The Cheshire farm will open for pumpkin picking throughout October, with more than 50 varieties in the fields...
Pye Ash Farm will reopen its pumpkin patch this October, with more than 20,000 pumpkins planted for visitors to pick.
The family-run sheep and beef farm, which is in Bosley near Macclesfield, opens for the season on Saturday 3 October.
Pumpkin picking will take place at weekends throughout the month and select dates in half term.
More than 50 varieties of pumpkin have been grown across the farm, with visitors able to pick their own directly from the patch or make their way through the Pumpkin Maze.
The farm, which has 500 sheep, 100 cattle and 12 sheepdogs, has been run by the same family since 1937, when ‘Grandpa Joe Gilman’ moved to Pye Ash with his 10 siblings. Now 91, he still helps out on the farm.
Its pumpkin events began on a much smaller scale in 2020, after the family were offered pumpkins to sell by another local farm.
“My parents were very against the idea to start – ‘who would want to buy pumpkins?!’ – and reluctantly gave me a tiny part of a shed to use,” Martha Gilman, granddaughter of Joe, said.
That first event raised more than £1,300 for East Cheshire Hospice. Six years later, Pye Ash has raised more than £32,000 for local charities, with money shared between East Cheshire Hospice, The Christie Charity and The Farming Community Network.
New for 2026 will be a mini farmers’ market, where Pye Ash will sell its own farm-reared meat for the first time. It will be joined by fruit and vegetables grown around a mile away and milk and milkshakes from nearby Scotty’s Shack.
Food traders will include Buzzy Bee with hot puddings, Wood Fire Smoke making pizzas and Elnor Lane Bakery with pumpkin pastries. The Black Lion in Cheddleton will also make pumpkin using pumpkins grown at Pye Ash.
“We are very passionate about supporting local businesses and providing sustainable, locally sourced food,” the family said.
Elsewhere on the farm, there will be animals to meet, face painting, ride-on tractors and marshmallow toasting.
Sheepdog demonstrations will also take place on the hour, every hour, led by members of the farming family. Visitors will be able to see the farm’s working dogs in action and learn about their role managing its flock of 500 sheep.
Pye Ash Farm is located just off the A523 in Bosley, near Macclesfield, SK11 0PN
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