Broadlands Mushroom Farm :: Shared Description
Broadlands Mushroom Farm, as it became known, started as a small family business in the early 1950s, in a shed on land behind Pymans shop in White Street. The business, owned by John and Donald Bradfield, soon turned out to be very successful and more sheds were built, and when in the early 1960s the access road was found to be inadequate due to it being very narrow, the Bradfields moved into new bungalows and had their shop and dwelling house demolished to make way for a new access road. By the late 1950s, the business was supplying the markets in Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and Manchester.
After the closure of the railway line in February 1959, alternative arrangements for transporting the mushrooms were made and it was decided to only deliver to Birmingham. A lorry was purchased and a night-driver hired; two vehicles and drivers were used for deliveries to Yarmouth and Norwich. Mushrooms not required for local sales were taken to the wholesale markets by a contractor. Over the years more sheds were constructed and a canteen with facilities for the workers, who by then numbered about 100, was also added. New types of mushrooms were developed, the business thrived, and there were plans to update the premises or move to another site, but these plans never materialised.
The mushroom farm was sold in the early 1990s and closed five years later, in 1995. The buildings have since stood empty and a fire destroyed most of them in 2014.
(Many thanks to the Martham Local History Group for this information.)
After the closure of the railway line in February 1959, alternative arrangements for transporting the mushrooms were made and it was decided to only deliver to Birmingham. A lorry was purchased and a night-driver hired; two vehicles and drivers were used for deliveries to Yarmouth and Norwich. Mushrooms not required for local sales were taken to the wholesale markets by a contractor. Over the years more sheds were constructed and a canteen with facilities for the workers, who by then numbered about 100, was also added. New types of mushrooms were developed, the business thrived, and there were plans to update the premises or move to another site, but these plans never materialised.
The mushroom farm was sold in the early 1990s and closed five years later, in 1995. The buildings have since stood empty and a fire destroyed most of them in 2014.
(Many thanks to the Martham Local History Group for this information.)
by Evelyn Simak
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Created: Tue, 17 Nov 2015, Updated: Tue, 17 Nov 2015
The 'Shared Description' text on this page is Copyright 2015 Evelyn Simak, however it is specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse it on their own images without restriction.
