大象传媒

Ten years ago, Stephen and Judith Foreman were enjoying life as dairy farmers, milking 150 cows on their farmland near Skipsea.

That changed when the price of milk dropped and the Foremans soon discovered their profit margins were suffering.

The Foremans were faced with three choices: increase their herd size to produce more milk, emigrate to New Zealand or diversify.

They opted for the latter and have been running a thriving business for the past three years making and selling ice cream on the same farmland.

鈥淲e've added value to our milk and enjoy a completely different lifestyle.鈥� said Judith Foreman, co-owner of Mr Moo鈥檚 Ice Cream Parlour and Coffee Shop.

鈥淲e are now meeting the customer where as before the milk would leave the farm and you would never see where that milk went. You'd know it went to a major multiple but that was it.

鈥淗ere you see the customer and you can talk to them and tell them what鈥檚 in their ice cream.鈥� added Mrs Foreman.

The ice cream is made on the premises using milk produced from their dairy herd and locally sourced ingredients.

Keeping it in the family

The ice cream making dynasty is set to continue as the Foremans' 17 year old son, Harry, is already following in his parents鈥� footsteps.

Probably the youngest ice cream maker in the UK?

He decided to postpone his college course in catering to become one of the youngest ice cream makers in the region.

"I've lived here all my life so I might as well grow into the family business and help along." said Harry.

"I've been making ice cream since we first opened in 2003. I like seeing things progress from cow to cone and see it sold. It's nice to say: 'I made that'.

"I hope to stay here and progress through the business and have fun along the way."

Coastal trail

The Foremans' farmland is only a stone's throw from the beach and last year they decided to open their coastal footpath to the public.

Stephen and Judith Foreman

This followed on from their green-fingered exploits when they planted 2000 trees, with the help of a grant from Defra.

鈥淪ince we've been here in 1982, we've always enjoyed walks to the beach down at Withow Gap where we can see seals, various birds, ships and sailing boats.鈥� said Mrs Foreman.

鈥淎 year ago we did a large tree planting exercise, planting 2000 English native trees through which we've laid a permissive footpath, with the aid of Defra, which takes you through the field boundaries where you can see various aspects of wildlife and historical remains.

鈥淲e have a nuclear bunker left over from the Cold War together with two World War Two bunkers and a First World War bunker.

On the trail to Withow Gap

鈥淎s you go down towards the sea at Withow Gap, there are remains of a mere that was very similar to Hornsea Mere, a kettle hole lake.

鈥淥n the beach itself, you can see a cross section of that mere starting with the clay and building up through the peat to some very ancient trees about 10,000 years old, which was part of a beaver dam during the last ice age.鈥�

Mrs Foreman continued: 鈥淭his is just another aspect to the farm. People can see the beautiful countryside we have here. They can work the calories off and it's showing people the farm itself.鈥�

The coastal trail is open to the public from 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday