Jason Gathorne-Hardy has breathed new life into the Alde Valley Spring Festival creating the Banqueting Barn, a delicious dining experience that combines original art and great local food
A golden hue has settled over White House Farm at Great Glemham when I visit on an unseasonably warm late autumn day. Sunshine glints from the windows of the farmhouse cloaked in a tangle of climbing plants. The fields and foliage of the trees take on a bronze hue. There's a scent of woodsmoke.
In the heart of Jason Gathorne-Hardy's rustic, unstuffy collection of art spaces, Galloper Sands, is an extraordinary scene which sings of harvest, celebration, sharing and simple country pleasures. An open fire pit smoulders, releasing savoury scents of oak. Long tables, hand-crafted from wood from the farm, are dressed with garlands of dried wild flowers and grasses, and humble arrangements of gourds and quince. Seats are made from hay bales and fleeces.
It is a simple, delicious proposition for lunch, currently served on days when there's something in the gallery to launch, with a view to opening more frequently from spring 2023. Roll up, enjoy the art, the natural setting and, for around £10 to £15, a help-yourself feast of dishes made with produce from Arthur Hobhouse’s no-dig allotment and the estate's polytunnels.
The Banqueting Barn is Jason’s homage to the fat of the land, and an extension of The Alde Valley Spring Festival which he founded in 2009. “In early 2000 I coined the phrased the ‘Alde Valley’ for this area in response to my mother’s [the Countess of Cranbrook] work and research into local food,” says Jason, stoking the fire as he prepares our lunch of locally caught sea bass stuffed with lemon and fennel fronds, and slices of Suffolk steak drenched in Fen Farm butter and local honey.
“I felt strongly there were so many food businesses in this area and I wanted to try and link them to a geographical identity. I started Alde Valley Food Adventures in 2004/05, launching with an exhibition of drawings at Snape Maltings. Paul Thomas, who had the Farm Café came to the opening and I remember seeing him munching on a mushroom dish. He said ‘I love the art, but I really love the food’. That made me think we could do something centered around food and art here.”
Jason spent time roving around local restaurants and pubs, meeting producers and chefs, before bringing Alde Valley Spring Festival to White House Farm in 2009. It’s an annual event he describes as a coming together of food, art and landscape. Artists, creators and writers, such as Melanie Comber, Perienne Christian and Tessa Newcomb, have taken up residencies over the years, expressing their vision of this part of Suffolk.
“We were able to safely welcome some of them during Covid times, working alone on the farm,” he adds. “I really feel that the arts have become so embedded in our landscape here - that feels precious. As much as our harvest has been peas or wool from sheep, it's been the work of these writers and artists too.”
“We had a wedding here for a lovely young couple in June. They didn’t want any risk, just in case, so we reorganised all the barns to create this dance/reception/dining area. It was so wonderful we decided to keep it.”
‘Harvest’ and ‘community’ are central to Jason’s vision for the barn. He remembers, as a child growing up in the family home, his mother hosting a harvest supper for everyone working on the farm, as well as suppliers and contractors. It would be 30 to 50 people gathering for a wonderful cornucopia of smoked hams, terrines, vegetables and cakes.
"We have a sister festival in central Borneo. They have community feasts and I remember going to the villages in 2005 and seeing this amazing food being prepared in 4ft by 6ft pans. One had 80kgs of pork, another 30kgs of chicken. That coming together of people to sit and eat and share really inspired me.
“I very much want this to be a place of welcome and nature and celebrating local food. Around each art launch, we have an almost ‘baby’ festival filled with food almost entirely from the farm and from Arthur’s beautiful garden.”
Menus are largely plant-based, with some seasonal game from the estate when available. While Jason tends the fire, his partner, Isobel Sarginson Allen, takes the reigns in the kitchen. A vegan for many years, Isobel is inspired initially by whatever Arthur has available, bringing in touches of Indonesia and the Middle East, with the menu changing every single time.
“I really love the way she can get so much flavour coming through vegetables,” Jason remarks, bewitched by the flames as he turns a piece of steak. “She is a remarkable cook. And so is Colleen who makes our cakes. Arthur’s produced some incredible carrots which are about 1ft long! Colleen’s been turning them into a very special carrot cake, which we all love here. Everyone has to come and try it!”
Find out more, including how to get to the farm, at galloper-sands.co.uk or email enquiries@galloper-sands.co.uk
