The food revolution taking place in Lancashire

Katie Wilson runs a food tour business

There is a revolution taking place in Lancashire - and it's not industrial or cotton-related - but food. A concentration of artisans are making and growing some of the best produce in the country and attracting the attention of Michelin-starred restaurants.

From rare mushrooms to specialist breads and cheese to locally distilled gins, the county is attracting visitors from all over the world.

Katie Wilson, who runs food tour business Bowland and Bay, said visitors wanted to "connect" with the countryside.

Ms Wilson, from Cabus, who works with over 200 artisan producers in the area, said Lancashire has "some of the best food on the planet".

She said people were travelling from across Europe, Australia and the Far East "to come and see what we've got in rural Lancashire".

"They adore the countryside, nowhere else on Earth looks as green and luscious as this and they love meeting the makers," she said.

Lizzie Billington wanted to create a gin that "spoke for itself"

Among the makers is Lizzie Billington who comes from a traditional dairy farm background, but has set up The Wild Fox Distillery near Inglewhite, Preston.

"We wanted to create a product that represented the farm's heritage, and with the wealth of botanicals already growing in the farm orchard, it really was a no-brainer," she said.

"We've always loved a good G&T... the problem was that we found our staple supermarket gin was becoming more and more mediocre."

She said she wanted to create a gin "that spoke for itself".

"Every gin we make is distilled here with fruit from the farm, or very locally sourced," she said.

Nicola Green's daughter is lactose intolerant sparking the business idea

Around the corner is Nicola Green who runs one of the biggest goat farms in the country.

She set up Rosy Goat Ice Cream after finding out her daughter, who is lactose intolerant, could have goats milk.

"People are so much more aware of intolerances now," she said.

"There's definitely a call for knowing where your food comes from.

"We have a long standing heritage in this area of producing great food from our animals. We know how to do it well, it's a generational thing, we've been doing it for so long.

"It's a great area to grow crops, grow grass. You've got to have great crops and grass to grow great food."

Paul Thornton supplies a Michelin-starred restaurant with his mushrooms

Four miles away in Claughton-on-Brock, Paul Thornton and his partner Hayley Ward have turned their lockdown hobby of growing mushrooms into their livelihoods.

Wyreside Mushrooms now have a contract with a Michelin-starred restaurant to supply rare mushrooms.

"We have Lion's Mane mushroom which has a nootropic effect which is shown to help improve brain health," Mr Thornton said.

"We have grey oysters, their texture is meaty. Mushrooms are a great source of protein. I want to share my passion with everyone who comes to visit and look at new sustainable ways to farm."

Graham Kirkham says the area is "abundant with good produce"

For Graham Kirkham, at Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire Cheese, Covid also had an impact and saw him change his business plan to sell directly to customers through a farm shop.

"Not only did people come, other independent producers started to call for help so they could do the same," he said.

"I had my own cheese, guest cheeses, sausages, bacon, breads and a gazebo full of fruit and veg."

He said the diversity of the region had added to its success.

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"We've got the climate, we grow phenomenal grass," he said.

"You go into the hills, you've got sheep farmers and beef farmers. You've got two parts of the dairy industry. We've also got all the vegetable growers.

"This area is abundant with good produce."

The Cartford Inn uses local produce

That is something recognised by owner of The Cartford Inn on the banks of the River Wyre, Patrick Beaume, who said local produce is the "future of hospitality".

"We get our fish locally," he said, adding: "We are very lucky that there's more and more small boats that fish on Morecambe Bay landing their catches at Fleetwood Docks."

He said a deli shop set up at during Covid led to a realisation there was "a real demand for quality produce".

Patrick Beaume said items sold in a deli shop went all over the country

"We started selling food online, our brownies went from John O'Groats to Land's End.

"Our aim was to always have a restaurant to welcome visitors from anywhere. From just down the road or from the south of France, Iceland or America and give them a great experience."

Ms Wilson said the warm Lancashire welcome was continuing to attract food tourists from across the globe: "We're not showy people in Lancashire, but when we get together we like to celebrate the successes".

She added: "There is an enormous sense of collaboration and fairness in Lancashire.

"People love helping each other, particularly the rural community."

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