The Darlington’s were originally stonemasons in Northumberland but Thomas Darlington (our grandfather) decided not to follow the family trade.

After the First World War he married a farmers’ daughter from Edmondthorpe and Thomas Darlington worked on his in-law’s farm for a few years.

With little money but much determination, in April 1933 Thomas Darlington, his wife, Lilian, and their 2 children, Winfred and John, moved to Brickfield Farm to start their own new life in farming.

They started farming at Brickfield Farm with only a horse and cart and three cows, and managed to survive the 1930’s depression.

Brickfield Farm takes its name from the brickyard that existed on the farm over 150 years ago.

Clay was dug out of the ground to make bricks and clay drainage pipes, the bricks were used to build the present farm house, and the homestead on Burton Road, Melton Mowbray.

There is now very little trace of the old kilns and the area has become a large pond, creating a habitat rich in wildlife.

After the Second World War, John Darlington (Thomas Darlington’s son), after spending 4 years serving for his country, was now starting to build up the farm.

John married Margaret in 1955 and soon the third generation was born, having a son, Peter and a daughter, Susan. Peter & Susan attended Stapleford School, followed by Melton’s Sarson and then onto the King Edward Upper School, followed by Brooksby Melton College.

John had always enjoyed building and improving the farm, creating one of the leading set ups in the area at the time with many farmers coming to visit and see the progressive farm.

Peter was very enthusiastic about pedigree cows, wildlife and the figures side of the business. Peter has always strived to expand the farm, through the purchase of surrounding land. All of this made a great combination to help the farm progress through the 80’s and 90’s.

1990 was a year to remember, with our best Friesian cow called Faithfull winning Top Cow and Highest Yielding cow in Leicestershire and Rutland herd competition.

That year she gave birth to a bull calf, which John named Ferneley. Ferneley was named after the local artist Sir John Ferneley.

That bull exceeded our expectations and became well known in the Friesian cattle world as his genetics produced many outstanding animals throughout England and Ireland.

One evening, a cow had become very ill and an emergency call was made to the vets. A new young vet called Vanessa attended the farm, and with great determination saved the cow’s life. 18 months later a besotted Peter married Vanessa and they set up home with her Collie dog, Spice, in the bungalow on the farm.

Peter and Vanessa now have 3 sons, Tom, Ben and Mattie, who are the fourth generation to be brought up at Brickfield Farm.

Milk prices have become very volatile over the years and many small family farms disappeared. To sustain the business for the future, we decided to diversify the farm, and Ferneley’s Ice Cream and the Dairy Barn Café were established in March 2018.

Now, a very enthusiastic 21 year old, Tom, and his girlfriend, Sam, share our passion for the cows and farm. They have set up Ferneley’s Milk Rounds, to sell our farm fresh milk directly to local houses. Read more about Ferneley’s Milk here.