SPRING NEWSLETTER: Embracing diversification and innovation in changing times on the Aldenham Estate

Welcome to the Aldenham Estate

Humphrey, Jessica & their Mother plant trees to celebrate their Grandmother’s 100th birthday and in support The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative

We hope this will be the first of many updates about our family farm, which can be found nestled between Elstree and Watford in Hertfordshire, a stone’s throw north of London.

Our family has been arable farming here since the 1600s, but since the establishment of London Elstree Aerodrome in World War II, and especially over the last decade, we have been shifting away from active farming to improve our farmsteads, create employment space, open up the farm to visitors, and regenerate the land itself.

The domestic tourism boom

Jessica Allen-Back, Estate Director

Since Jessica returned to manage the farm in 2014, much has changed. Home Farm Glamping was founded in 2015, attracting visitors from all over the world and hosting many fantastic stays and parties for couples, families and friends, as well as corporate groups looking to get their heads together in a unique and inspiring place.

We responded to the pandemic by providing a perfect alternative for staycationers, resulting in winning the ‘Best Boutique Stay’ in the 2021 Muddy Stilettos awards. This year’s nominations are now open, so please do vote for us again.

Since, the team led by Alice, has been growing the brand’s reputation and building strong relationships with local businesses, including suppliers and caterers. Plans for growth continue as we begin our eighth glamping season, which started with a fantastic launch party for all our local network on Saturday 23rd April.

Home Farm Glamping on the Aldenham Estate, on the London Hertfordshire border

This season (open until 3rd October), we’ll welcome over 1,500 guests. For many, this will be their first venture into sleeping outdoors under canvas.

Live on London’s doorstep

Woodland stage hosting live performance At Home Farm

2021 saw the launch of At Home Farm Live, a seasonal programme of musical, theatrical and gastronomical events designed to give performers, chefs and crowds the chance to reconnect in an intimate setting in the Great Outdoors after an uncertain year in which many people were deprived of doing the things they love.

Our debut season was a huge success, with sell-out crowds for musicians James Bay, Nick Mulvey, Freya Ridings and Jack Garratt, a series of delicious Woodfired Canteen long-table suppers cooked by Honey & Co, Olea Hercules and Thomasina Miers, and rousing theatre and comedy in the woods.

This year will deliver another stellar lineup, with more nights of music from Ry X, The Staves, Jade Bird and Rae Morris this summer, more mouth-watering Woodfired Canteen supper clubs from Moro, Ixta Belfrage, Native and Joy’s Stevie Parle in May, and the legendary Gifford's Circus gracing us with their fabulous presence from 9th-13th June. And this is just the first set of events - much more to come later in the summer!

The sky’s not the limit

Pilot Anchal with David after his first Solo navigation with Elstree-based Flight Training London

The family manages London Elstree Aerodrome, Hertfordshire’s last remaining licensed airfield which was built in the 1940s to aid the war effort and has since grown into a vital light aviation hub. We have been busy building hangars, office space and improving facilities for fixed-wing (planes) and rotary (helicopters) aircraft, and we now have many budding pilots and flying enthusiasts training at our experienced flying schools.

And while catering for the existing market, we are exploring a more sustainable future, recently joining a consortium with Virgin Atlantic, Vertical Aerospace, Heathrow, Skyports and others to promote the development and airworthiness of Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL (essentially flying electric taxis) in the UK. More news to follow shortly on our bid for funding.

We have also partnered with The Air League charity, which aims to inspire young people by awarding scholarships and work opportunities through aviation.

Their William Gibbs Trust Soaring to Success Programme launched in March this year with two online conferences hosted by industry leaders from British Airways, The Department for Transport, Royal Air Force, Eagle Eye Innovations, International Airlines Group and KIPSE.

There will now be a programme of e-learning modules, and so far over 400 pupils from the Borehamwood area have been admitted onto this programme, hoping to qualify for sponsored flying experiences which will be provided by Elstree Aerodrome and London Flight Training, one of our flight training schools.

Aerial view of London Elstree Aerodrome, Herts

We are also the newest member of the University of Hertfordshire’s Industrial Aviation Group, which looks to bridge the gap between Aerospace Engineering students and companies, creating a stronger recruitment process. The group’s other members include Rolls Royce, Airbus and Ryanair. The UK has the third largest aviation network in the world, and the aviation sector has a turnover of over £60 billion, contributes over £22 billion to our GDP, and almost one million UK jobs are directly or indirectly supported by it.

