Over Farm, a cherished farm shop and adventure park near Gloucester, is encouraging visitors to continue coming this summer despite encountering frustrating challenges beyond its control.
Operated by the same family for nearly a century, Over Farm has evolved into a popular attraction. Its farm shop opened in the early 1980s, followed by “pick your own” fields in the late 1980s, and the Countryside Adventure Park launched in 2018. The site also features Over Barn, a wedding venue that has hosted weddings, parties, and festive Christmas Ceilidhs annually since its refurbishment in 2021.
Offering enjoyment for the whole family, Over Farm has unfortunately experienced a significant drop in trade this summer. CEO Rees Keene estimates a decline of around 50 per cent compared to last year, attributing this to two main external factors.
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A major concern is an illegal waste site located approximately 300 metres behind Over Farm. This site has expanded over several years, prompting frequent call-outs to Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service. Mr Keene describes the situation as “pretty much constant” over the past 12 months.
A recent Sky News investigation highlighted this waste site along with two other large sites in the UK. Over Farm emphasises that the illegal site is entirely separate from its land and that there is no access via the farm.
Despite this, some visitors have directed complaints to the Over Farm team. Mr Keene, who has led the business for a decade, commented:
“It’s a frustration for us, which is a weak way of putting it. It’s a bit of a nightmare, really. We would like it not to be there as much as anyone else.
But it is something that is not under our control. The tip is not on our land, the access to it is not via our land. Lots of people are aware of it, lots of officials are dealing with it.
It has been a huge concern for many years, and there are many different ways in which it has impacted both us and our customers.
The waste site was initially a licenced tip in the 1960s, and then in the 1990s it became illegal. Since 2018 it has continued to grow, and the last two years it has just been lorry after lorry every day driving up there.
It’s a public access lane up to the site, which runs near our land. And there’s 30 or 40, 20-tonne lorries going up there every day, which is very unpleasant.
We’ve had people come into the farm shop and complain about their behaviour, and some of the things that have been said to our customers.”
Regarding the odour from the site, Mr Keene explained that it is only problematic when the site is on fire, which has been a frequent occurrence over the last year - averaging a fire approximately every ten days.
Beyond the waste site, local traffic disruption is also impacting visitor numbers. On the farm’s opposite side, essential maintenance work on the A40 Bridge by National Highways has resulted in the 24/7 closure of the slip road connecting the A417 Over Causeway to the A40 westbound. This closure, expected to continue until March 2027, significantly increases travel time and complexity for visitors arriving by car.
Some customers have reportedly expressed that the traffic issues make visiting “too much hassle.”
To address this, Over Farm recently posted a video on Facebook seeking visitor suggestions to ease access, ranging from adjusted opening hours to potentially establishing a satellite shop. Additionally, the farm’s website offers a live traffic camera feed updated every two minutes, showing traffic conditions and journey times.
Despite these difficulties, Mr Keene urges visitors not to be deterred: “Please do try and brave the traffic to get to us. We have a summer full of events for families, including our pick your own strawberries, and foam parties every day throughout the summer holidays.”