About Us and the Family Farm
Mike’s father, Edward Hardy, started “Hardy’s Dairies” in High Street Barry delivering milk locally by horse and cart. The horses were grazed each day on the 23 acres of New farm.
Having studied at Harper Adams Agriculture College Mike started farming here on only 23 acres with Dorothy a nurse he met at a hospital dance.
The house dates back to the 17th century ( see the original beams in the dining room) when it was a farm workers cottage and stable. It became two homes with a communal doorway with the Morgan family often called upon to help out. A humble begining for the newly weds with no electric or running water to speak of in 1956. During their early days Mike worked on other farms and Dorothy in the local hospital for essential income to support the growth and development of their farm. Starting with a pig and poultry unit. Pigs were sold in Cowbridge market and egg sales were made door to door and into local shops and cafes.
When Ian and Sue were born the farm gradually expanded with rearing turkeys and chickens for the Christmas market and a large pig and poultry unit with sales at the farm gate .
Farming found margins precarious ( as we find nowadays) and utilizing a local slaughterhouse, they began selling their pork in quarter and half pig packs . A ‘Field to freezer’ shop was established in 1976. This new diversification led to rearing of calves for the beef market and selling home produced beef packages. The farm shop excelled with a reputation for providing quality, home reared produce.
During the explosion of the supermarket growth in the area , compounded by the feed price of corn, the salmonella egg crisis and the rising overheads the family made a difficult decision to close the poultry unit in 1993. This coupled with the demise in the pig industry, the pig unit was phased out and closed in 1995 which therefore closed the farm shop.
In 1984 the family decided to convert the farmhouse into a B&B with Ian and Sara helping to drive the business forward .
A breeding programme of Blonde Aquitaine and Charolaise suckler herd was commenced and their son Rhys joined the family farm in 2005 . He has established a successful and exceptional herd of Charolaise cattle. The cows and suckling calves graze on 300 acres of grassland from April until October. The 5 bulls run with the divided herd until June. The cattle are overwintered in the cattle sheds. The suckled calves -weaned and seperated. From January the cows and heifers ( which are now first time calvers) give birth from the end of December to the end of March. If you are lucky enough to stay with us during that time you may witness calving -a sight to behold ‘live’
The 200 acres of arable land provides the cattle with their winterfeed of home milled barley, beans and minerals. Grassland is rotated with our main grass crop cut as silage during the month of May and June.
The cereals are harvested from July to September . The corn that is not consumed by the cattle is sold via a home and world grain market.
The land is then prepared for recropping and rotated every year in September to October.
A very full calender
The farm is a close walk to the beautiful picturesque Porthkerry Park a 200 acre valley where you can enjoy the nature trails, woods, open parkland and children’s play area.
The parkland leads onto “The Pebbles” beach and the “Heritage Coastal Trail” winds its way through the park and along the coast. There is a small café open weekends and daily in the summer months. The large impressive viaduct stands in the park which serves the railway through the Vale. Barry has many beaches of Jacksons Bay, The Knap and the wonderful sandy beach of Whitmore Bay which has an elegant promenade and Barry Island fun fair.
