{"id":539314,"date":"2026-04-19T11:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T11:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/539314\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T11:44:11","slug":"i-visited-hidden-devon-farm-in-the-heart-of-a-city-where-time-stands-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/539314\/","title":{"rendered":"I visited hidden Devon farm in the heart of a city where time stands still"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Water courses meander through the landscape, and the flowing streams were remarkably transparent.’<\/p>\n

Katie Oborn Audience Writer<\/p>\n

15:55, 18 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The old Plymouth woodland has been left untouched by time (Image: Katie Oborn )<\/p>\n

A Plymouth farm where livestock roam contentedly and wildlife flourishes has become a sanctuary for nature, despite being hemmed in by bustling main roads. Stepping into this remarkable location feels almost like travelling back in time, with a stunning woodland floor of bluebells and wild garlic currently putting on a spectacular display.<\/a><\/p>\n

Poole Farm holds the distinction of being the “last working farm” within the cityscape, tucked just off Platinum Parkway and nestled between the neighbourhoods of Leigham, Estover, Derriford, Crownhill and Eggbuckland \u2014 and it shows no signs of going anywhere.<\/a><\/p>\n

Visiting part of the site and its surrounding area on Friday, April 17, I was welcomed by a wonderful chorus of birdsong echoing through the trees.<\/a><\/p>\n

While the adjoining Derriford Community Park and nature reserve remains accessible to the public around the clock, the Poole Farm grounds themselves are only open for scheduled events or bookings. This arrangement ensures the farmland remains a vibrant refuge for wildlife and a secure environment for grazing livestock.<\/p>\n

My visit coincided with a Writing in Nature workshop held at the farm as part of Plymouth’s inaugural Poetry Festival, organised by writer Poppy-Jayne Jones and led by poets Jon Nash and Lizzie Elliot-Klein.<\/p>\n

Plymouth Poetry Festival, hailed as the “largest celebration of poetry” in the city, has been running throughout the week, with co-founders Jonah Corren and Mimi Jones also instrumental in bringing this landmark 2026 event to life.<\/p>\n

\"Poole<\/p>\n

Poole Farm in Plymouth (Image: Katie Oborn)<\/p>\n

This presented the ideal chance for me to visit the location, as I’d been eager to discover Poole Farm and the neighbouring nature reserve. Before stepping through the locked gates onto the grounds, I took a stroll along the footpaths leading towards Derriford Community Park.<\/p>\n

Water courses meander through the landscape, and the flowing streams were remarkably transparent. The gentle mooing of cattle drifted across from an adjacent field, creating a tranquil atmosphere despite the rumble of vehicles passing on the road above.<\/p>\n

This sense of calm intensified once inside the Poole Farm woodland, as I joined several creative writing workshop attendees making our way to the Beaver Lookout – a fittingly named vantage point overlooking the waterway and its beaver inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Our group then ventured into the surrounding forest near the Beaver Lookout to compose creative pieces about whichever trees captured our attention – and this woodland is home to countless impressive specimens.<\/p>\n

\"Poole<\/p>\n

Poole Farm, a community farm owned by Plymouth City Council, is home to goats, sheep, cows and pigs as well as wildlife (Image: Penny Cross \/ Plymouth Live)<\/p>\n

Surveying the scene around me, it wasn’t difficult to picture how terrain such as this would have once stretched from Dartmoor right down to the coastline, long before Plymouth expanded into the sprawling city it is today.<\/p>\n

Having safeguarded these substantial areas of urban greenspace for locals and tourists alike is truly valuable, but it’s even more vital for the natural environment and its creatures.<\/p>\n

Plymouth City Council owns and maintains the Poole Farm location alongside the adjacent community park and nature reserves.<\/p>\n

This community farm sits at the heart of Derriford Community Park, spanning 147 hectares of what Plymouth City Council (PCC) hails as a “beautiful natural space with wooded valleys, wildflower meadows and rivers”.<\/p>\n

On their website, PCC added that “although our focus is now on community involvement through health and wellbeing, education and conservation – we are still a working farm.<\/p>\n

“Poole Farm is looked after with help from our fantastic volunteers and the operation is funded entirely outside of council budgets.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Water courses meander through the landscape, and the flowing streams were remarkably transparent.’ Katie Oborn Audience Writer 15:55,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35126,1397,27525,103192,90,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-539314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-dartmoor","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-farming","11":"tag-plymouth-city-council","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}