30 Years of Pennywell Magic
The owners and team at Pennywell Farm will be celebrating the attractions 30th birthday in May and owners, Chris and Nicky Murray are looking for past staff members to help them celebrate. A birthday party is planned on Saturday 18 May and they would like anyone who has worked at Pennywell to contact them for an invitation.
Hundreds of seasonal staff have worked at the farm over the past three decades and Chris Murray explains, “We want to celebrate the contribution that every person has made to the farm over the past 30 years. It’s been a great adventure and each person has brought something unique. We’d love to see as many of them as possible.”
Pennywell first opened its gates to the public on 22 May 1989 with a staff comprising of husband and wife team Chris and Nicky Murray and Nicky’s sister Fiona. The Murray’s eldest son Angus was born just 20 days after the attraction opened.
Chris Murray in action in the early days of Pennywell
The farm consisted of one animal barn, a small shop and a catering unit. It was the first farm attraction in the country to introduce a real hands on experience with animals and the first to introduce half hourly activities, a formula that has been repeated all over Britain. Today, the attraction employs 26 full time staff increasing to more than 80 during the summer months, welcoming over 80,000 visitors each year.
Chris and Nicky insist that the secret of Pennywell’s success is very straightforward and is in their basic determination to stick at it.
Nicky explains: “From day one there are two questions that we have constantly asked in each area; is it simple, is it sustainable?
“There have been many setbacks and challenges over the years, particularly in the early nineties when interest rates soared. My advice to anyone with a dream is to believe in it and never give up.”
Anyone wanting to get in touch can contact Chris and Nicky at [email protected]
This story appeared on February 27, 2019 and is tagged as: 30 | birthday
