Enjoying a brekkie bun at the world's oldest farm shop

THE car park was almost full, the restaurant appeared close to capacity and the upmarket farm shop was a hive of activity.

- By ANDREW ROBINSON

Word has clearly spread well beyond the environs of Netherton, indeed Huddersfield, that Hinchliffe's has got something special going on. People are said to drive miles to get to this place.

The business has had a long time to promote itself as it was established in the 1920s and is reputed to be the oldest farm shop in Britain.

In fact, there's a lot happening here.

The farm shop has a deli, a butcher and a wide variety of produce as well as a large selection of beers and wines, including Ossett Brewery beer and Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone Brewery drinks.

Next door is The Rusty Bull which has the vibe of a restaurant rather than a bog-standard farm shop cafe. We arrived well before noon and it was already busy.

A handful of people had chosen to sit outside, no doubt enjoying the magnificent view of unspoiled pasture land with Castle Hill in the distance. Glance left and you'll see some new builds going up which tells you this area on the edge of the Holme Valley is very popular.

I ordered a Big Breakfast Buttie (£12.50), a vast mountain of goodies including sausage, mushrooms, baked beans, hash browns, bacon, roasted tomato, a fried egg, and "championship-winning back bacon".