Our Farm
We live and work on our family dairy farm, located in the rural village of Inglewhite, nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Forest of Bowland. Whether it’s land management, hosting events, milking cows, or crafting exceptional gin, we are committed to supporting British farming every step of the way.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Lizzie’s great grandparents Annie & Richard Butler first bought Lower Barker in 1932, they had a dairy herd of just 12 cows and started to build the family farming business. Annie & Richard had four sons, brothers Tom & Robert farmed together until another farm was sought for Robert and in 1982 Tom & Jean (Lizzie’s grandparents) took the reins of Lower Barker. Now with a growing herd of 60 Holsteins, Tom and Jean started to grow the farm and along with that came a growing family!
They had 5 children, all keen helpers on the farm but one more so, Andrew, Lizzies dad. In 1979 Tom, Jean & Andrew hired a young farm hand, Ann, daughter of farmers; Tom & Brenda from Longridge. Ann & Andrew soon became more than colleagues and got married in 1983. Taking over Lower Barker in 1998 with a strong herd of 270, it was an ever-growing family business!
Little Farmers
Ann and Andrew had 3 children, Nicola, John & Lizzie. An upbringing that was spent following their parents round on the farm learning how to rear, care for and become custodians of the land surrounding them. Rob had the same upbringing with his parents, Liz & John, dairy farming in Claughton-on-brock, just over the fields. Rob, the eldest of 5 siblings was a keen farmer from the moment he was born, working before and after school and learning skills that are invaluable to his farming now, and engineering skills which are a key part of the distilling business.
Now having set up home on Lower Barker farm, Lizzie & Rob have their own little farmers, Annie and Betsy. Annie is a keen learner and loves rearing the calves with Grandad Andrew. Betsy enjoys stroking them!
Backing British Farming
With ever growing false media surrounding global farming it is so important that farmers and foodies unite and fly the flag for the glorious way of life that is British Farming. British farming holds the highest standards and lowest emissions in all the world. It’s time to support local and support our UK food producers. This year Rob took an active role in the promotion of British farming and did a 24hour vlog across the Wild Fox social media stories. With a real insight in to 24 hours on our farm the response was incredible, we had all sorts of questions which were all answered… truthfully! The Vlog is available to view on our Instagram page.
The Future
Lizzie’s brother John and wife Karen along with their little farmers Olivia & Freddie will take over the reins at lower barker and continue to grow the long-standing generational farming business, Rob will continue to farm alongside John as well as playing an active role within the distilling business. In 2021 we were granted planning consent to extend our distillery and welcome our customers on to the farm to see first hand, our farm-to-bottle craft, enjoy a tipple or two and become a community hub with our evening events! All our children will grow up as we did, watching hard work, learning the best life skills setting them up for a stable future.