Hertfordshire has a rich history of innovation in the aerospace industry, and at Elstree we are proud to be continuing this tradition and helping to make a career in aviation accessible to as many people as possible.

Come dine with us airside

Last summer, we reopened The Aerodrome Cafe with Michelin-trained Chef Sainlo overseeing the new menu. Although opening a retail hospitality premises in a pandemic is not without its challenges, the team is settling in well and delivering a delicious range of breakfasts, lunches and homemade cakes, with Fairtrade Coffee and a range of drinks. It’s the perfect space to enjoy food with a view, and children and grown-ups alike love to watch planes taking off and helicopters training at such close proximity.

Spit Roast Special, 2nd June from 12pm, Aerodrome Cafe

To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee Head Chef Jean-Luc Sainlo will be cooking a spit roast lamb on Thursday 2nd June, from 12pm.

We are also hoping to hold an aerodrome open day in the summer holidays, so please watch this space for more news and do let us know if you would like to be involved. We’re thinking fly-ins, classic cars, aviation and vendor stalls. And, of course, fantastic food!

A new hybrid work hub OUTSIDE London

In January 2022 we received planning permission for Home Farm Hub, the redevelopment of a Victorian "model" farm that will provide high-quality workspace, cafe, exercise space and beautifully landscaped gardens. Resident tenants and members will have access to Home Farm's historic parkland, including meadows, woodland and Tykes Water Lake, which already houses Home Farm Glamping and At Home Farm Live.

Home Farm Hub for a new way of working outside London (planned opening late 2024). Illustration by Thomas Croft Architects, London

The plan was to begin construction this autumn, but with so many elements at play, a 2023 start is more likely. We will continue to prepare the grounds and woodland, and develop detailed designs with Thomas Croft Architects, landscapers Tom Stuart-Smith Ltd and our interior design team, including assessing how much Estate timber we can use in the build and raising finance to make it happen.

We would really appreciate your thoughts on how the pandemic has influenced your work habits. If you have a minute or two to spare, please complete our survey online.

Making room for local enterprise

Commercial Lettings at Hilfield Farm

We’re busy upgrading the Estate, working with the local planning authority to plan for the future of all our farmsteads. Many of our old agricultural buildings are too small and dilapidated for modern farm machinery, but they are the perfect size for local SMEs. We are therefore looking to restore and repurpose them to create much needed industrial space for small businesses, whilst still retaining sufficient space to support our arable farming business.

We are very happy to have a website that brings together all our businesses under one roof. We welcome all input from the community so please feel free to get in touch.

1,500 trees planted… and counting

Rob Hopkins, Ecology and Biodiversity Consultant

A huge priority for us is the regeneration of the land on the farm, and ensuring that we restore biodiversity and habitats that have been lost over the years. We are working with another local family business, Maydencroft, which is designing a 20-year woodland management plan for the Estate. And this winter our ecologist Rob Hopkins, who spent almost two decades as a Reserves Officer at Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, has been overseeing a biodiversity management strategy, helping us restore miles of hedgerows, rediscover ponds and water systems lost over the years, and leading the planting of 1,500 native trees this season alone.

Corporate teams join forces to help plant trees at Home Farm this winter

Our tree planting efforts have been brilliantly supported by volunteers from local businesses such as Evolve Organic Beauty who have brought their team out several times to get some fresh air and enjoy some hard manual labour and proudly recorded as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.

If you are a local business and are interested in volunteering for a team rewilding day then please get in touch.

A sustainable future for the estate

Ecology is going to be a vital part of our national and global net zero targets, with soil degradation and loss of habitats two of the key issues. We have country stewardship schemes on the farmland, and we are pursuing renewables schemes with developers, both of which promote healthier soil and biodiversity as well as their other benefits.

It was recently announced that Enso Energy has lodged an appeal for the solar farm which they propose to develop on Estate farmland, after it was refused at a Hertsmere planning committee in 2021.

We still strongly support this application for several reasons, including the generation of renewable energy and the regeneration of intensively farmed land, reviving the soil and boosting biodiversity through improved habitats. Representations to the appeal can be made by 7th June via the Appeals Casework Portal.

Let’s stay in touch

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