the farm shop guide – The Extra Mile

Posted on 07/10/202507/10/2025 by The Extra Mile

Celebrate British Food Fortnight

Farmers with a cart load of British farm food for British Food Fortnight

The best in home-grown British food

Every autumn, British Food Fortnight shines a well-deserved spotlight on the incredible bounty grown, reared, and produced across the UK. It’s a joyful two weeks of celebrating home-grown food, supporting British farmers, and reconnecting with the land that sustains us. For anyone passionate about sustainability, low-food-miles produce and discovering local flavours, this is the perfect time to explore your nearest farm shop, taste the best of British, and buy food that truly supports our countryside.

If you’ve ever wanted to eat more seasonally, reduce your carbon footprint, and enjoy fresher, more flavourful ingredients, British Food Fortnight is your invitation to do just that.

What is British Food Fortnight?

British Food Fortnight is the nation’s biggest celebration of British produce, organised by Love British Food. It typically runs for two weeks in late September and early October, coinciding with harvest season: a fitting moment to celebrate the richness of the British countryside.

Now running for over 20 years, the event brings together farmers, food producers, farm shops, restaurants, schools, and communities to champion home-grown food. The idea is simple: to remind us all of the value of buying British. This is not only for taste and freshness but also for the health of our planet and our rural economies.

At its heart, the campaign encourages people to choose local: to seek out British ingredients in shops, to dine at restaurants that source from nearby farms, and to support producers who care deeply about the land.

Where it’s happening

The beauty of British Food Fortnight is that it happens everywhere, from small rural villages to bustling cities. You’ll find events in farm shops, markets, pubs, and schools across the country. Many local councils and community groups get involved too, hosting food festivals, tasting sessions, cookery demos, and farm tours.

Farm shops are often at the centre of the celebration. Many places host tastings of seasonal produce, cheese and cider pairings, pick-your-own fruit days, and family-friendly events that showcase the stories behind local food.

You can find participating businesses on the Love British Food website or simply ask your local farm shop if they’re taking part. (Chances are, they’ll be delighted to tell you all about their latest harvest!)

Why buy British?

Choosing British food isn’t just patriotic. It’s practical, sustainable, and delicious (as the 150+ places in our own The Farm Shop Guide will attest!).

Here’s why buying British matters:

Fewer food miles: Home-grown food travels shorter distances meaning it’s fresher, tastier, and has a smaller carbon footprint.
Support for local farms: Every pound spent at a farm shop or local market goes back into the community, helping family-run farms thrive and keeping rural communities alive.
Better animal welfare: British farmers are recognised for maintaining some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world.
Seasonal eating: Buying British means eating with the seasons — crisp apples in autumn, plump asparagus in spring, and juicy strawberries in summer.
A stronger rural economy: Supporting British producers keeps the countryside alive and working, preserving traditional skills and landscapes.

It’s a simple equation: buying British food sustains British farms.

How to get involved

There are so many easy, rewarding ways to take part in British Food Fortnight:

Visit your local farm shop: Discover fresh produce straight from nearby fields. Many farm shops offer local cheeses, chutneys, breads, and meats you won’t find in supermarkets.
Cook a British meal: Plan a dinner around seasonal British ingredients. Think roast root vegetables, local lamb, or apple crumble with fruit from a nearby orchard.
Join an event: Look out for community feasts, farmers’ markets or open farm days near you.
Share on social media: Tag your finds with #LoveBritishFood or #BuyBritish and help spread the message.
Give the gift of local food: A hamper of farm shop favourites makes the perfect present for food lovers.

Discover more with The Farm Shop Guide

If British Food Fortnight leaves you hungry for more, The Farm Shop Guide is your ultimate companion. This beautifully crafted book from Extra Mile Books showcases the best farm-to-fork destinations across the UK, from hidden rural gems to coastal farm shops and market cafés.

Every entry celebrates the people behind the produce (the farmers, bakers, butchers, and growers) who are all committed to sustainability and high-quality, low-food-miles food. Whether you’re planning a countryside trip or simply looking for a more ethical way to shop, The Farm Shop Guide helps you discover where your food really comes from.

It’s not just a directory; it’s an invitation to live more locally, gently, and deliciously.

A celebration that lasts all year

While British Food Fortnight may officially last two weeks, its spirit can carry on throughout the year. Every time you buy from a local farm shop, choose British butter over imported brands, or visit a pick-your-own orchard, you’re celebrating what makes our countryside so special.

Supporting British farmers is about more than food. It’s about community, sustainability, and a shared respect for the land. So this British Food Fortnight, go the extra mile: discover your nearest farm shop, fill your basket with local goodness, and take a bite of Britain at its best.

Posted on 05/08/202505/08/2025 by The Extra Mile

Coastal Paths in Britain: where to start?

10 coastal paths around the country

Many of your journeys around and across Britain are to visit the coast, from Cornwall to Caithness. Read on to discover ten of our island’s finest coastal paths and walks: perhaps you might then be the one to write the next coast-path bestseller… If you discover any must-see cafés on your adventures, do let us know for the next edition of our Coastal Café Guide.

