Cat and Fiddle Farm reopens at Hinton with camping and an autumn patch

The timber shop on Lyndhurst Road at Hinton used to be a place you stopped if the strawberries were on. Since early August it has been trading again under James Fowler and Megan Fowler-Spink, working the Meyrick Estates land as more than a pick-your-own field.

They kept the farm shop and cafe and added a family campsite with showers and toilets, booked through late September. Pitches have also appeared on Pitchup under Cat and Fiddle Campsite. That puts overnight stays five minutes from Highcliffe and on the New Forest edge, next to the Vintage Inns pub that shares the name but is a separate business. The farm number is 01425 672451.

Shop hours now run Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday and Saturday 8am to 8pm, and Sunday 9am to 4pm. The shelves mix the farm’s own fruit and vegetables with Isle of Wight tomatoes, New Forest strawberries when they are in, and a short run of bakery and deli lines. The cafe has been putting out cheese and bacon croissants, Cornish pasties and Dorset apple cake rather than a long cooked menu.

Sunflowers were the late-August pick. Pumpkins stay in the field through October, which covers half-term. Saturday pop-ups with local barbecue and live music ran into mid-September, and the farm has already held a cider-and-sausage evening. There is no separate events page. Updates go on Instagram at @cat.and.fiddle.pyo and on the Facebook page Cat and Fiddle Farm & Café.

The point for Highcliffe visitors this autumn is simpler. You can pick a pumpkin, eat cake, or sleep in the field without driving across the Forest.