Award Winning Self Catering Holidays In the Derbyshire Peak District
We are passionate about our wonderful Peak District and love sharing our special place with everyone.
Welcome! We are David, Felicity and Caroline Brown and we live at Hoe Grange Farm. In fact David has lived here all his life, whereas his wife Felicity was born in London, but her family settled in Derbyshire when she was a teenager. Daughter Caroline joined us in the business in 2023.
We have 2 other children, Michael and Elliot, who have grown up in this wonderful environment. They are now making their own way through life but can be regularly seen around the farm. You may also meet Wren our little granddaughter who is here every Tuesday.
We love animals and as well as all the usual farm animals we share our lives with a cheeky Jack Russell called Fudge and a black cat called Kat.
Our horses Oliver and Rocco are also part of the family. Oliver came on holiday with a group in 2008 and never went home, and has recently been joined by Rocco, a youngster who is learning the ropes.
Our friendly pygmy goats will also keep you entertained and you will see our free range hens strutting about the farmyard!
[Video description: David and Felicity Brown, both in their 50s, explain their approach to sustainable farming while walking around the site. There are clips of rolling green fields, farm buildings, free range chickens, horses, goats, and the couple walking through the fields.]
Meet Farmer David and other animals and discover where your food comes from.
Hoe Grange Farm is a traditional 250-acre grassland farm near Ashbourne, Matlock and Bakewell, on the edge of the southern Peak District where David grew up milking cows.
In 2005, with milk prices plummeting, we made the decision to open up the farm to self-catering holiday guests to supplement the farm income.
The traditional stone barns around the yard were used for cattle so we decided to build two new log cabins; an open opportunity to be inclusive and provide accessible accommodation. It was a big change from farming full-time, but one that we have never regretted, so please check out our stylish self catering holiday accommodation options.
We no longer milk, so our small heard of Hereford beef cows keep their calves all year. We then sell these calves as “stores” to other farmers who finish them to become the finest English beef.
Ten years ago we hand reared four orphan lambs from a neighbouring farm. These four have multiplied into a small flock of 45 ewes who we lamb in April to produce top quality Peak District lamb. We also rent some fields to a neighbour who grazes his dairy young stock and makes silage for winter feed.
Find out about some of the things we do to be more sustainable in our farming practices on our sustainable holidays page.
There are lots of things to explore on and around our farm. The Peak District is a treasure trove of flora and fauna and at certain times of year you can see rare plants such as orchids and cowslips.
Whether you are young or old, you can enjoy watching the wildlife, including little owls, buzzards, kestrels, swallows, skylarks, foxes, badgers, hares and weasels, butterflies and moths.
There are wildlife and wildflower ID guides and binoculars in your log cabin to help you become a countryside detective.
You can help Felicity, David or Caroline feed the chickens, goats and horse - please ask at Reception and we will arrange a time with you.
You can see the sheep and cows grazing in the fields. You may see tractors coming and going particularly at harvest time. Whilst it's not safe for children to sit on the machinery, they can spend hours “driving” the wooden toy tractor in the play area!
As a working farm, you will from time to time experience the usual countryside noises; mooing cows, early dawn chorus, clucking happy free-range hens, tractors muck spreading, and silaging.
There may be the odd fragrant farmyard smell and occasionally tractors might be working late into the night (but not very often if David can help it!)
David will be delighted to give you a guided tour of the farm, and show you the animals by arrangement, but for your own safety please do not wander around the farm unattended.
We are happy for you to explore the fields independently, but please ask first where the bull is.
We had a lovely time staying in one of the incredibly well equipped pods. I bought my pony along and we had some great rides on the high peak trail.... read more
We love this place. Very wheelchair friendly, really well equipped and comfortable, with easy access by car to lots of places of interest particularly Crich Tramway Village, Chatsworth, Bakewell and... read more
For the second year running, we have had a great family holiday at Hoe Grange. We had one cabin for the week, for two sisters and our elderly wheelchair-using... read more
