The best farm shops for a foodie day out in and around Greater Manchester
From hearty farmers' breakfasts with stunning views to the most famous farm shop in the north
From tucking in to a hearty farmers' breakfast while enjoying stunning rural views, or simply stocking up on the freshest local meat, dairy and veg, there's a wealth of award-winning farm shops across the region to enjoy for a foodie day out.
Here, we have rounded up some of the biggest and best farm shops that boast excellent food options in and around Greater Manchester.
Some of those listed offer a huge array of artisan produce, while others can boast of award-winning farm shop cafes too to sample some of the local goodies.
If you're looking for more of a family day out, then last weekened we rounded up the best farm shops with play areas which you can read about here.
Lymefield farm shop and tearooms, Broadbottom
Nestled in a valley in the pretty village of Broadbottom is a farm shop boasting a wealth of home made produce and some pretty special views. Lymefield farm shop, garden centre and tearooms has been growing and growing over the past 25 years and is hailed a "hidden gem" by regulars to the Tameside destination.
The farm shop tea rooms boast outdoor terraces with stunning views across the green fields outside which lead down to the River Etherow. And if you're wondering why the field is quite so immaculate, it's because it's specifically grown as turf to be sold at the adjoining garden centre.
It's all part of the transformation of the historic farm site which has been owned by the Pryce family for the past 100 years. Initially a dairy farm, 25 years ago they decided to diversify with a garden centre - starting it all off with a "couple of polytunnels" on their land.
A small tearoom followed five years later, before a purpose-built extension was added to the site ten years ago to house a fully-stocked farm shop and large tearooms with the outdoor terraces. The aim was to find a space to showcase their own home-reared lamb at the butchers, as well as local pork from the neighbouring village of Chisworth.
Now, as well as the fresh meat, veg, bakery and wealth of home-made cakes, they also hand-make on the site pork pies, ready meals, sausages and their "famous" cheese and onion pie. You can buy it by the slice in both the shop and in the tearooms and it remains one of their most popular dishes.
Visitors have praised the venue on Tripadvisor, with Connor Murphy hailing it a "must visit" saying: "Attended here with my partner for a nice spot of lunch on a Friday afternoon while on annual leave. The staff were friendly and attentive and the food was delish."
Reviewer Walt said: "Views outstanding and produce in farm shop top notch," before cheekily adding: "With food this good it’s no wonder the local village is called broad bottom haha!"
Lymefield Farm Shop, Garden Centre and Tearooms, Lymefield, Broadbottom, SK14 6AG.
The tearooms open daily from 9am to 4pm (and from 10am on Sundays) while the farm shop and garden centre is open until 5.30pm.
Albion Farm Shop, Delph
Albion Farm Shop in Delph, Oldham, offers panoramic views across Saddleworth and beyond and inside boasts an array of fresh local produce.
The farm shop found itself grabbing the headlines thanks to its star fans too - as Corrie star Daniel Brocklebank praised it in social media posts amid an empassioned plea for everyone to support their local shops and farmers.
The farm shop is located in a seriously stunning setting, nestled on a hillside looking out across the countryside of Saddleworth. You can admire those views from the outdoor terrace for the farm shop's cafe which serves up a host of hearty local treats.
That includes one of its speciality treats - its Giant British Farmer's Breakfast. It's described as "a beast" on the menu, as the £12 fry up includes two home-made Olde English sausages, a thick wedge of award-winning black pudding, 2 eggs, 2 hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes and thick slices of toast.
The farm shop and cafe are all based on a working farm in Delph, and over the years the family-run business have expanded on the cafe and shop business as demand from customers has increased. It now boasts a hefty array of local produce, fresh fruit and vegetables and a huge cheese counter and butchery inside the converted farm building.
The cafe at the front of the building has been boosted by the addition of an outdoor terrace full of seating. Here, diners can truly admire the views out across Delph, Dobcross, Diggle, Greenfield, Scouthead and Lydgate.