1. South West Coast Path (England)

Length: 630 miles
Route: Minehead (Somerset) to Poole Harbour (Dorset)
Highlights: England’s longest National Trail, offering dramatic cliffs, sandy beaches, and charming fishing villages.
Recommended guidebook: Walking the South West Coast Path by Paddy Dillon (Cicerone Press)

2. Pembrokeshire Coast Path (Wales)

Length: 186 miles
Route: St Dogmaels to Amroth
Highlights: Traverses the UK’s only coastal national park, featuring rugged cliffs, sandy beaches, and diverse wildlife.
Get started: The Pembrokeshire Coast Path by Dennis Kelsall (Cicerone Press)

3. Causeway Coast Way (Northern Ireland)

Length: 33 miles
Route: Portstewart to Ballycastle
Highlights: Showcases the UNESCO-listed Giant’s Causeway, dramatic cliffs, and historic castles.
A classic guidebook: Causeway Coast Way by Eoin Reilly (Rucksack Readers)

4. Fife Coastal Path (Scotland)

Length: 117 miles
Route: Kincardine to Newburgh
Highlights: Passes through picturesque fishing villages, sandy beaches, and historic sites.
A guidebook to consider: Fife Coastal Path by Sandra Bardwell and Jacquetta Megarry (Rucksack Readers)

5. Norfolk Coast Path (England)

Length: 84 miles
Route: Hunstanton to Hopton-on-Sea
Highlights: Features expansive beaches, salt marshes, and nature reserves.
For inspiration, see: Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path by Bruce Robinson (Cicerone Press)

6. Arran Coastal Way (Scotland)

Length: 65 miles
Route: Circular route around the Isle of Arran
Highlights: Encircles the Isle of Arran, offering diverse landscapes from rugged cliffs to sandy shores.
A guidebook to consider: Arran Coastal Way by Jacquetta Megarry (Rucksack Readers)

7. Ceredigion Coast Path (Wales)

Length: 65 miles
Route: Cardigan to Ynyslas
Highlights: Offers stunning views of Cardigan Bay, opportunities to spot dolphins, and access to quaint coastal towns.
Get a flavour: Walking the Ceredigion Coast Path by Liz Allan (Kittiwake Books)

8. Gower and Swansea Bay Coast Path (Wales)

Length: 97 miles
Route: Loughor to Kenfig Dunes
Highlights: Traverses the Gower Peninsula, the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, featuring dramatic cliffs, sandy beaches, and rich biodiversity.
Have a peek into: Official Guide: Carmarthen Bay & Gower (Wales Coast Path)

9. South Wales Coast and Severn Estuary Coastal Path (Wales)

Length: 109 miles
Route: Kenfig to Chepstow
Highlights: Offers varied landscapes, from industrial heritage sites to natural reserves, and connects with the Offa’s Dyke Path at Chepstow.
Find inspiration: Top 10 Walks: Wales Coast Path – South Wales Coast (The Trails Shop)

10.Tarka Trail (England)

Length: 180 miles (figure-of-eight route)
Route: Barnstaple to Meeth and back via various towns
Highlights: Inspired by the novel Tarka the Otter, this trail combines coastal and inland paths, offering diverse scenery and wildlife.
A walking, cycling, wheeling guide: The Tarka Trail Guide, by tarkatrailguide.co.uk.

Choose your path and walk it well

You could spend a lifetime walking the coasts of Great Britain, though for many the reality is the odd week and some memorable long weekends here and there. Wherever you go and however you get there, do keep your palate peeled for lovely new cafés that pop up at the roadsides you pass and the coast paths you cover, and let us know for the next editions of our café and local food guides.

Check out our three best-selling foodie guidebooks below, with The Coastal Café Guide perhaps being the best suited to fuelling your fun around the edges of our island this year. Good luck, happy trails, and bon appetit.

Posted on 08/06/202505/06/2025 by The Extra Mile

The passion behind our Farm Shop Guide

Girl with dreadlocks reading The Farm Shop Guide

Introducing: The Farm Shop Guide

Eleanor Weeks-Bell is the compiler of 2024’s Amazon bestseller, The Farm Shop Guide (a book featured in Waitrose Weekend, Times Weekend and more). Here’s her introduction to The Farm Shop Guide, to give you a feel for what it and we at Extra Mile Books are all about. Ele, over to you…

“Why buy flavourless, pre-packaged food that has been shipped thousands of miles when you can get the most deliciously fresh and toothsome produce direct from the field down the road? Starting in Scotland and running from North to South and West to East – to end in Kent, the fertile garden of England – this guide is a celebration of Britain’s growers and producers and their farm shops, cafés, and restaurants.

Family-run farms and more

You’ll find everything from traditional rustic barns to contemporary vending machines, run by all types of people from experienced farming families who have lovingly tilled the soils for generations, to community-owned or charity-led farms that provide opportunities for people to learn new skills and to improve their wellbeing. There are over 1,500 farm shops in Britain and this first edition of The Farm Shop Guide features over 160 of our favourites.

