not sure if this has Security on site or just workmen but whilst in the big shed there were voices coming from the shed opposite. Most of the buildings are either locked or boarded up.
The site was originally part of a working farm since the late 1800s.
Tony Flower – who died in 1997 at the age of 68 after a two-year battle against cancer – established the National Shire Horse Centre in 1978 and quickly built it up into one of the most popular tourist attractions in the region, visited by more than 300,000 people every year.
Mr Flower’s aim was to let the public see traditional farming methods at close quarters, and he used the horses to gather oats and hay on the 60-acre park.
At its peak the centre employed 100 people, opening summer and winter, and having an annual turnover of £1million, but in 1989 it went into receivership.
Its plans for expansion had been rejected by the local authority, and as the recession bit, visitor numbers declined.
The centre was sold off for £430,000.
The site was originally part of a working farm since the late 1800s.
Tony Flower – who died in 1997 at the age of 68 after a two-year battle against cancer – established the National Shire Horse Centre in 1978 and quickly built it up into one of the most popular tourist attractions in the region, visited by more than 300,000 people every year.
Mr Flower’s aim was to let the public see traditional farming methods at close quarters, and he used the horses to gather oats and hay on the 60-acre park.
At its peak the centre employed 100 people, opening summer and winter, and having an annual turnover of £1million, but in 1989 it went into receivership.
Its plans for expansion had been rejected by the local authority, and as the recession bit, visitor numbers declined.
The centre was sold off for £430,000.
