Croots Farm Shop hosts ghost evenings for Duffield Arts Festival

Ghostly goings on are being served up at Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire as part of the very first Duffield Arts Festival.

The award-winning farm shop in Wirksworth Road is hosting three very special ghost evenings which will combine entertainment and hospitality.

Running on 14^th, 15^th and 16^th September, each event has a limited number of around 30 tickets available, which include a meal in Shires Eatery at Croots. Only a handful of tickets remain for the Friday performance, however, but tickets are still available for the Wednesday and Thursday.

The ghostly activity, performed by drama production company Attic Rats, will be set around a number of locations at Farnah House Farm and will feature eerie interaction, and a series of unique ghost stories, some acted out and some told. Many of the stories are based on the ghost history of the area.

The ghostly tour, which starts at 7.30pm, will be followed by a meal in the popular café area of Croots.

“I’ve seen the first practice and it’s a really exciting and not-to-be-missed performance. It will be a unique experience for everyone involved, and is really fascinating,” said Steve Croot, who runs Croots with wife Kay. “We’re really pleased to be a part of the first Duffield Arts Festival, and to be providing the venue for such an unusual event.” 

Not recommended for the faint hearted or under 16s, tickets are £18 each, and are available from Duffield News, Croots Farm Shop and online at www.duffieldartsfestival.com

Duffield Arts Festival will offer a broad programme of performances, workshops and talks across the fields of music, drama, art and books, plus much more.

Croots Farm Shop is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm) and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on Thursdays.

For more information, visit www.croots.co.uk Find Croots on Twitter @crootsfarm_shop or on Facebook www.facebook.com/Croots-Farm-Shop 

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk 

Derbyshire farm shop Croots to be visited by the Sausage King

Award-winning Croots Farm Shop is hosting a visit by the Sausage King as part of his nationwide quest to drop in on some of the UK’s finest sausage producers.

Stephen Plume, who runs a website dedicated to sausages, is one of the UK’s leading sausage experts and has been dubbed the Sausage King for his efforts to promote tasty British bangers.

Sausage King: Steve Plume

A teacher by profession, Stephen has undertaken a pledge to visit all the high-quality butchers listed on his sausagefans.co.uk website – and Croots Farm Shop near Duffield in Derbyshire is the latest that he’ll be dropping in on.

“We were chuffed when the Sausage King added Croots Farm Shop to his directory of great sausage-makers, and even more delighted when we heard he wanted to visit us,” said Croots Farm Shop owner Steve Croot. “Stephen is an absolute authority on the best British bangers, and we are looking forward to showing him our range of sausages at Croots and letting him try some of them for himself.”

Croots Farm Shop, based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, has won scores of awards for its home-produced sausages, including Great Taste Awards, which are the ‘oscars’ of the fine food industry. The farm shop is renowned for creating unusual and original flavours, as well as more traditional bangers. Croots’ butchers enjoy creating new sausages to mark occasions, such as the Olympics or the World Cup, with a percentage of sales going to charity.

The pork used in Croots sausages comes from Packington Free Range Pork, in Staffordshire, while the beef hails from R & M Heath (Richard & Margaret) at Hazelwood Hall Farm, Hazelwood, Derbyshire. 

The Sausage King, who is based in East Anglia, will be visiting Croots Farm Shop from 11.15am on Thursday February 19^th. 

“The visits I’ve done so far have had a huge impact and hopefully helped to encourage people back to buying local,” said Stephen. “The sausage makers on sausagefans.co.uk are the finest from around the country as recommended for inclusion by readers of the website. 

“So far I’ve been to destinations including Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Cheshire, and I am very much looking forward to visiting Croots in Derbyshire, as I’ve heard excellent reports about the quality of the shop’s sausages.”

The shop employs three full-time butchers and two assistant part-time butchers, as part of a 28-strong workforce employed in the shop and the restaurant, Shires Eatery.

Launched in 2008, Croots Farm Shop is open daily from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm). Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 10am and 4pm on Thursdays.

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

Loyal customers and charity supporters officially open Croots Farm Shop's new Shires Eatery in Derbyshire

Derbyshire farm shop Croots has officially opened its new café and restaurant, Shires Eatery.

The honours at the farm shop near Duffield were performed by long-standing loyal customers and local charity supporters John and Jean Griffiths.

The retired couple, who live in Draycott, have been shopping and eating at Croots Farm Shop regularly since it opened in 2008, and regarded their visits as ‘therapy’ after a period of ill-health, said Jean.

She said they were astounded to be asked to cut the ribbon to mark the official opening.

“We were absolutely taken aback,” said Jean. “I thought it would be at least the lady mayoress. It’s a lovely thought.”

Croots Farm Shop owner Steve Croot said: “We are delighted to open our new, expanded Shires Eatery. Our coffee shop was popular from day one and I’m so pleased that we can now welcome and serve more than twice as many people. Hopefully we’ll enjoy a sunny summer this year and we’ll be able to open up our decking area too.

“John and Jean have been loyal customers at Croots and we felt it was very fitting that they should help us celebrate the opening by performing the honours. They do such good work in the community.”

Croots has been working since earlier this year to expand its popular coffee shop to create the 60-seat Shires Eatery, which overlooks fields of Shire horses at Farnah House Farm in Wirksworth Road, as well as having a wider view of the Ecclesbourne Valley.

The new restaurant is serving a more varied menu, including a roast meal every day. New chef Kate Griffin is working alongside the existing hospitality team at Croots, and two new part-time assistants have been hired. Croots is also planning to take on an apprentice chef to help in the kitchen.

The expansion project marks a significant investment for the farm shop which was a runner-up in the Best UK Independent Food Retailer 2010 category of the Observer Food Monthly Awards and named in The Independent’s top 50 best food shops the year before.

Croots sells a range of food and drink produced locally, regionally and from further afield. It stocks products from up to 40 producers from within a 50-mile radius of the shop.

It also produces its own range of products, including sausages, pies and ready meals. Since establishing in 2008, it has built up a strong reputation for its butchers’ fresh meat counter - winning dozens of awards for home-made sausages, home-smoked bacon and other meat products.

John and Jean Griffiths cut a ribbon to mark the official opening of Shires Eatery.

John is patron at Treetops Hospice in Risley and Jean was a volunteer there for 20 years and remains a supporter of the charity.

They began visiting Croots not long after it opened and enjoy regular visits – both to shop and to eat.

“I became ill in 2009 and the staff there were so kind. They sent a card and some lovely flowers. We got quite fond of them all. We used to call Croots our therapy,” added Jean. “We have remained loyal ever since. We find the staff so friendly and so helpful. We have always thoroughly enjoyed the food in the café.”

Croots Farm Shop is open Sundays from 10am to 4pm (Shires Eatery until 3.45pm), and from Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (Shires Eatery until 4.30pm). It is closed on Mondays.

For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk