Sales down but festive market seen as success

MORE than 1,000 visitors attended the Herb Farm Christmas market last weekend.

Manager David Burton, 42, said the family-run business off Peppard Road had welcomed about 700 visitors a day on Saturday and Sunday.

The annual market featured 28 local stallholders, including Honeys of Henley, Henley Gin and Johnny Hot Stuff. Woodturner Roger Lester supervised children’s activities, which included making personalised wooden Christmas tree decorations.

Mr Burton said although the business’s sales experienced a downturn compared to previous markets, the event was a success.

He said: “It went really well given where we are at with the economy and the market.

“There was quite a number of visitors, it was down on last year but it’s still quite high considering all of the issues we are facing.

“We’re not silly, we are aware that people are being a lot more selective in what they’re spending money on so we had anticipated that but it was still a good turnout.

“We got quite a lot of people who definitely haven’t been here before so it’s a good opportunity to showcase what we are here at the farm. It kicks off the season because we have all of our Christmas stock available now and we let people know we have our trees coming in at the end of the month.

“It’s also a good opportunity to see the new café that we’ve got, which is run by Pierrepont’s, of Goring.

“They’ve been with us just over a year now so this is their second Christmas market so it’s a good opportunity to show what they can provide.”