From rural to urban settings and from small and quirky to large and established places, this book reflects the fantastic diversity of Britain’s farms and farm shops. Read on to discover specialists of all varieties of vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, honey, cider, wine, and flowers, and the wonderful cafés, restaurants, and delis where you can sample this bounty in situ.

From children’s play parks to PYO

You’ll unearth memorable places with wildlife trails, pick-your-own (PYO) fields, children’s play parks, and animal petting farms, plus farms that run their own events, courses, and workshops. As well as reducing food miles, many of the farms you’re about to meet are fully invested in protecting and the natural environment through regenerative and nature-friendly farming.

There are farms that are planting hectares of hedgerows, wildflower meadows, and trees; raising rare breeds to the highest welfare standards; working to organic principles; reducing their energy use through wind and solar power and other measures; and those earning certification from bodies such as Pasture for Life, RSPB Fair to Nature, and the Soil Association.

While researching this book we’ve come to know and love some incredible farmers and producers. Working all hours, their resilience keeps them ploughing on in the face of increased costs, staff shortages, capricious weather systems, and the stranglehold of supermarkets on the farming community. These people are all passionate about growing good food well and championing the very best in seasonal local produce.

Connect with where your food comes from

By visiting the places in this guide, you are supporting these committed custodians of our land while benefiting from eating delicious, nutritious fresh food. You’ll feel more connected to where your food comes from…and can even top up the wellbeing tank by spending time in nature or petting a baby goat! We hope this book inspires and accompanies you on many new adventures across farm and field.”

Eleanor Weeks-Bell, Compiler of The Farm Shop Guide

Sound like your kind of book?

If our ethos resonates with you, we have a sneaking suspicion that you might enjoy The Farm Shop Guide, or its sibling books The Coastal Café Guide (which does what it says on the tin) or The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services. Hit the image or button below to browse our current guides, and do let us know if you find any favourites that we’ve yet to stumble upon.

Browse guides here

Posted on 19/05/202519/05/2025 by The Extra Mile

Eye-Opening ‘Ultra-Processed Food’ and Sugar Films

Food Inc. 2: back for seconds. The documentary image featuring a cow with a barcode.

10 food films to make you think twice...

We produce books about cafés and farm shops to help you eat fresh, local food while travelling. Our guides aren’t purely about supporting local businesses though: ultra-processed and sugar-rich foods are bad news for our own health, and that of society at large (and getting larger).

Check out our top ten eye-opening films and documentaries below about the global food and sugar industry. You’ll probably want to buy our book, The Farm Shop Guide, instantly, to bring more unadulterated, farm-fresh goodness into your lives, so find some handy links at the bottom. Let’s start with the most recent film first…

1. Food, Inc. 2 (2024)

A sequel to the acclaimed 2008 film, this documentary delves into how ultra-processed foods dominate modern diets, highlighting their manipulation by the food industry and the decline of fresh, whole foods.

2. Ultra-Processed: How Food Tech Consumed the American Diet (2024)

This CBS documentary explores how ultra-processed foods have infiltrated American diets, linking them to chronic diseases and questioning our reliance on convenience. The UK trails behind The States in terms of food habits but the pattern is clear and we’re heading in a similar direction. Forewarned is fore-armed…

3. Ultra-Processed Food: A Recipe for Ill Health? (2024)

An investigative documentary examining the chemicals in ultra-processed foods and the weak regulations allowing their widespread use, raising concerns about health impacts. Watch it here on Daily Motion.

4. What Are We Feeding Our Kids? (2021)

Dr. Chris van Tulleken’s month-long diet of ultra-processed foods leads to alarming health effects, highlighting the dangers of these convenient but harmful products. Watch it now on Daily Motion.

5. Eating Our Way to Extinction (2021)

Narrated by Kate Winslet, this film exposes the devastating impact of industrial meat production on the planet and advocates for more sustainable dietary choices. Watch it here.

6. That Sugar Film (2014)

This eye-opening documentary follows Damon Gameau as he consumes a high-sugar diet of ‘healthy’ processed foods (including the everyday Australian’s amount of sugar each week). It reveals the harmful effects of hidden sugars on the body, alongside the shockingly short amount of time it takes for the negative effects to kick in.

7. Super Size Me (2004)

In this ground-breaking documentary, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock embarks on a 30-day experiment consuming only McDonald’s food. The film highlights the drastic effects of fast food on physical and mental health. It sparked widespread discussions about nutrition and the fast-food industry. A ‘Supersize Me 2’ is also now out, see next… Find ways to watch it here.

8. Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (2017)

A follow-up to the original, Spurlock investigates the fast-food industry’s marketing tactics by opening his own chicken restaurant. The film exposes how terms like ‘free-range’ and ‘natural’ can be misleading, while revealing the complexities behind food labelling and consumer perception. Find info on IMDB here.

