Two Nights Around the Long Table: River Cottage at Lannock Farm

At the end of June in aid of Groundswell Festival 10-year Anniversary, the newly restored Lannock Barn hosted something very special: two long table feasts created together with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the River Cottage team.

Across two sold-out evenings — Tuesday 30th June and Wednesday 1st July — 170 guests joined us around the long tables for welcome drinks at 6.30pm and a five-course feast of Summer's seasonal bounty, cooked over fire.

Hugh curated the menu with River Cottage fire chef James Whetlor, championing pasture-raised Shorthorn beef and eggs from Lannock Farm alongside produce from Flourish, Hodmedods, Isle of Wight Garlic Farm, Citizens of Soil and more.

It was an honour to have some of these regenerative pioneers talk about their operations and how real food is made.

Glasses were never empty: welcome drinks from Sapling, Coates & Seely English Sparkling and Fielden Whisky, Tillingham wines down the table, and the Crossover Blendery bar pouring their spontaneously fermented, barrel-aged beers late into the evening.

The barn looked like it was made for nights like these — long tables dressed and candlelit beneath the barrels the kitchen working over flame at one end, and the courtyard glowing in the evening sun as guests spilled outside between courses.

A huge thank you to Hugh, James and the whole River Cottage team, to our own team who worked tirelessly across both nights, and above all to everyone who joined us. Evenings like these are exactly what the farm is about: honest food, great drink and good people gathered around one table.

There's much more to come this summer — from our Summer Market on Saturday 25th July to the Lannock Farm Summer Retreat on Friday 7th August. Keep an eye on our events page, and we'd love to welcome you to the farm soon.