The future of Kingfisher Farm and Flower Shop in Abinger Hammer, a business run by the same family for five generations, is uncertain, according to Marion McBurney, who is currently in charge.
Barrie Arminson, who took over the business in 1956 when he was 18, recalled that the entire site was once covered with watercress beds. The farm began to diversify in the 1990s, and only six beds remain today, with the farm shop now sustaining the business.
Ms McBurney stated that while watercress is central to Kingfisher, it is the least financially sustainable part. She cited weather-influenced difficulties, such as heatwaves, which have caused the watercress to flower earlier and prolifically in June.
Stuart Rumbold, who has worked at Kingfisher for 33 years, harvests the cress early in the morning. Reece Overington bunches the cress into approximately four-ounce bundles.