9. Fed Up (2014)

Narrated by Katie Couric, this documentary examines the role of sugar in the obesity epidemic, particularly among children. It critiques the food industry’s influence on dietary guidelines and the government’s failure to regulate sugar consumption effectively. Watch the trailer here on YouTube.

10. Sugar Coated (2015)

This Canadian film delves into the sugar industry’s history of down-playing health risks associated with sugar consumption. It draws parallels to tactics used by the tobacco industry, shedding light on corporate influence over public health narratives. Find more info here on IMDb.

Depressing, right? Here's an antidote...

These films may make you angry with the industry or with government, or determined to do better for yourself (or both in equal measures). While we can’t arrive at your house to cook you sugar-free, health-first meals every day, we can definitely help you find farm-fresh, local, lower-food-miles food to help you make a start on eating seasonally and more healthily.

Check out our three best-selling foodie guidebooks below, with The Farm Shop Guide being the best suited to spring-boarding your diet in a healthier direction. Good luck and bon appetit.

Posted on 18/12/202419/12/2024 by The Extra Mile

Get The Extra Mile for Christmas

How to get The Extra Mile in time for Christmas

Well..the quickest and easiest way is to ask for it! In terms of ‘how do you physically get hold of a copy to give as a gift now we’re so close to Christmas’, here are a few ways for you to ensure you get a copy in time. We no longer advise you buy it direct from us for a pre-Christmas delivery, due to handling/ postage timeframes, but fear not: there are plenty of ways to get your copy on time from other in-person and online sellers.

Buy or order The Extra Mile into your local bookshop

Many bookshops already stock The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services, plus our other two books: The Coastal Café Guide and The Farm Shop Guide. Pop in or give your local high street or independent book shop a call to see if they can reserve you their in-stock copy so you have it safely in hand in time for Christmas. If not, you can ask them to order your copies in and they’ll usually arrive very quickly, with bookshops’ mixed orders from their wholesalers and distributors landing daily, especially at Christmas. Do check on the likely arrival date before ordering.

Buy from venues in The Extra Mile Guide

Most of the venues in The Extra Mile (or The Coastal Café Guide, or The Farm Shop Guide) stock the book that they feature in. People love browsing the book and buying their own copy while visiting, and many of our fabulous owners restocked their café’s bookshelves well in advance, in readiness for planned – and impromptu if you’re anything like us! – Christmas gift buying. You can check The Extra Mile’s online map here to see if a venue near you features in the book, then give them a call to see if they have any of 2023’s blue, Edition 4 book (with the bridge on the front) so you can simply pick one up there, supporting them while you’re at it.

Buy The Extra Mile from online booksellers

It’s now too close to Christmas for us to be able to guarantee that orders direct from this website will reach their intended recipient on or before 24 December, but other online book sellers and resellers have different postal arrangements and will be able to get you your books in time. So, thank you for considering buying The Extra Mile direct from us at Printslinger (the small, indie publisher behind the book), and we’re truly only thinking of you when we say so late into the Christmas swing, that you’ll likely have more luck getting things in time if you buy from someone with a next-day/ express delivery option at this point. And don’t feel bad for buying elsewhere; we rise up the rankings when you buy online, which ultimately helps more people see our books and celebrate the nation’s independent and local food networks, so, positives will still come of it!

Happy Christmas and enjoy The Extra Mile Guide

The very best of luck to those of you tracking down copies of The Extra Mile in time to wrap for Christmas. You can always risk it by going direct and simply say ‘your gift is in the post’….I’m sure your foodie friends won’t mind if their gift is a little late! It will most definitely be better late than never in the case of our three top-selling titles.

Have a wonderful Christmas and if you did want to browse our books and great value book bundles, you’ll find them all here on Printslinger’s online bookshop: simply hit the button below to browse all of our current books.

Posted on 20/11/202424/02/2025 by The Extra Mile

BEST FOOD FESTIVALS FOR 2025

(c) eat:Festivals. People browsing local food stall at an eat:festival

THE BEST FOOD FESTIVALS FOR 2025

This blog brings together some of our favourite national and regional food festivals, so that you don’t miss a culinary trick in 2025 when looking for something to do with your foodie friends. Thank you to the organisers of the South West’s multi-award-winning food and drink festival series, eat:Festivals, for the use of their evocative, appetite-whetting imagery, above.

Our guidebooks (The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services; The Farm Shop Guide; and The Coastal Café Guide) have one thing in common with these festivals. Our books encourage people to eat local, buy local, avoid boring big-brand food and the monotony of motorway eats, and instead to support smaller, independent producers. You’ll find many of these festivals featured in our newest book (already a #1 Amazon bestseller), The Farm Shop Guide.

Have we missed any festivals? Let us know, we’ll slip them in.

