Where it all began...
1939
Herbert Spencer and his wife Edna came from Wymeswold, Leicestershire to take over as the new tenants of Spring Lane Farm.
1944
A son, Cyril Spencer was born who grew up following in the footsteps of his mother and father, destined for a life doing what he enjoyed most - working on the farm.
1962
Spring Lane Farm Shop
was established.
The Spencer family began selling home-grown potatoes and home-laid eggs direct from the farmhouse door.
1968
Cyril married his wife Dorothy and they moved into the farmhouse. Herbert & Edna moved into a house a few doors up on Spring Lane. The family continued to sell potatoes and eggs, and began selling fresh fruit and vegetables sourced from Woodborough.
1980
Venturing in to poultry, the farming family collected 50 turkey chicks from Clun, Shropshire, and reared the birds for Christmas, sold to local people.
1996
Mark married his wife Claire, and they moved into the farmhouse. Cyril & Dorothy moved out into the bungalow newly built on the farm.
1998
Mark and Claire bought a large freezer for the farm shop to begin selling frozen beef sourced from a local abattoir. Having sold out within a matter of days, selling raw meat proved popular with customers which called for an immediate re-stock!
2001
Due to a significant decrease in the price of milk and a challenging year on the farm, the family took the difficult decision to cease dairy farming and to focus on farm retail.
2006
The farm shop went through further expansion, this time adding an on-site bakery offering home-baked loaves, rolls and cakes, as well as hand-made pork pies, scotch eggs and meat pies for the deli counter.
2020
After Charlie completed a diploma in Agriculture from Brackenhurst College and Jessica graduating with a degree in Agri-Food Marketing from Harper Adams University, the fourth generation of Spencer’s decided to join the family business.
1940
After milking the dairy herd of 35 Holstein Friesian cows, Edna walked her milk cart up Spring Lane selling fresh milk by pints or quarts to neighbours who would leave out glass bottles and containers daily throughout WWII.
1959
Cyril began selling sacks of home-grown potatoes and delivered them to customers around the local villages of Lambley, Woodborough and Calverton.
1963
The Spencer’s managed to raise enough money to buy the 71 acre Freehold at Spring Lane Farm.
1970
Dorothy and Cyril welcomed a son, Mark, who later joined the family farming business
to form C H Spencer & Son.
1992
Spring Lane Farm Shop was relocated to a purpose built double garage at the top of the farm yard on the road side, where sacks of potatoes, eggs and fresh fruit & vegetables continued to sell.
1997
Mark and Claire welcomed a daughter Jessica, who by the age of three had already taken a hands-on approach to farming!
2000
Mark & Claire welcomed a son, Charlie, who was given the same initials as his grandfather: C H Spencer.
2003
Spring Lane Farm Shop had a make-over following the conversion of some old calf buildings to create a larger retail space and extension to the original farm shop in the double garage. The all new on-farm shop opened with an in-house butchery, cheese and deli counter and a selection of locally produced products.
2017
11 years later, it was time for a complete overall refurbishment. A new building was built between the existing farm shop and bakery to create a much larger retail space for a brand-new butchery counter and hundreds of new locally sourced products.
