Billy Dickinson and his mother bought the farm at Brocksbushes in 1979 and opened with pick-your-own raspberries. Forty-six years later their son Harry and his wife Rose run a 5,800 sq ft food hall on the same ground, with a butchery sourcing beef from two named local farms, a reworked deli and cheese counter, an in-house bakery, a 140-cover Courtyard Kitchen, a four-level Play Barn and the original Pick Your Own fields. One mile south of Corbridge, five miles east of Hexham, on the A69.
The 2024 rebuild took a small seasonal shop and turned it into a food hall with a butchery, a deli, a bakery and a grab-and-go station, all under one roof, all manned by named heads. The premium the new build justifies is told by the people working it.
Head butcher Daniel sources beef from two named farms within the parish. Walwick Grange (Jeff and Laura). Little Whittington (Philip Nixon). Dry-aged steaks, seasoned sausages, spiced chicken kebabs, the weekly Brocksbutchers Best Buy through winter, the open-courtyard BBQ across summer.
The cheese counter is the standout of the 2024 build. Locally-sourced charcuterie, cheeses cut to order, made-on-site sausage rolls, quiches, pies, salads. Katie joined in May 2024 to rework the counter as the new build opened. The deli is now twice the size of the old shop and a different proposition.
Home-baked cakes, pastries, scones, pies, quiches, traybakes, desserts. Many wheat- and gluten-free options. The strawberry tart on the patisserie counter through July is from the same PYO field your children walked through to pick. The farm-kitchen freezer carries cook-at-home meals for the week.
Hot and cold sandwiches, salads, pastries, self-service coffee. Dropped fresh each morning from the bakery, the deli and the butchery, ready for a walker on the A69 or a parent with twenty minutes between school runs. The pace of a farm shop, on the clock of a working day.
Billy Dickinson and his mother bought Brocksbushes in 1979 and opened with pick-your-own raspberries on the Tyne Valley side of Hadrian's Wall. In 1982 Billy married Caroline. The pair opened the original small shop in 1983, trading nine weeks a year. By 1987 Billy was running Fruit of Northumbria with his friend Charles Nicholl to supply the North East supermarkets from the same fields.
In 2007 Caroline Dickinson was received at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her contribution to the business. A decade later, in 2017, Caroline's son Harry came back to Northumberland with his wife Rose to take on what his parents had built. Harry was appointed director on 1 June 2020. He and Rose spent the next three years getting planning permission and another sixteen months on the construction.
The new build opened on 17 August 2024. Four times the floor area of the old shop, a dedicated butchery and cheese counter, a 140-cover Courtyard Kitchen, a four-level Play Barn. Staff doubled from thirty to sixty. The line that runs from Billy's 1979 raspberries to Rose's 2024 reopening is one family, four generations, on one piece of Tyne Valley ground.
“Our key aim is to give customers what they want, and all of that hinges on quality and innovation.” Caroline Dickinson, on the working motto of Brocksbushes.
“At its core, the new Brocksbushes is still very much a family-run North East farm shop.” Rose Dickinson, Appetite Magazine, September 2024.
The Courtyard Kitchen runs across the day. Breakfast from 8:30 weekdays, 9:30 Sundays. Lunch through the afternoon. Afternoon tea daily 14:00 to 16:00 at twenty-one pounds ninety-five, twenty-four hours notice. Sunday roast midday to three on the same Walwick Grange beef the butchery cuts. A function room behind the kitchen seats sixty for private events.
Dogs welcome at the south-facing outdoor courtyard. Last hot food orders sixty minutes before closing. Tables walk-in Monday to Saturday, booking required for Sunday roast and the function room.
Pick Your Own is the original Brocksbushes proposition, opened in 1979 with raspberries. The same field today carries 300,000-plus strawberry plants, the row of raspberries that started it, gooseberries, currants, plums and 120,000 pumpkin plants. Timed slots so the fruit is ripe when you walk in.
300,000+ plants across 36 football-pitch equivalent of field. Peak the first fortnight of July.
The fruit Billy and his mother opened the farm with in 1979. Still on the original eastern rows.
A narrower window than the berries. Phone the field on the day to confirm what is ripe.
A small orchard, picked over two or three weekends. First-come on the slot.
120,000+ plants. The single busiest event of the Brocksbushes year since the 2019 launch.
Brocksbushes is on the A69 one mile south of Corbridge and five miles east of Hexham. Fifteen miles west of Newcastle. Free on-site parking, on a working farm with the fields on one side and the new food hall and Courtyard Kitchen on the other. The Play Barn entrance is alongside the restaurant.
If your question is not here, pop in to the farm, drop a note to support@brocksbushes.co.uk, or phone during opening hours.
Strawberries from mid-June, peak the first fortnight of July. Raspberries through August. Pumpkins through October. The field runs on timed slots so the fruit is ripe when you walk in. The 2026 slot price is confirmed each spring on the PYO booking page.
Two named farms inside the parish. Walwick Grange beef from Jeff and Laura. Little Whittington beef from Philip Nixon. Both within a short drive of the bench. Daniel Burton heads the butchery and has 22 years in the trade.
Yes, at the south-facing outdoor courtyard. Inside is two-legged guests only. Water bowls on the courtyard, off-lead is fine if the dog is comfortable around tables.
Yes. Sunday roast runs from midday until three and is booked through the Courtyard Kitchen page. Walk-in tables Monday to Saturday across normal trading. Afternoon tea is daily 14:00 to 16:00 at £21.95 with at least 24 hours notice.
Brocksbushes Farm, Stocksfield NE43 7UB, on the A69 one mile south of Corbridge and five miles east of Hexham. Free parking on site. Open Monday to Saturday 8:30 to 17:30, Sunday 10:00 to 16:00.