FOOD FESTIVALS IN/ FROM APRIL 2025

eat:Festivals…Year-round events in 2025 (from 5 April until 13 Dec)

eat:Festivals need a whole website of their own, there is so much going on. With local, regional events plus festive and themed markets (think vegan, Christmas, gate-to-plate), their impressive series of day-long markets begin with eat:Bideford on Sat 5 April 2025. They then continue (through Minehead, Weston-super-Mare, Castle Cary, Nailsea, Exmouth, Tavistock, Taunton, Bedminster, Burnham, Portishead, Axminster, Yeovil, Chipping Sodbury Shaftesbury, Honiton, Totnes, Wellington, Tiverton, and Clevedon) until Sat 13 December 2025, drawing a year of South West food festivals to a close with eat:Dawlish. Come along for everything from cider, organic veggies and smoked fish to chocolate, gelato and local spirits. Street performers and sustainability are high on the list of must-haves for every eat:Festival.

Book or attend your next eat:Festival here.

FOOD FESTIVALS IN MAY 2025

Porthleven Food Festival, Cornwall, 2-4 May 2025

Designed as a toast to Cornish food (while raising awareness of the key issues relating to food and the environment), this event takes over the whole town in a weekend of pasties, chef demos, Bloody Marys, ska bands, and comedy skits. It’s a riot.

Visit the Porthleven Food Festival in Cornwall.

Ludlow Food Festival, Shropshire, 9-11 May 2025

The spring chapter of this famed foodie event (set against the Marches’ iconic castle) has bands, beer, music, and motors. Although more beer-focused than the autumn edition, you’ll find a wealth of artisan food producers ready to show off the region’s best street food. A fab food festival in Shropshire.

Follow Ludlow’s Spring Food Festival, Shropshire

Follow Ludlow’s main Food Festival (12-14 Sep 2025)

North Leeds Food Festival, West Yorkshire, May 10-11 2025

A popular menu of tribute bands, street entertainers, artisan traders, indy bars, and delicious street food make this a popular addition to any self-respecting foodie’s calendar. Kids love the fun fair and inflatables, leaving grown-ups free to enjoy innovative chef demos and samples of local tipples.

Visit the North Leeds Food Festival site

Blenheim Palace Food Festival, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, 24-26 May 2025

In this rather dramatic setting, discover new flavours and be inspired by passionate chefs, food makers and bakers, and esteemed culinary guests. For street food, live music, curated food stalls, kitchen and homeware gifts, Blenheim is the place to be. If you happen to have an Annual or Palace and Play Pass, it’s also completely free (else find tickets online).

Head to the Blenheim Palace Food Festival in 2025.

FOOD FESTIVAL IN JUNE 2025

Taste of London, Regent’s Park, 12-16 June 2025

This five-day ‘food-fuelled garden party’, as the organisers call it, happens in the heart of the capital’s vast Regent’s Park. It features an impressive number of London’s hottest chefs and restaurants, and introduces movers and shakers new to the food scene. Cocktails, desserts, cook schools, and street food await.

Visit Taste of London for festival map, tickets, and info.

Shrewsbury Food Festival 28-29 June 2025

On the last weekend of June, Shrewsbury Food Festival transforms the town’s park with 200 independent food and drink stalls, street food trucks, and bars. Top chefs offer free talks and demonstrations, while a Chef School inspires budding cooks. A dedicated kids’ zone features free activities like circus skills, have-a-go activities, and inflatables. Enjoy live performances on the Music Stage and Family Entertainment Stage or learn about food and sustainability in the Field to Fork area. Winner of ‘Festival of the Year’ at West Midlands Tourism Awards 2024, it’s more than just a food festival.

Visit Shrewsbury Food Festival.

FOOD FESTIVALS IN JULY 2025

Great Yorkshire Show, North Yorkshire, July 8-11 2025

A 140,000-strong crowd descends on Harrogate each summer to celebrate British food, countryside, and farming at the Great Yorkshire Show. Staged since 1837, this is one of the UK’s oldest, largest agricultural shows. Marvel at the prize animals in the judging ring, sample fine Yorkshire produce, and enjoy the live music.

For FAQ and tickets, visit the Great Yorkshire Show online.

National Geographic Traveller Food Festival, Business Design Centre, London, 19-20 July 2025,

With a food hall, wine and spirits theatre, workshops, master food photography sessions and more, Nat Geo’s fabulous food fest gives you the chance to ‘taste the world’ in the heart of London. Head to the main stage to see decorated chefs, TV personalities, and cookbook writers, and be inspired by their words, wit, and culinary wisdom.

Global gourmets: get your 2025 tickets to the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival here.

Rock Oyster, Dinham House, North Cornwall, 24-27 July 2025

Alongside an artisanal food extravaganza, Rock Oyster has a stellar lineup of musical treats in 2025, from the Ministry of Sound Classical to Rag’n’Bone Man, UB40 and more. Sea, sand, surf, foodie workshops and sessions, salivating over delicious gourmet goods: Rock Oyster 2025 has it all.

Check out the Rock Oyster 2025 schedule and tickets here.

Feast On, Bristol, 24-27 July 2025

Hosted on Bristol’s iconic Durdham Downs parkland, Feast On offers signature dishes from the city’s top chefs as well as a produce market, open fire cooking demos, live music, and tasting opportunities. Bristol is also home to most of this publisher’s staff (it’s where Printslinger is based) so this Bristol Food Festival is of course a huge favourite. See you there!