The hillside farm, on Oldham Road in Delph, has been owned by the same family, the Hirsts, since Ernest Hirst bought it from a relative back in the early 1900s. He kept a large number of poultry, supplying eggs to shops all over the Oldham area.
Ernest's son Sidney, wife Lillian and their young son David continued the farming tradition, with Lillian selling eggs from the farm door for years until the first shop was opened on the site in 2007. Now David and his wife Annette run the farm while their daughter Laura continues in the family tradition by managing the farm shop.
The farm shop itself is a veritable treasure trove of local and artisan goods, with the main shop space boasting a huge range of bread, cakes, biscuits, fine wines, jams and pickles. There are also quirky gifts and a cabinet of locally-made brownies, blondies and muffins.
There's also an ice cream cabin which is popular in the warmer months of the year. And the team recently opened The Turkey Shed on the site as a bar and dining space which is used on Friday nights and Sundays.
Albion Farm Shop, Oldham Rd, Delph, Saddleworth OL3 5RQ is open daily from 9am to 5pm and on Sundays 9am to 4pm.
Falshaw's Farm Shop, Bury
Run by the same family for the past 90 years, this Greater Manchester farm has diversified in recent years to open a shop, cafe and make its own home-made ice cream.
Falshaw's Farm Shop in Bury was also celebrated for those family links, named North West Family Business of the year in 2023.
The farm shop, at Nabbs Farm off Rowlands Road in Bury, boasts stunning views out across Manchester and on sunny days you can even see as far as Derbyshire. And with a tearooms, outdoor terrace and a mini tractor play area it's a popular spot for families too.
Elizabeth Falshaw previously told the MEN about what makes their farm so special. She said: "The thing is with our business is that we are a full working farm as well as a farm shop. We breed pedigree sheep, rarebreed pigs and have 200 cows in our dairy herd.
"We opened the farm shop 15 years ago as a true farm diversification project. It's quite small but we've had an extension lately to create a new tearooms in an orangery.
"The inital idea was to sell our milk in the form of ice cream and in coffees. It was somewhere for our milk to go, as well as to sell our own pork, beef and lamb.
"We now produce lasagnes, steak pies, hot pots and sunday roast on Sunday to showcase our own produce too. We're totally self-sufficient on the meat side, it all comes from the farm into the shop."
The Falshaw family have farmed on the site at Nabbs Farm since 1935 - and it has been taken over father-to-son ever since. Elizabeth said: "Robert and Gladys are still 'leaders of the gang' and my husband Mark works on the farm, while our two sons also both work on the farm.
"I work in the shop with Mark's mum, Gladys, and Mark's elder sister Ann. She's a great cook so she's in the kitchen, while I do all the ice cream."
Elizabeth says: "We're just off Walmsley Road and we have a hill to the left, so the views look down the valley. There are lots of nice walks in the area and we have the East Lancs Railway at the bottom.
"You can see the centre of Manchester on a clear day and as far as the Derbyshire hills on a good day too."
On the menu, visitors can expect full cooked breakfast, a selection of homemade daily changing specials at lunchtime like lamb hotpot, lasagne and steak pie. There's also toasties, burgers, jacket potatoes and a children's menu, afternoon teas and lots of cakes and home-made ice cream.
Falshaw's Farm Shop, Nabbs Farm, Rowlands Rd, Bury BL9 5LJ, opens Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sundays 10am to 4pm, and closes on Mondays.
Red Bank Farm, Newton-le-Willows
It may be small, but the food at Red Bank Farm is a might proposition. Inside, you walk through the shop and past the butcher's counter to reach the cafe at the back.
It's not massive, less than 10 tables in all, but it's worth getting there early to get the mouth-watering breakfasts, as tested by the MEN's Emma Gill recently.
The breakfast menu features everything from loaded brioche toast and eggs benedict, to waffle stacks and the Good Old Bacon or Sausage Butty. Emma was so impressed with the sausages on the brekkie she ensured to take a load home afterwards from the butchers too.
