Wealden Times | WT265 | June 2024 | Education Supplement inside

Down a quiet country
lane, enveloped by
stunning countryside,
Crabtree Farm has
provided Andrew
Jenkinson and his
family with the space
they needed to breathe,
after many years spent
in London. Following
extensive renovation
work, the farm is now
ready to share its idyllic
surroundings with guests
who come to stay in the
converted outbuildings
Maybe it was his
upbringing in a small
fishing village on the
east coast of Yorkshire. Maybe it
was the relentless nature of twenty
years spent at the heart of London’s
media industry, at one of the
UK’s biggest advertising agencies.
Whatever the ultimate pull, for
former Creative Director Andrew
Jenkinson, the return to a more
rural existence was too strong to
resist. In September 2019 Andrew,
along with his jewellery designer
wife Rachel Jackson, decided to
make the move and left London
with their two young children for
rural Kent, to pursue a complete
change of lifestyle and for Andrew,
a complete change of career.
Crabtree Farm comprises a 17th
century Grade II listed farmhouse
and an array of outbuildings (a
sheep shed, stables, barn and a
granary) all nestled on a quiet
country lane on the outskirts of
Hastingleigh on the Kent Downs.
Surrounded by bucolic fields, with
chickens and sheep roaming, along
with some free-range children, it is
easy to see why the family wanted
to rediscover a different way of
life away from the hustle and
bustle of the city. It was, however,
a move that was not without its
setbacks. “It really wasn’t easy, to be
honest,” says Andrew. “We started
looking way before Covid hit and it
took two years to finally get here. We
began our search in Oxfordshire, as
we needed to be in the circumference
of London so Rachel could still get to
work. But then it was for a farm in
Tenterden, Kent that we put in our
Andrew has developed a range
of healthy recipes which he hopes
guests will try out with their
families during their stay “I really
wanted the kitchen to work for
people who like cooking.”
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