Stapleford History Society 14 October 2025
We were treated to a charming and informative father and son double act by Colin (81) and Charles (53) Bradford, currently famous for their splendid farm shop known as The Gog. Their aim was to talk about the family connection to Heath Farm and to explain how local farming has had to change in order to survive.
The Bradfords arrived at the farm in 1919 as proud tenants of Gonville and Caius, one of the many Cambridge University Colleges who own many, many acres of land. Colin’s father was one of nine sons and they all lived in the area. Colin was born at Heath Farm which was much larger than now, with the current Golf Club being based on what was their 99 acre field.
In the years between the two world wars there were several small farms in Stapleford managed by Frank Hardy, Bob Arley, Norman Challis, the Beavis brothers and Pat Lincoln, to name but a few. Farming was mixed with horses doing a lot of the work before the post war advent of machinery. Fields were smaller and many people had pigs and chickens in their gardens. Even The Rose pub had a smallholding at the back of the pub.
During World War II there was a great need to produce as much of our own food as possible. There were financial incentives to enlarge the fields, use some chemicals, and even bring in foreign prisoners of war to work on a daily basis, with the Italians and Germans returning to their camp in the evening. Stricter controls came in later.
After Colin’s father died, the Bradfords started to diversify by bringing calves from Wales, keeping them indoors, fattening them up on milk substitute initially then feeding them on barley. Eventually they were taken to Saffron Walden Cattle Market and sold as ‘barley beef’. This was very successful but joining the EU brought in changes to livestock production, so they began to raise turkeys, which led to the development of the farm shop.
Between 1980 and 2000 many small farms became subsumed into larger concerns, as people retired or moved on. The Bradford family is quite rare in still being actively involved in farming lasting more than a century. Charles and his brother Marcus have enjoyed an upbringing at Heath Farm and been able to leave to go to University, enjoy totally different careers, then return to continue the evolution from Heath Farm to The Gog.
The need to adapt and evolve has resulted in the development of a cafe and a shop and the supply chain is very niche now for top quality products. Corporate events are held there and, most interestingly, there is the aim to revive the smallholding element of farming. There are now six sheep and the hope is that the remaining fields will be used soon.
Report by Jane Steadman
