Farm transforms grain barn into cinema

Charlotte Gurney says the farming situation is always pushing farmers to be proactive and innovative and find ways to diversity and think differently

The owners of a farm on the outskirts of a city said the changing farming industry was constantly pushing them to "be proactive and think differently".

White House Farm, a three generation farm based on the edge of Norwich, welcomed visitors into the old grain barn after transforming it into a one night cinema with two film screenings on Thursday.

While the farm started as a pick your own, Charlotte Gurney said she was constantly thinking of ways to increase footfall.

She said: "It went very well... it's the first time we have done anything like that."

Partnering with Cinema City in Norwich, it was able to transform an old grain barn into a DIY cinema for the evening.

"We already have a fantastic string of lights that the farmer wobbled up a ladder years ago to put up... we've cleared out the barn, dusted it down... made it really quite atmospheric and fun."

The farm hosted two separate screenings including The Princess Bride and Ferris Bueller's Day Off which she said attracted different generations.

She said: "There were almost more dogs than humans... we are a dog friendly site and it reflected the relaxed nature of the site."

Charlotte Gurney says the farm feels the impact of the harvest and weather with the harvest "always at our tail"

Alongside the businesses already at the farm, the event was hosted as a new way to diversify and bring new people in who might not have visited before.

She said: "Farming - the way the landscape looks for that, is just pushing farmers to be more and more diverse... we bring that rural landscape right close to the city centre to the chimney pots and it's wonderful to be able to give our local community another dimension to the farm."

However, she said the farm had felt the effects of the recent harvest and lack of spring rain.

"It's always at our tail, we are always being chased by this harvest... with no spring rain we were not able to reach the malting beer spec we wanted that we use to make premium beer.

"We couldn't even sell it for straw so it's all gone for animal feed, so you can imagine the impact that has on the farming industry. It's constantly a threat and you can see that threat in the spring when the weather is not good."