Welcome to the Lovejoy’s little piece of heaven in the Kentish countryside. Hope Farm is home to a campsite and The Hideaway, a hay and straw business, butchery, livery and a pedigree and commercial sheep farming enterprise. 

Working alongside Ed, his wife Gemma and three daughters, Chloe, Katie and Poppy are their shepherdess Charlotte Purdie and general farm worker and hay and straw delivery manager, Harvey Duffield. 

Numbers are currently running at 1400 ewes including 70 pedigree Poll Dorsets and 100 pedigree Romney ewes, which are run across 900 acres of Romney Marsh and Weald of Kent ground. The commercial flock consists of Romneys and Dorset x Romneys and they retain about 350 replacements each year.

Edward grew up on a family farm in Sussex which had a large camping and caravan site, while Gemma grew up in Kent and went to an agricultural college. Edward became self employed in 2003 and together they purchased their first sheep that autumn and numbers have since grown from those original 13 mixed breed tegs.

Both Ed and Gemma have been heavily involved in Young Farmers and continue to support their local Club, Ashford YFC. All three girls are now active in Young Farmers and enjoy regular events held throughout the year. 

Alongside the sheep enterprise, they manage a successful hay and straw business largely serving the equine sector across Kent and Sussex.

While showing doesn’t form the backbone of the business, the family do enjoy attending a few local shows with the Romney’s and Poll Dorsets, as well as Katie’s small flock of Border Leicester sheep. A number of Dorset and Romney rams are offered for sale both privately and at local sales, as well as select numbers of breeding sheep throughout the year. 

The Hideaway, a characterful, rural retreat, similar to a shepherd’s hut, opened in conjunction with their campsite in 2022 and has proved a huge hit. 

On top of all these growing activities on the farm, they’ve recently started a small suckler herd of Sussex cross cattle, with a view to going to 20 cows to help stock the on-farm butchery business.