Get stuck in to Feast On Bristol in 2025

FOOD FESTIVALS IN AUGUST 2025

PieFest, Melton Mowbray, 3-4 August 2025

Does this food festival speak for itself? To eat all the pies – or to see who makes some of the country’s very finest examples thereof – come to pie-central, Melton Mowbray, in early August. Check the suspension on your car before setting off, boot laden with golden-pastry’d goodness…

Visit PieFest in August 2025.

Glasgow Foodies Festival, 8-10 August 2025

Glasgow’s is one in a cracking series of 14 ‘Foodie’ festivals taking place right across the UK, each celebrating the food of its region. Expect fire-pit cooking, an artisan market, street food, award-winning chefs, and great music. If you’re looking for a food festival in Scotland, look no further.

Visit Glasgow Foodies Festival online for more.

The Big Feastival, the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, 22-24 August 2025

Cross a music festival with a food fest and you have: the Feastival. Hosted at a farm in the Cotswolds, it’s a weekend extravaganza of music, dancing, top-class chefs, finger-licking street food, and family fun.

Get your tickets to Oxfordshire’s Big Feastival here.

FOOD FESTIVALS IN SEPTEMBER 2025

Narberth Food Festival, Pembrokeshire 2025 (date TBC)

West Wales has a burgeoning food scene, and the pretty market town of Narberth celebrates the best of it. Entry is free and the 50-plus stalls are full of creative flavours: perhaps local ferments, whisky, preserved fish, or vegan meals. There’s also a rich menu of music and activities for children. Check online before making any plans, we’re just waiting with everything crossed for the 2025 dates.

Visit Narberth Food Festival in 2025

Abergavenny Food Festival, 20-21 September 2025

The picturesque market town of Abergavenny is the perfect backdrop for one of Britain’s finest food festivals. From inspiring food education to parties in the Dome, meet-the-author events, and every street food and gourmet treat you can imagine, Abergavenny Food Festival really is a treat for all the senses. Full of food? Walk it off with a stroll around the nearby castle or canal.

Visit one of Wales’s best food festivals: Abergavenny 2025.

Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival, Suffolk, 27-28 September 2025

2025 is the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival’s 20th anniversary: what a year to experience this brilliant event for the first time. it features cooking classes for kids, tractor rides, and over 100 local food and drink producers from across Suffolk. As a not-for-profit outfit, its raison d’être is to reconnect people with the food provided by the nearby landscape, and to champion emerging and established producers. (Exactly what Printslinger guidebooks like to do, too.)

Get your tickets to Aldeburgh’s food festival 2025 here.

FOOD FESTIVALS IN OCTOBER 2025

East Midlands Food Festival, Melton Mowbray, 5-6 October 2025

Rural foodie capital, Melton Mowbray, celebrates its fêted pork pies alongside plentiful artisanal treats every autumn, at this covered food festival. Stalls spill over with farm-fresh produce, while the area’s multicultural flavours wait to be sampled: the Iranian offering is strong. For Pie Fest, you’ll need to be here in August.

Plan your trip to the East Midlands Food Festival 2025 here.

LOVE FOOD? DISCOVER OUR FOODIE TRAVEL GUIDES

If you love local food, and supporting smaller, independent and often family-run food and drinks businesses (and farmers and farm shops), have a look at our three guidebooks on the button below. They’d each make a great gift for your foodie friend, or treat yourself to the trio. Banish forgettable food, and eat better (while buying local) with The Extra Mile, The Coastal Café Guide, or The Farm Shop Guide.

Posted on 14/11/202414/11/2024 by The Extra Mile

PICK YOUR OWN (PYO) CHRISTMAS TREES NEAR YOU

Christmas tree image (c) OlegDoroshin, AdobeStock 459229799

Pick-your-own Christmas trees

Just when you thought Christmas couldn’t get any more magical, here we are with a list of places across the country where you can actually pick your own Christmas tree. To find more festive farm shops offering wintry fun, family Christmas tree picking, and Christmas food and farm experiences this year, order your coy of the #1 bestseller, The Farm Shop Guide, today.

Pick-your-own Christmas tree in Essex at Lathcoats Farm

Apple lovers – look no further. Fifty varieties are grown here at Lathcoats Farm over the growing season, lovingly nurtured since great-grandfather Taylor set up a fruit farm in 1912 to supply London’s Covent Garden. Sample a few in the shop or as a home-pressed apple juice; fermented versions are available for grown-ups. You’ll find them alongside still-warm bread, and a range of products from small, independent businesses across East Anglia: perhaps Suffolk salami, Latchingdon lamb, heritage tomatoes, or thick farm cream. The Bee Shed Café serves simple lunches crafted with the same tasty produce found in the shop. Grab a famous rarebit and – weather permitting – enjoy it out in the ‘Pig Pen’ while the kids visit the animals in the petting farm. The café does takeaway drinks and cakes if you’re short on time. In winter, it’s the ideal place to come to pick your own Christmas tree. Always check ahead for any availability or booking requirements.

