How to live the Daylesford dream IRL: Inside the holiday rentals of organic queen Carole Bamford (AKA Mrs Daylesford) By Victoria Gray Published: 12:01, 13 July 2024 | Updated: 12:01, 13 July 2024 e-mail View comments Wordsworth wrote, “Let nature be your teacher”,’ says Daylesford Organic founder Lady Carole Bamford, ‘and that is a philosophy I have always abided by.’ Bamford and her husband Lord Anthony, chairman of heavy-equipment manufacturer JCB, bought Daylesford House in 1988, taking over the farmland as well. ‘The first thing we did was to begin converting it for organic farming,’ she says.
‘After years of being harmed by synthetic chemicals and fertilisers, the soil and the land needed time to heal. However, we soon started to see varieties of wildflowers, pollinators and birds appear. From those bare and tired fields, Daylesford blossomed into a thriving farm.
’ At the heart of the farm site is now the market garden and heritage orchard, where a vibrant collection of organic fruits and vegetables grow. Bamford in the grounds of Daylesford House In 2002 Bamford opened the Daylesford farm shop to sell their organic fare and handcrafted homeware. Famed as much for its understatedly elegant aesthetic as for the delicious produce sold, the unapologetically high-end store (dubbed affectionately the ‘Harvey Nicks of the Cotswolds’) has many famous customers, including Kate Moss, David Beckham and Boris Johnson .
Recent times have seen the transformatio.