Our history

Find documents from Farm Leaders about how we’ve evolved. Andrew Ross takes us through the HCF journey from the initial idea. Brian Tull shares how the Infrastructure Team became a vital part of the Farm. If you have any feedback on these documents or you want to use any of its contents, please get in touch.

Growing together: The Highbridge Community Farm Story

Andrew Ross, one of the founders of Highbridge Community Farm, captured our history in this ebook. Over 11 chapters, with plenty of photographs, Andrew describes how the community farm started and how it developed, diversified and organised itself over the subsequent decade. We are proud to share our story.

There is information about how we’ve made better use of the land by changing what we grow and how our amazing varieties of apple trees were obtained. One chapter covers our efforts to increase the soil organic matter and the value of this in raising soil nutrient levels, water holding capacity and carbon sequestration. The book finishes with a reflection on the progress we have made.

The “A team” story

Brian Tull and Mike Lucas describe the evolution of our Infrastructure Team, known as the “A Team”. This group started helping with maintenance and construction alongside other responsibilities on the farm then developed into a team in their own right – acknowledgement of the need in a successful community farm for strong supporting infrastructure alongside the growing aspects.

Find out how our storage, communal spaces, and services have developed from that very first leaky Scout tent!