Visit Lathcoats online to organise your Christmas farm experience today.

Head to Hawarden Estate Farm Shop for PYO Christmas trees in North Wales

In winter, the Hawarden Estate in Flintshire is the ideal place to cut your own Christmas tree and for solo and family-friendly Christmas experiences. A contagious enthusiasm for sustainability permeates this first-rate Flintshire farm shop, which is just 15 minutes from Chester. Seasonal fruit and veg are grown here and the milk from the machine is produced by the happy Ayrshire cows across the road. The 100-year-old PYO fields offer abundant summer and autumn spoils; September’s pumpkin picking is popular. Visit the airy café to taste the difference that provenance makes to flavour: try an estate-plundered breakfast, smoked trout sandwich, or Welsh rump steak. It is part of the enormous Harwarden Estate which has its own private lake, walled garden, and campsite if you want to soak up the peace of the countryside as you toast marshmallows over the campfire in summer. In winter, it’s the place to go for PYO Christmas trees. Always check ahead for any availability or booking requirements.

Visit the Hawarden Estate website to plan your Christmas experience.

PYO Christmas trees in Dorset at Gullivers Farm, Shop and Kitchen

Family-friendly café and shop, and biodynamic working farm, Gulliver’s is one-of-a-kind. Not for its summer shelves which are laden with seasonal fruits and vegetables, fresh bread, artisanal cheeses, zero-waste refills, and organic meats, but for its inclusive ethos. This not-for-profit social enterprise was created by GB Paralympian and silver medallist Bethy Woodward and her husband, retired international athlete, Lee Doran, to help adults with support needs shine. Those companions man the tills, tend the animals and polytunnels (veg, meat, eggs, and milk are produced here), and help ply tables with seasonal delights. It is a Dorset haven that feels worlds away from bustling Bournemouth nearby. Check out Wellness Yurt events and café supper clubs. Make time for the buggy, dementia, and dog-friendly Nature Trail. In winter, it’s a top spot for pick-your-own Christmas trees, as well as warming hot chocolates, delicious cakes, and an unforgettable Christmassy vibe. Always check ahead for any availability or booking requirements.

Visit Gullivers Farm to plan your PYO Christmas tree mission.

Pick your own Christmas tree at Newton Farm Shop and Café

In the picturesque village of Newton St Loe, near Bath, is the cosy Newton Farm Shop. In summer, pass barrows of blooms to find shelves and fridges crammed with local dairy products, charcuterie, and stylish homeware and gifts (the rows of artisanal beers, ciders and wines will seriously impress). This is a family-run farm and fourth-generation farmer, Josh, is passionate about regenerative practices that improve soil quality and capture carbon. He’s busy raising cattle, sheep, and pigs to keep the farm shop butchery counter brimming with home-produced beef, pork, and lamb, alongside local chicken and poultry. There are piglets, goats, wildlife-packed hedgerows, and a gorgeous 1950s tractor to keep children entertained, while you enjoy a coffee and a bite to eat in the excellent café. In winter, it’s just the place for you to come to pick your own Christmas tree. Always check ahead for any availability or booking requirements.

Find Newton Farm Shop and Café online.

Visit Spring Lane Farm Shop in Nottinghamshire to pick your own Christmas tree

Spring Lane’s oak-framed and sometimes flower-wreathed porch (in summer) gives way to a barn of delights. Regulars say their food
is ‘some of the best around’, particularly recommending the ribeye steaks, sausage rolls, freshly squeezed orange juice, and relishes. Sausages are a speciality and bread is baked on site every day, as are the cakes. Warm, friendly staff are on hand to answer any ‘how to cook it’ queries. The Spencer family first tended these fields in 1939. In the 1960s they began selling eggs and spuds from their front door and… we know the rest. Today’s farm shop still stands alongside the family’s mixed working farm, which is home to a herd of cattle, a flock of sheep, and crops of wheat and potatoes. Book a lamb bottle-feeding slot in spring for a joyful, tail-wiggling half hour in the sheep crêche. In winter, come to Spring Lane, a festive farm shop during the winter season, to pick your own Christmas trees as part of a magical, memorable day out.

Visit Spring Lane Farm Shop online.

Want to ‘PYO’ Christmas tree in Aberdeenshire? Head to Westerton Farm

The Gammie family have farmed in the Mearns for over 100 years. In that time, they’ve reared pigs and cattle, and grown flowers, potatoes, and strawberries. The focus now is on hypnotic fields of wheat and barley, with a few hectares for scrumptious, sea-breeze-bathed veggies and pumpkins. The rustic Farm to Table shop has crates of their own vegetables, local produce, and a good refill section.

Fridges of local meats, cheeses, and juices mean you can easily do the weekly shop here. Loitering is encouraged, with a kids’ play area, picnic benches, goats, and alpacas to visit; the barn is often open with kids activities, farmers’ markets, and pop-up shops. The log-burner warmed café is known for its comfy armchairs, hot drinks, toasties, and pastries – as well as serving homemade soups, bakes, and salads. In winter, the show goes on; call ahead to check on availability and opening hours then head over to pick your own Christmas tree at the wonderful Westerton Farm.

