Celia Gaze of The Wellbeing Farm

Our featured foodie this month is the lovely Celia Gaze of The Wellbeing Farm at Edgeworth, Bolton. Celia is the Managing Director and co creator of Lancashire's answer to River Cottage. The multi award winning educational and creative venue has risen phoenix like from a once derelict farmstead situated high in the Lancashire hills.

The food served at The Wellbeing Farm is all local, seasonal and sustainable and the venue also hosts food and cookery events ranging from sausage making, bread making, foraging and even how to butcher a lamb.

Here is an earlier post of our visit

 

Celia kindly answered our questions so we can find out more about the women being this amazing venue which is well worth a visit.

•  What is your favourite cookery or food book or publication?

I must admit being partial to the River Cottage series – considering I’ve tried to copy some of their setup when I created The Wellbeing Farm.

•  What sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you ?

Quality food where provenance shines like a beacon.

• If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you like to be?

Considering I gave up a great career to do this, I'm now following my dream!

• Which piece of kit could you not do without?

Pampered Chef pizza cutter – can be used for chopping anything.

• Who would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?

An eclectic mix of friends, family and the odd celeb thrown in. When you are setting up a new business it does test your friendships and family commitment – you know who your true friends are by how much support they provide when you’ve ignored them for months!

• What advice would you give to your younger self ?

Follow your dreams – you only have one life.

•  Describe your style in three words

Overly enthusiastic, persistent and a bit loud!.

• What was your latest foodie gadget purchase ?

An all singing and dancing Kenwood food processor.

• What is your greatest achievement to date ?

Transforming a run-down neglected farm into an award-winning business in less than a year and winning the North West Start Up of the Year Award with the Countryside Alliance in the process.

• What is the worst mistake you have made ?

In setting up a business you make loads of mistakes, it’s how you learn from them that matters.

• Tell us a secret about yourself ? may be something we wouldn’t expect !

I’m actually a qualified chef but don’t practice actual cooking anymore unfortunately. I was also the first Management Trainee at The Garrick Gentleman’s Club in London.

Wellbeing Farm - much more than just a venue.

Set in stunning upland Lancashire countryside the Wellbeing Farm is a must visit for anyone interested in food and where it comes from field to fork really means something here. Or you can just generally chill out and get back in touch with yourself. With amazing 180 degree views means that on a good day you can see the Welsh hills and the Wirral. This thoughtfully converted farmstead is a location for a wide variety of activities and events. Whether its llama trekking or sausage making, the Wellbeing Farm has the course for you.

On a warm late spring evening Mr LF and I ventured to pastures new for our Sausage making experience, on driving up to the farm we were gobsmacked (the only word for it !) with the views, rolling moorland with vistas as far as the eye could see.

This unique venue hosts corporate wellbeing events, private events and educational visits during the week and at weekend is open to the public. They are also hosting their first "rustic" barn style wedding in a few weeks time complete with hay bales to sit on.

                                

The calming rustically decorated buildings immediately put you at ease and the farm's environmentally credentials are second to none, evidenced by the large wind turbine on a nearby rise which powers the farm. They proudly source local produce and have a true commitment to sustainability.

The welcome was warm and genuine as we entered the lovely licensed cafe / bistro which hosts regular gourmet evenings and we were pleased to note lots of local produce which even stretched to a good range of local beers. Whilst awaiting the arrival of all the attendees (10 in our case for the evenings sausage making event) we took the opportunity to shoots a few images so you can get the feel for the Wellbeing Farm.

Outside you can make friends with the farm's llamas or pop into the poly tunnel to grab some fresh herbs or salads for your cookery experience. The sheep in the field are raised by the farm and in season are used for the butchery courses, the farm also has resident pigs, chickens and quails amongst other animals.

                                 

So on with the sausage show ! First we had to hand mix the sausage meat and rusk with a secret blend of herbs and spices. With a bit of friendly persuasion everybody started to relax and embrace squishing the mixture. (Due to needing a Gluten free diet they also kindly mixed up a special batch just for me)

Now it was time to load the filling machine and get ready to fill the natural skins.

Loading the skins on to the filling machine

        

Filling the sausage

Tying the sausage , this was the difficult bit ! But Lee made this look very easy

                                               

Ta dah ! Sausages

                                                   

The finished product ready for cooking

                                                      

All this sausage making was hungry work and afterwards we enjoyed a BBQ of our creations with that awesome view for company.

                                            

Thanks to all the team at the Wellbeing Farm for a really enjoyable informative evening in a lovely environment. So check out their website and plan your visit soon and enjoy the full Wellbeing experience. They work in close partnership with Whiteheads Butchers in the local village for their butchery experiences.

Our experience was provided on a complementary basis however I was not required to write a positive review, all comments, views and opinions are my own.