William Brisbourne has been rearing geese at Broomhill Farm at Nesscliffe, near Shrewsbury, since he left school in 1979 and today he and his wife Jennie produce 1600 for the local Christmas market.

Two years ago they gave up milk production and have now converted some of the former dairy buildings for processing the geese and also bronze turkeys and Cobb chickens.

In addition to supplying butchers and farm shops, the couple have built up their own substantial farmgate sales. "Many of the faces we see at our Christmas collection days are customers who've been coming here for geese for many years - indeed, the next generation too in some cases," said Jennie Brisbourne.

Visitors to the farm will see how the poultry enterprise combines with arable cropping, rearing dairy heifers, beef cattle and lambs - and also with the family's Ness Strange Stables where William's brother Mark has been leading trainer at Wolverhampton seven times and at Chester in three of the last eight years.