Find Westerton Farm online to organise your pick-your-own Christmas tree experience.

Find ‘cut your own Christmas tree’ locations and so much more with The Farm Shop Guide

The Farm Shop Guide (shown below over its fantastic coverage in The Times Weekend, October 2024), is an essential guide for the glovebox or coffee table of anyone who loves seeking out, supporting and celebrating local food, farms, and farm shops and cafés.

From wintry, festive and Christmassy farm experiences to farm shop cafés that can offer memorable moments in the company of your family, your dog, or simply your wonderful self, it’s packed with 165 places that offer something for everyone. Enjoy picking your own Christmas trees across Britain this winter, and use the blue button below to get your copy of the guide. It’s the perfect stocking filler for your foodie friends, and for anyone who cares about where their food comes from.

Posted on 06/11/202412/11/2024 by The Extra Mile

BEST-SELLING FOODIE TRAVEL GUIDES

Best seller image, (c) ibreakstock Adobe Stock 139558768

Bestselling travel guides 2024

We are Printslinger (like mud slinger, only slinging print about the place instead of mud). Home of three best-selling travel guidebooks and counting, we’re not as well known as Lonely Planet and the like. Our foodie travel books have excelled themselves in 2024 however, often beating the ‘big-hitters’ to the top spot when it comes to online book sales. Not bad for a small, independent publisher without the marketing might of the mass publishers. Long live independents!

At Printslinger, we’re driven by a desire to help you avoid boring, big-brand food and motorway services chains. We exist to help you seek out, support, and celebrate British food and Britain’s local food growers and retailers, Britain’s farmers, and independent farm shops, cafés, restaurants, coffee shops, and more. Let’s have a look at what each of our books has been up to in 2024.

The Extra Mile: a 2024 travel guide bestseller

The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services is our flagship title. It was produced annually in 2017, 2018, and 2019. It then had a three-year holiday (and a change of hands, into our hands), and returned with a bang in 2023.

The Extra Mile (ed. 4, 2023), has 275 off-motorway places to eat near motorway junctions. It was an Amazon #1 Bestseller across several food and travel guide categories in 2023 and 2024, and is frequently on the #1 Most Gifted charts. Its return to prominence in 2024 was aided by our publisher Kerry’s appearance on BBC Breakfast in August, discussing how our books help readers find and buy local food from independent cafés and farm shops near them and while on journeys around Britain.

“Is BBC Breakfast a radio show?” asked Kerry. “No, it’s primetime morning TV with an audience of 7m people,” we said. “I’ll wash my hair.”

The Coastal Café Guide: a #1 bestselling food guide in 2024

The Coastal Café Guide was released by Printslinger in July 2024. It is packed with 150 of Britain’s best coastal cafés and places to eat, like restaurants with sea views, top spots for coffee after a surf or a wild swim, and idyllic cafés to visit while walking the coast path. The Coastal Café Guide became an #1 Amazon Hot New Release and #1 Bestseller across several foodie travel guide categories. It is a great gift for people who love the sea, seafood, sea views, and culinary adventures on the coast. It was featured in The Scotsman with a long article, had a double-page feature in The Times Weekend, and was reviewed (favourably!) in The Sun, as well as getting coverage in many local and regional outlets.

Printslinger makes a donation of 1% of book sales to Surfers Against Sewage for every book we sell, managed through the Work for Good platform.

The Farm Shop Guide: a #1 bestselling food and travel guide in 2024

The Farm Shop Guide is the third title from Printslinger to date. It has 165 fantastic farm shops and farm shop cafés and restaurants, alongside info on farmers’ markets, food festivals, and the best PYO places for pick-your-own fruit, vegetables, flowers, pumpkins, and even Christmas trees across Britain. The Farm Shop Guide had a 2.5 page feature in The Times Weekend, a double-page spread in Waitrose Weekend, a review in The Telegraph’s ‘what’s new in food’, mentions in other outlets including Cotswold Life, and a good plug on TV’s BBC Breakfast.

Printslinger makes a donation of 1% of book sales to the Sustainable Food Trust for every book we sell, managed through the Work for Good platform.

Find out more about Printslinger and our best-selling food and travel guides

Printslinger is run by Kerry O’Neill and Laura Collacott. More titles are in the pipeline, with themes broadening out from pure food and travel guides into other realms. Rest assured, they will remain independent books, about memorable places and independent businesses, created by and for independent-minded people. To browse and buy our books, visit our online bookshop (link below). To discuss stocking our current books, marketing partnerships, press, work, your own book ideas, or anything else of interest, please use our contact form, linked to below. We look forward to hearing from you.

Finally, a big thank you from us all to everyone who’s bought and enjoyed our books, shared our books and given them as presents, featured our books in their print and online coverage, actually BEEN in our books, and worked with us. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you. Thank you!