Wealden Times | WT265 | June 2024 | Education Supplement inside

Words: Antonia Deeson
Photographs: David Merewether
The ultimate
family getaway
first offer. We fell in love with it but
missed out when we found ourselves
in a contract race, just weeks before
we were due to complete. Crabtree
Farm happened quite quickly after, as
we were in rented accommodation at
this point and needed to move. It was
a bit of a shock! One minute we were
in a small, modern flat in London and
suddenly we found ourselves in a very
run-down house, set within ten acres
of land and an infestation of European
hornets. We were so unprepared: we
had one car, no wifi, no phone signal
and knew no one. I thought I would
love it, but even though it had been
me pushing to make the move out of
London, it took me longer to settle
than Rachel, who actually fell in love
with the farm much faster than I did.”
Five years later and with most of the
work on the main farmhouse nearly
completed, for Andrew and Rachel,
the dream is finally becoming reality.
The family initially decided to focus
on getting the holiday business up and
running first in order to finance the
63
priceless-magazines.com