Run by the same family for the past 90 years, this Greater Manchester farm has diversified in recent years to open a shop, cafe and make its own home-made ice cream. Now Falshaw's Farm Shop in Bury has been honoured for its strong family tradition with a string of awards.
The business has just been named the North West Family Business of the year, which the Falshaw family were overjoyed to receive at a glittering ceremony held beneath Concorde at the Runway Visitor Park last week.
The farm shop, at Nabbs Farm off Rowlands Road in Bury, boasts stunning views out across Manchester and on sunny days you can even see as far as Derbyshire. And with a tearooms, outdoor terrace and a mini tractor play area it's a popular spot for families too.
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The Falshaw family is headed by Robert, 87, and Gladys, 77, who still both work on the farm - alongside their children and grandchildren. Mark Falshaw, 49, and wife Elizabeth, 50, collected the business awards after getting "mystery" nominations from their loyal customers.
They were overjoyed to win the food and drink producer category at the event initially. But they then discovered, to their amazement, at the finale of the night that they were the overall winnner of Family Business of the Year.
Elizabeth said: "It was an amazing night and we are still on cloud 9. We were told in February that we had been nominated, but we still don't know who by.
"We were absolutely ecstatic with it really. We are so small, but we always try to do a good job and we're a very close family we'd like to think we do our best for the community really.
"The thing is with our business is that we are a full working farm as well as a farm shop. We breed pedigree sheep, rarebreed pigs and have 200 cows in our dairy herd.
"We opened the farm shop 15 years ago as a true farm diversification project. It's quite small but we've had an extension lately to create a new tearooms in an orangery.
"The inital idea was to sell our milk in the form of ice cream and in coffees. It was somewhere for our milk to go, as well as to sell our own pork, beef and lamb.
"We now produce lasagnes, steak pies, hot pots and sunday roast on Sunday to showcase our own produce too. We're totally self-sufficient on the meat side, it all comes from the farm into the shop."
Judges at the awards hailed Falshaw's as "a family business with exemplary food production and farming", as well as their "strong family values with care for customers and the community."
The Falshaw family have farmed on the site at Nabbs Farm since 1935 - and it has been taken over father-to-son ever since. Elizabeth said: "Robert and Gladys are still 'leaders of the gang' and my husband Mark works on the farm, while our two sons William, 21, and Jack, 18, also both work on the farm.
"They wanted to farm, and one of the ways to keep farming going is to diversify and also to become more sustainable. We're in the Countrywide Stewardship Scheme we've planted thousands of hedges and replanted stone walls and we're also part of the Red Tractor scheme.
"I work in the shop with Mark's mum, Gladys, and Mark's elder sister Ann. She's a great cook so she's in the kitchen, while I do all the ice cream."
The new purpose-built orangerie opened at Easter to offer an expanded cafe experience, and where visitors can admire the views out across the fields.
Elizabeth says: "We're just off Walmsley Road and we have a hill to the left, so the views look down the valley. There are lots of nice walks in the area and we have the East Lancs Railway at the bottom.
"You can see the centre of Manchester on a clear day and as far as the Derbyshire hills on a good day too."
Outside there's a balance park for kids, a wooden house and a range of mini plastic John Deer tractors for little ones.
On the menu, visitors can expect full cooked breakfast for £9, and a selection of homemade daily changing specials at lunchtime like lamb hotopot, lasagne and steak pie. There's also toasties, burgers, jacket potatoes and a children's mneu.
Afternoon teas are served for £9.50, or vintage afternoon teas for £14, while one of their most popular dishes is their Sunday roast dinner for £12.50 which "usually sell out" so you're best to get their early to avoid disappointment.
On the ice cream side, Elizabeth is chief ice cream maker, producing 60 different flavours, with a cabinet of 12 daily changing options for £2.50 a scoop or £2.90 for a cone. There's also a raft of homemade tray bakes, scones, apple pies and meringues you can buy.
Elizabeth says they have a lot of repeat custom at the shop because visitors know they'll be getting a friendly welcome.
She said: "Some people come in here three times a week, I think they feel very comfortable here, they know what the quality is going to be like and they like the friendliness.
"We want to keep it as a community feel and just provide a service. We have real pride in what we do. We have drive and we work hard."
Falshaw's Farm Shop, Nabbs Farm, Rowlands Rd, Bury BL9 5LJ, opens Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sundays 10am to 4pm, and closes on Mondays.
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