Forrest Hills was established in 1996 as part of the ongoing diversification of Banton House Farm. Currently a third of the 200 acres is managed as Forrest Hills and the rest of the farm is grazed by sheep, cut for silage or managed for wildlife. The owners, the Newsham family, have farmed at Banton House for almost 50 years (and nearby for many generations).

Forrest Hills is often held up as an exemplar of rural development and farm diversification. Farmers’ groups, diversification advisers, rural development and tourism professionals from all over the North West but also from Europe, have visited the site.

Colin Newsham, has given talks in Holland, Sweden and Portugal as well as in this country and has been invited onto the committee of the International Farming Systems Association, the Lancashire Regional Tourism Initiative and the Lancaster and Morecambe Vision Board.

“Our family is uniquely placed to realise our vision for the next 50 years and beyond at Banton House farm. We have a long-term commitment to the farm and to its economic, social and environmental sustainability. It is vital that rural areas do not lose the life, vitality and economic activity that they have always had. The farm’s location near the M6 motoway and Lancaster University makes it an ideal site for further development.”