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Farming sisters open pop-up straw bale event

High Lodge Farm An overhead shot shows hundreds of straw bales laid out in an intricate maze in a giant field, with farm buildings dotted around the outside of it. A line of large leafy trees are on the horizon above the laid out bales.High Lodge Farm
Hundreds of straw bales have been arranged in a maze layout, like last year's event (pictured)

Four sisters have created a children's playground and maze at their Oxfordshire farm using 300 bales of straw.

Emily, Katy, Lucy and Jess have opened the Big Bale Play at High Lodge Farm in Culham, Abingdon, over the May half-term.

They said they came up with the idea for the pop-up event after spending hours playing on bales as children at their family farm in Didcot.

"We all have very fond memories of long evenings chasing each other over them so we thought 'Why not recreate it for the public?'," said Lucy.

High Lodge Farm Katy, Jess, Lucy and Emily stand side by side with their arms around each other, facing into the camera with big smiles on their faces. All four are wearing navy fleeces and waterproof jackets bearing a small High Lodge Farm logo in white.High Lodge Farm
(L-R) Katy, Jess, Lucy and Emily host several pop-up farm-themed events every year

High Lodge Farm is a working farm for most of the year but the sisters host several pop-up events throughout the year to make ends meet.

This week's event, now in its third year, runs for nine days from Saturday.

All the straw bales will then be stored and used for livestock during the winter or sold to local farmers.

Lucy said they usually had a few straw bales at their other events that proved popular with children which made them think of doing it "on a huge scale".

"I don't know what it is about them, but kids seem drawn to straw bales," she said. "It's the perfect summer playground and a lot of fun."

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