Berriewood Farm,
Condover, Shrewsbury,
Shropshire, SY5 7NN
Company registration number: OC315195
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Berriewood Farm is a family run business located on the edge of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The farm has been in the family for several generations and has evolved from a working farm, wartime airfield into a bustling centre of equine activity and solar farm. We have a friendly community of livery clients and host a wide range of events and activities including dressage, showjumping, cross country and camps, dog training and weddings. Berriewood is a haven for meadow wildlife, butterflies, birds including buzzards, hares and many other species. We are eco-friendly with over thirty acres of solar panels and over 20 acres of woodland.
Berriewood Farm is run by husband-and-wife duo, Penny and Peter. They have three daughters, each pursuing their careers namely in the NHS. The eldest and youngest have a special interest in equine and are heavily involved in the British Eventing horse trials held annually at the farm.
Our family came here in the 1880s, having been Ostlers in Shrewsbury and then farmers before that. In those days horses were very much part of the farming operation and at Berriewood they have never left. Penny’s Grandmother was described by relatives as ‘horse mad’. Her Father – Bill Lock, bred and showed hunters, and produced point-to pointers winning various National Trophies. The Hunter Improvement Society stallions stood at Berriewood up until the late 1970s.
In 1980, Penny and her mother started the riding school here with riding lessons, livery, shows and competitions. We also ran the Shropshire equestrian Youth Training and Modern Apprenticeship schemes in the 1980s and 1990s.
The farm comprises of over 100 acres of which a proportion is solar panels. Currently the farmland is grazed by sheep or cut for hay or silage. There are rides over the land and in the woods. We also have permissive bridleways which provide access to longer rides over the hills.
In the Summer of 1941, just before the crops were due to be harvested, the Ministry of Defence took over the farm for an airfield. The family continued as best they could, grazing the land on the edges of the airfield, however the bulldozing of the crops was a terrible shock! The RAF built three runways and a huge number of buildings, many of which remain in use as stables and store etc. The Control Tower is still standing on neighbouring land with the words ‘Flying Control’ still clearly visible on the front. The runways have been taken up, but most of the taxi track still remains. The airfield was used by the RAF initially, then the USAF. After the War it was mothballed and the family was able to farm it again. In 1959 Penny’s father and mother bought it from the MOD.