In 2006, Charlie decided, at 14 years old, that he wanted to become a farmer – with absolutely no previous farming background. So with his 6 chickens, the first generation Village Farm enterprise began. The following year Charlie bought and raised 3 orphan lambs, and from that moment on never looked back. Charlie met Frankie, who is also from a non-farming background, and alongside their 3 Border Collies they are determined to make it work!

Oak Tree Farm has been completely grown from the ground up… starting with just a field at Johnnygate Lane, Barlow. We now have farm buildings to house our livestock, hay, crops and feed. The farm is completely run by Charlie and Frankie – “we think as a new farm it is important to diversify and try new things – if you don’t try, you’ll never know!”

From Oak Tree Farm we also run our Village Logs firewood business, and in 2018 started our Village Pumpkins patch, followed by Village Sunflowers on the same site in 2022!

We are situated in the heart of North Derbyshire in a little village called Barlow, on Johnnygate Lane, directly between The Royal Oak at Millthorpe and The Tickled Trout in Barlow – both fantastic pubs!