May/June 2021

PEOPLE
Weddings are held at Raynham but Tom isn’t
pushing for them. “We are not majoring on
weddings, and if we do five to 10 in a year I am very
happy. I prefer to concentrate on a broad range of
events as a venue and don’t want to put all our eggs
in one basket. We have a premises licence now so
can offer the estate to promoters – I think the only
things we aren’t allowed to do are indoor events, and
wrestling…
“We tried our own music festival in 2017 and it
was a great learning process. If you want to dedicate
yourself to festivals I can see how they would build
up over time.”
A big fan of food and drink, Tom has hosted a
couple of pop-up restaurants. “I learned quickly how
not to do it in financial terms! We hired in a lot of the
infrastructure – marquees, generators, staff, chefs
etc. The restaurant idea certainly has legs and food
and drink is something we are really looking at as a
future direction. We have created the perfect space
and will be starting properly next year. Everyone’s a
foodie now so the timing is right and we are going
to be using the beef from our own herd. We will
be looking to attract the right quality of chef to
showcase what they can do from the estate. The plan
is to get different businesses interacting with each
other – a farm shop is also in the offing.”
GLAMPING
Raynham proudly ventured into glamping last year,
making use of the extended 56 day tented camping
rights with yurts. “We had four yurts positioned in
“WE HAVE ENJOYED
SOME WONDERFUL
COVERAGE IN THE
PRESS AND HAVE
BEEN RIDING HIGH
ON THE INTEREST
IN STAYCATIONS.”
what is now a wildflower meadow which we had
taken out of arable production on the farm. It is next
to the walled garden and looks out over the Wensum
Valley – a valley in Norfolk terms – which offers
breathtaking big skies at night.
“We now have full planning for up to 10 yurts. We
open on 30 May with the original four yurts and will
end the season in mid-September, as soon as the
schools are all back, so we can start proper works on
the site. We are now very much on a formal footing
so will be installing a sewerage treatment plant,
showers, loos and a permanent covered seating area
with an outdoor kitchen.
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