. He always said, ‘this is what farming is for me’. Working with nature was what made sense to Arthur and it has been the foundation of Fordhall ever since.
It was a true honour and privilege to share Arthur’s legacy and tenant farmer Ben’s ongoing work at Fordhall with The Princess. We were able to share how landlord (the community) and tenant (Ben Hollins) work together, to make Fordhall the wonderful asset that it is.
Ben said “It was great to talk to Princess Anne about my 100-year tenancy and why it is so good for the land. I shared how important it is for me to be able to plan long-term at Fordhall, whilst continuing Dad's organic legacy. As a farmer herself, The Princess was incredibly knowledgeable and clearly has a passion for the land.”
They also visited the community Conservation and Youth Team to learn about the farm’s river friendly farming project and cow-bathing pool.
Alison Fowler, our Conservation and Volunteer Lead said “It was a real pleasure to show Her Royal Highness all the work our volunteers, apprentices and youth team are doing to help us look after and understand our ponds. The Princess was really interested in how we plan to improve the water quality and diversity of Castle Hill Pond.”
It was evident that The Princess cares deeply about farms and community. She spent a long time engaging with everyone onsite with warmth and great understanding. She could see how hard everyone works and how models like ours working.
Charlotte's personal highlight was sharing the car journey back with The Princess!
