Dairy farming at Birchfield Farm, Summerbridge in the heart of Nidderdale has been in the Whitley family for three generations now. At the start of the new millenium Martin and Lorraine were looking at ways of diversifying from an uncertain wholesale milk market and they decided that branching out and starting their own production unit for traditional dairy ice cream was the way forward. It seems that they made the right decision.

They started off by introducing 10 Jersey cows into the original Holstein Friesian herd and then gradually swapped over completely so that now all their dairy products, (butter, thick Jersey cream, ice cream, & yogurt) are made from milk and cream produced by their own herd of pedigree Jerseys.

Once they mastered the art of producing ice cream they then looked around for a place to retail it. They started attending the local Farmers Markets where things took off really well.

Next on the agenda was to open a farm shop selling their own products and products from other retailers at the Farmers Market. The premises at Pool-in-Wharfedale became available and seemed like the perfect solution.