Eccleshall is a pleasant town in Staffordshire, seven miles north west of Stafford. It's got a fine church (the Holy Trinity Church) dating from 1189, a castle (not open to the public), and a biofuel power station, fuelled by Elephant Grass grown locally.
The River Sow goes through Eccleshall - so it must be good for pigs! It's also was the home of Slater's Ales - formerly known as Eccleshall Brewery, the beers used to be brewed at the back of the George Inn:
but are now brewed in Stafford. On the 4th Saturday of the month it's Eccleshall Farmers' Market:
It's not a huge market, but there was a range of stalls including Cheddleton Chicks (selling free range eggs), London Road Bakehouse (from Stoke-on-Trent selling bread baked in their 100 year old ovens), the Mill at Worston (a local restaurant with a strong commitment to local food) and Park Hill Farm, who I hope to visit soon. 
I had some Berkshire pork from David and Claire Lockett. It's an organic farm which also sells free range eggs, and home bred Aberdeen Angus beef. They don't have a farm shop as such, but if you ring them first you can pick up what you want from the farm or they'll deliver free if you're local.
D A & C M Lockett
Brockton Farm
Brockton
Eccleshall
Stafford
ST21 6LY
01785 850361
Some people are against farmers' markets, saying they take trade away from local businesses. However it was the farmers' market that made me go to Eccleshall and whilst I was there I spent quite a bit in some excellent shops in the town, which I'll cover in the next posts.
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