A vineyard? In Yorkshire?
"A vineyard? In Yorkshire?" Disbelief or hesitation when mentioning these two things together is the reaction we most often face. Followed by "Wow, you're living the dream". Lived reality falls somewhere between the categories of madness and dream world. But it certainly started in our imagination.
When we made the decision to leave London it meant leaving two very demanding, sometimes rewarding but mostly stressful jobs. Thomas worked as an architect and Marina was setting up a new business for the advertising group M&C Saatchi. It also meant leaving friends and colleagues down in the hustle and bustle.
But when we had our first son Otto, we realised that we want to spend more time together as a family and want to be outside more. Even though we lived in Walthamstow with access to wetland, parks and a forest, it wasn't enough. We felt trapped most of the time.
When Thomas came out with the idea to develop a glamping site on the East coast, it gave us the right opportunity to make the decision to leave London. Four months later we had packed a large van with our belongings and drove up North to a small village near Driffield where Thomas grew up in.
Still on maternity leave we started to exploring our new location. We did trips every week: Dalby Forest, Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay, North York Moors, Malton, Sledmere - and had plenty of meat pies and pints in lovely country pubs between us (ask us for our recommendations!).
We started thinking about another business next to the glamping site. Soap from goat’s milk? Was something we thought about. Pottery? We wanted to produce something. Something locally sourced ideally.
One day in May or June we sat in one of our favourite pubs, the Pipe and Glass in South Dalton. This country pub is less known outside of Yorkshire than it should be. Run since 2006 by James and Kate Mackenzie, the pub and restaurant have gained many major awards, including a Michelin star. Absolutely deservedly. Everything you order, whether in the pub or restaurant, is absolutely delicious. Prepared with care and thoughtfulness and tastes magnificent. In addition, its location is in the square of a little village. No traffic, just the occasional tractor that passes by. In the summer the outside garden is a wonderful spot in the sun. It feels like there are no worries in the world.
So while sitting outside, enjoying the food and sunshine with our seven-month old son, we decided to have another drink. Why not? We checked the wine list for regional wines and discovered that they stocked a few English wines, one of them being grown literally in the next village, in Aike. After tasting Laurel Vines’ delicious Madeline Angevine, we decided to go to the vineyard directly to buy a few bottles.
That’s when the #Yorkshirevineyard bug bit us. Following on from a nice conversation with the owner at Laurel Vines, we found ourselves visiting open days, tasting days and harvest in several other vineyards in Yorkshire. It was like suddenly a whole new world opened up to us of which we had never known before.
Chris and Gillian from Yorkshire Heart in Nun Munkton were wonderfully open and welcoming to us, telling us they love what they do but that’s it’s bloody hard work. In North Yorkshire we visited the beautifully located Rydale Vineyard from which we later bought our first 7500 vines. We visited food fairs and country shows and met other growers and winemakers such as Little Wold Vineyard in South Cave. They all told us how much work it was to have a vineyard. But at the same time all their eyes were sparkling when telling us about their journey.
Inspired by those meetings and after experiencing harvest we knew: We’ll grow a vineyard on the East Coast of Yorkshire. By Autumn 2019, Thomas had ordered 7500 vines. In March, just before the first national lockdown due to the Covid-19 virus was announced, we received boxes after boxes of vines. They had to get in the ground quickly! With no means to hire help due to lockdown, we set out to plant each of these vines ourselves. Thomas drilled holes, the family planted. 7500 holes. 7500 plants.