They also have a fully stocked dessert cabinet with treats from Manchester Tart and Ferrero Rocher gateau, to lemon meringue and cherry shortbread.
There are also flavoured sausage rolls, pork pies and pasties, as well as sweet options like Millionaire Shortbread, red velvet cake, cookie dough pie and Lotus Biscoff cheesecake, priced around £4.99 each.
Red Bank Farm, Winwick Road, Newton Le Willows, WA12 8DU is open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturdays 10am to 5pm, Sundays 10am to 3pm.
The Hollies, Cheshire
It's the OG of the farm shop world in the north west - and nowhere has quite had the buzz like The Hollies has had in recent years. Cheshire's oldest and biggest farm shop, it has gained a whole new audience in recent years thanks to the patronage of influencer Molly-Mae.
The Hollies is thought to be the oldest-established farm shop in Cheshire having first started out in the 1950s as a fresh fruit and vegetables road-side stall with an honesty box at the original site in the village of Little Budworth.
Under the stewardship of the Cowap family, it has been extended to a sprawling site featuring a whole host of barn shop buildings as well as a large indoor cafe area with outside seating too. They've also branched out with two more sites, a farm shop and cafe in Lower Stretton near Warrington, and a high street version in nearby Tarporley.
The main farm shop boasts a huge range of local, artisan produce from 75 different local farm suppliers, as well as an in-house butchers, delicatessen counter and fresh cream cakes too.
Owners of the farm shop are also happy to laugh at themselves a little too. It's known locally as "The £50 farm shop" because you can't go in without seemingly coming out with at least a £50 basket of goodies such is the treasure trove.
The Hollies farm shops can be found at Little Budworth, Lower Stretton and Tarporley High Street in Cheshire. The shops open Monday to Sunday.
Grange Farm, Lowton
Grange Farm has expanded in recent years, including the addition of The Barn, a two-storey tearoom and restaurant that launched in 2021.
You can find this at the the side of the East Lancs Road in Lowton, on the border of Warrington and Wigan, serving everything from breakfasts and lunches to afternoon teas.
It has quickly built up quite a reputation with visitors loving the fact that all the meals are homemade - from either homegrown produce or from local farmers within a five-mile radius.
The meat is local too, from a 'very well known butcher' - and half of the eggs are from the farm's own hens, with the other half from two miles down the road. In other words, it's as fresh as it comes.
The venue is popular for its Sunday roasts at £14 a head as well as a raft of hot and cold homemade dishes.
It's not just the food that makes it stand out though. "It's the cosy interior, the casual vibe and the friendly and efficient staff" according to our reviewer who headed along recently.
Grange Farm, Lowton, Stone Cross Lane South, Warrington, WA3 1JU. The farm is closed to the public on Mondays, and open Tuesday - Saturday 9:30am to 4pm and on Sundays 10am to 4pm.
Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop, Derbyshire
Nestled within the stunning grounds of the Chatsworth Estate, this one can lay claim to being the poshest farm shop in the Peak District. The Chatsworth Farm Shop also boasts a huge cafe with stunning terrace boasting spectacular views out across rolling countryside and to the fairytale estate village of Edensor.
Customers rave about the huge selection of local produce in the store, which can be found in the picturesque village of Pilsley in Derbyshire. It's just a couple of miles down the road from the historic estate of Chatsworth House that remains a popular destination for visitors from across the country.
The shop boasts a dazzling array of fresh fruits and vegetables, a butchery and fishery with fresh cuts and huge deli. There are also freshly-baked loaves, cakes and the classic bakewell puddings and tarts.
There's a large free car park at the farm shop that swiftly fills up with Range Rovers and supercars on weekends - and be warned you may have to queue to dine at the popular cafe as there are no reservations here.
