October 2024 - Magazine - Page 25
Pig-racing at Badsell
Goodbye Badsell
My parents, Simon and Celia Preston,
bought Badsell Park Farm on Cri琀琀enden
Lane near Ma琀昀ield in 1966. It was 185
acres of Kent clay soil with a farmhouse,
co琀琀ages and a range of farm buildings
including an oast house, although hop
farming had ceased a few years before.
I had the good fortune to grow up on
the farm and when I was s琀椀ll a child my
parents started to diversify. They o昀昀ered
PYO strawberries, opened a pe琀�ng zoo,
added a café, a gi昀琀 shop - and then a lot
more. There was soon a mouse mansion,
a Trinidadian leaf-cu琀琀er ant colony and a
bu琀琀er昀氀y house. All sorts of events took
place, from hot air balloon fes琀椀vals, to
Shakespeare recita琀椀on contests to medieval fairs with pig racing and fortune tellers.
To say that it was a colourful place to grow
up is an understatement. It was o昀琀en magical and with over 昀椀昀琀y thousand people a
year visi琀椀ng the farm, a lot of people got
to experience the Badsell magic.
Last year an old family friend, Elizabeth
Kirkor Rogers, persuaded me to write a
book about Badsell. As she put it, “I don’t
want all those stories to be lost”. Wri琀椀ng
the book gave me a chance to reconnect
with people who had worked on the farm.
It was not hard to get them to reminisce
because, as I discovered, the Badsell days
were, in many cases, some of the best of
their lives.
The book is called “Goodbye Badsell” and
it is illustrated with photographs from
the 1960s to the 1990s, when my parents
sold the farm. It is available on Amazon
(where you can see wonderful reviews - all
5 star!) but if you live locally and would
like a signed copy delivered you can e-mail
me at adamprestonauthor@gmail.com.
The paperback is £9.99 and I can o昀昀er the
colour hardback version at £25. The book
is also on sale in Brenchley Post O昀케ce and
The Star in Ma琀昀ield.
Adam Preston
25
