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16-612: The Hop Farm is a 400-acre (1.6 km) Country Park in Beltring , near East Peckham in the English county of Kent . The farm is over 450 years old and has the largest collection of oast houses in the world. Hops have been grown on the farm since at least the 16th century. It was purchased in 1574 by William Lambarde who transferred the farm's ownership the following year to the Worshipful Company of Drapers , with

32-403: A car park, toilets, maybe a cafe or kiosk, paths and trails, and some information for visitors. Some have much more, with museums, visitor centres, educational facilities, historic buildings, farms, boating, fishing, and other attractions. Many larger country parks organise entertainment for visitors, and are venues for firework displays, shows and fairs and other large, outdoor events. There

48-498: A cost of 2 million pounds, beating their nearest rival by £5,000. Unfortunately the business was in trouble; turnover was around £700,000 a year and in 1995 losses were £1.5 million. In their first year the Pollands reduced staff from 50 to 14 and suffered a drought, floods, a gas pipeline installation and the outbreak of foot and mouth disease . However they broke even, and in subsequent years their profits grew. In 2006, The Hop Farm

64-480: A country park is to provide a place that has a natural, rural atmosphere for visitors who do not necessarily want to go out into the wider countryside. Visitors can enjoy a public open space with an informal atmosphere, as opposed to a formal park as might be found in an urban area. For this reason country parks are usually found close to or on the edge of built-up areas, and rarely in the wider countryside. A country park usually has some more formal facilities, such as

80-399: A working farm, although the brewery opened it up to visitors as early as the 1930s. As Whitbread were seeking to move out of the brewing trade, they began looking for new owners in the 1990s. In 1997, Mohamed Al-Fayed wanted to buy The Hop Farm to stable his shire horses , and another rival wanted it for a rare breeds centre, but Brent and Fiona Pollard were successful in their purchase, at

96-454: Is not necessarily any public right of access to country parks, and visitors are usually subject to byelaws when they enter the park. Some charge for car parking, some are free. These parks vary tremendously from one to another, and really have only their purpose in common: to provide easy access to the countryside for those living in the towns and suburbs . They do not necessarily have any great nature conservation interest, although often this

112-490: Is the case. In Hong Kong a large part of the territory's countryside is officially designated as country parks. Most of these are reservoir watersheds, serving the dual purpose of providing recreational facilities and contributing to Hong Kong's water supply. Chilled in a Field Festival Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

128-584: The 1970s, under the Countryside Act 1968 , with the support of the former Countryside Commission . In more recent times there has been no specific financial support for country parks directly and fewer have been designated. Most parks are managed by local authorities, although other organisations and private individuals can also run them. The 1968 Countryside Act empowered the Countryside Commission to recognize country parks. Although

144-448: The Act established country parks and gave guidance on the core facilities and services they should provide it did not empower the designation of sites as country parks, as it was left to local authorities to decide whether to endorse a site calling itself a country park. In England, country parks can be accredited by Natural England , and some also have Green Flag status. The purpose of

160-630: The Park (It has since moved to the Kent Showground Detling). The Hop Farm is also an outdoor music venue. In 2006 a concert starring Craig David should have launched the Tunbridge Wells SpaFest , to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of the town but it was called off due to local complaints, and a substitute concert was staged at The Hop Farm. That year also saw Terry Wogan's Summer Proms staged there. Over

176-530: The first weekend of July between 2008 and 2012, the Hop Farm Festival was held at the park. Starting in 2008, the festival grew to a capacity of over 50,000 people, playing host to many internationally artists including Bob Dylan , Prince , The Eagles , Blondie , Neil Young , Primal Scream , The Fratellis and Florence and the Machine among others, but after making a loss in 2012, the festival

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192-667: The hop industry" and as a "legend" in the industry. He expanded the farm and was influential in developing new varieties of hop, including the White Golding which was used extensively by Whitbread. When White retired in 1920 the farm was sold to the brewery, the first time it had changed ownership in more than 300 years. It was managed by John Waghorn, described as "as much a legend as the master before him". The farm remained in Whitbread's ownership until 1997, gradually becoming known The Whitbread Hop Farm . It originally remained as

208-520: The intention that the rental from the farm should be used to help fund a set of almshouses in Greenwich which he had established. The farm remained in the ownership of the Drapers' Company for over 300 years and became a major producer of hops for the brewing industry, in particular supplying Whitbread . During the late 19th century the farm was rented by Edward White , described as the "father of

224-470: The largest military vehicle show in the world, with 10,000 enthusiasts and over 3,500 vehicles attending. It moved to Folkestone Race Course in 2012, after the organiser became unhappy with the Hop Farm owners. The show has been cancelled for the foreseeable future. In addition to this, the park hosts a number of events such as European Championship Monster Truck Racing, The Kent County Fair, and Paws in

240-577: Was cancelled in 2013 due to poor ticket sales. Since 2015 the park has been the location of Chilled in a Field Festival . Country Park In the United Kingdom, the term country park has a specific meaning. There are around 250 designated country parks in England and Wales attracting some 57 million visitors a year, and another 40 or so in Scotland. Most country parks were designated in

256-465: Was sold to Kent Attractions Ltd and in 2007 sold again to Peter Bull. In 2012, The Hop Farm underwent radical management restructure in an effort to halt a five-year slide in visitor numbers, however in 2013 the company went into liquidation. It was rescued by another company from within The Hop Farm group. The main event was the annual War and Peace Show . First put on in 1982, it had grown to be

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