40 years on – how we’ve grown!

The brainchild of local landowner Anthony Roberts, the business was inspired after he attended a talk about fish farming in Norway. The fishing lakes were dug out in a boggy field, and concrete tanks for growing rainbow trout were built (also called ‘raceways’).

In the early days there was just a small shed selling fresh fish – you ordered it and one of the staff would go out to catch it straight away (you can’t get fresher than that!). There wasn’t a café in those early years, but you could buy hot drinks and snacks from a small caravan. As well as fly fishing, you could feed the fish and ducks off the pier or visit the freshwater aquarium in a nearby barn. In 1994 the main café and farm shop was built, along with a smokehouse. And let’s not forget the red squirrels, rare orchids, alpacas and other furry friends who have been such an important part of the story.

Over four decades we’ve always tried to improve what we do without losing the essence of how we started – a friendly family-run business in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. We’ve always been proud to look after the land and wildlife of the area, with conservation and sustainability at the heart of everything we do. We also remember with gratitude all the people who’ve helped us to grow, with especial thanks to the likes of Joe, Paolo, David and Stuart.