The farm shop cafe is based in a brightly-refurbished barn space at the rear of the farm shop boasting some seriously spectacular views of the rolling Derbyshire countryside. It looks down the valley along the Chatsworth Estate where you will see the spire of St Peter's Church at Edensor.
Visitors on Tripadvisor hail the "gorgeous views" at the cafe, and the farm shop's "labyrinth of fabulous fayre" with 500 five star reviews, many calling it "superb".
It was initially established back in 1977 by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire as a way to celebrate the local meats from their sprawling Chatsworth Estate. But it has become so popular over the years it has expanded to offer a wealth of produce from their tenant farmers and the best of regional suppliers too.
The Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop is in the village of Pilsley, Bakewell, DE45 1UF. The farm shop is open 9am to 6pm on weekdays, and 11am to 5pm on Sundays.
The Lambing Shed, Knutsford
This family-run farm shop is famed for it cafe boasting home-made cakes, burgers and mouth-watering breakfasts which was named the best in the UK a couple of years back.
The Lambing Shed farm shop and cafe in Knutsford was opened by the Mitchell family as a way to champion local produce from across Cheshire and Manchester and to showcase their farm's home-reared beef and lamb.
Now it's a busy hub for the local community and visitors from across the area for some mouth-watering treats, as well as offering an outdoor play area with mini tractors for kids, while remaining very much a working farm where next month families can book to attend their popular lambing weekends.
The cafe and shop are based inside what was, yes, once the lambing shed at Moseley Hall Farm just off Chelford Road on the outskirts of Knutsford.
The farm is run by Sue and Michael Mitchell, with son Rob now helping on the farming side, while daughter Kathryn is director of the farm shop and cafe.
They decided to transform the shed into the shop eight years ago to diversify and showcase what farmers were doing in the local area.
The venue's most popular dishes include the mouth-watering cooked breakfast - with a farmers breakfast and vegetarian version - while lunch options include the hand-reared beef and lamb burgers and home made beef shin pie.
The REAL lambing shed is now across the other side of the farm site, and every year they host lambing weekends allowing the public to book tickets to come and meet the baby lambs for themselves - with this year's dates confirmed as the weekends of April 5 and 6 and April 12 and 13.
The cafe is open daily offering breakfast and lunch, but doesn't take bookings. But it boasts a large indoor cafe area as well as the conservatory section where families with dogs can also sit, as well as the outdoor seating area with picnic tables next to the children's play area.
As well as all the home-made food in the cafe, there's a fully stocked farm shop right next to it, offering everything from local jams and chutneys to cakes baked by local farmers, Mobberly ice cream and Cheshire gins, and a full butchery section and home-made pre-prepared meals like shepherd's pies and stir fries.
The Lambing Shed Farm Shop & Kitchen, Moseley Hall Farm, Chelford Rd, Knutsford WA16 8RB is open daily from 9am to 5.30pm (earlier start and finish Sundays)
The Smokehouse, Wilmlsow
This long-established farm shop in Cheshire hails itself an "oasis of quality and taste in a world of uniformity and blandness".
The Cheshire Smokehouse is a hotspot for fine foods in the Wilmslow area, with its retail shop based in a former farm barn. It used to have a popular cafe too in the upper floor of the barn - but it was forced to close during the Covid lockdowns and has never reopened - although bosses last year secured planning permission for a redevelopment which will include a glossy new cafe in time to come.
Until then, foodies can instead browse a real mountain of glossy local produce including fridges stuffed with fresh meat and piles of freshly uprooted veg.
There's also an excellent bakery section with lots of fresh-baked sourdough, rolls, baguettes, pastries and cream cakes.
Naturally, given its name, this place is famous for its range of smoked meats, fishes and produce for which they have won a series of awards.
Cheshire Smokehouse has been run by Darren Ward and his family in Morley Green for almost 30 years.
Cheshire Smokehouse, Vost Farm, Mobberley Rd, Morley Green Rd, Wilmslow SK9 5NU is open Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and closed Sundays.