Beechdean Farms and the Kent Family:
Having always had a yen to farm, the Kent family moved out from London in 1961 and started farming in tenanted farms in North Dean and West Wycombe. They initially ran a traditional mixed system (pigs, sheep, chickens, cereals and milking cows) but soon discovered that milk production was the enterprise most likely to succeed in the Chiltern Hills.
By 1969, Jim and his wife Gill, had started farming on the North Dean Farm and in 1972 they went into partnership with their landlord/neighbour, Mr Donald Campbell, an industrialist, who lived in North Dean House. Donald's Ayrshire herd and Jim and Gills British Fresian herd were amalgamated and Beechdean Farms was formed; the milk being then sold to the Milk Marketing Board. The Kent family bought the farm in 1985. In 1991 Charles Kent (son of Jim and Gill) bought Donald's share of the farm to complete the "family farm" and has now taken over the ownership and management of the dairy business.
In 1989 Jim and Gill's daughter Susie and her husband Andrew Howard had started an ice cream production and distribution business using an increasing amount of milk from the farms. The Black and Whites in one of the herds were replaced by Jerseys in order to support the need of the successful and fast growing ice cream business. All the Black and Whites were finally sold in 2006 and replaced with a quality and carefully selected Jersey Herd.
Today sees Beechdean Farms milking around 230 Jersey cows and continuing to supply Beechdean Ice Cream with the majority of the milk produced. The farm is currently undergoing construction and modernisation work; replacing old barns with new, the creation of more cow housing and in the spring a new parlour will be built. Legislation also requires the farm to build a new slurry store which is also currently under construction. The work once completed will allow the farm to expand its herd with its home bred heifers, to milk around 300 cows by the end of next year.