Scaddows Vineyard & Farm, Ticknall, Derbyshire - A Family-Run English Winemaker in the South Derbyshire Hills
Tucked into the rolling countryside of South Derbyshire, along the A514 between the villages of Ticknall and Hartshorne, Scaddows Vineyard is part of a working family farm that has been quietly diversifying for nearly four decades. What began in 1987 as a traditional mixed farm has grown into a small but distinctive English wine estate alongside a seasonal pick-your-own soft fruit business, a Caravan and Motorhome Club Certificated Location (CL), and a Saturday morning Cellar Door shop where visitors can buy the wines made from the vines outside.
A Family Farm in the Derbyshire Hills
Scaddows Farm was established by John and Ann Webster in 1987 when the family moved to Ticknall. Farming had been their life for many years before that, and the move to South Derbyshire gave them the chance to put down long roots on a farm that suited their ambitions. John and Ann are joined in the business by their children Lizzie and Tom, and the farm has stayed firmly in family hands ever since.
For the first three decades, Scaddows was known above all for its pick-your-own (PYO) soft fruit. The light, well-drained soils and the slightly elevated, south-facing position in the Ticknall valley turned out to be excellent for strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants. Generations of local families have fond memories of summer afternoons spent filling punnets on the farm.
In more recent years the family has branched out - literally - into viticulture. Today the same farm that grows the fruit also presses, ferments and bottles its own still and sparkling wines under the Scaddows Vineyard label, all from grapes grown within sight of the Cellar Door.
The Vineyard
Scaddows Vineyard sits in what is, by East Midlands standards, quite a sheltered and surprisingly temperate pocket of the English countryside. The vineyard was planted on the family farm as a natural extension of the existing soft-fruit operation, taking advantage of the same free-draining ground, the aspect and the long, soft autumns that make South Derbyshire well suited to slow-ripening grape varieties.
The winemaking calendar begins in January with the winter prune, when John, Tom and the team work through each vine to select the best canes for the coming season. As growth picks up in spring, summer pruning continues, balancing leaf canopy and fruit to give the grapes maximum exposure to sun while protecting them from the worst of the weather. By October and November, frequent testing of sugar and acidity in the ripening fruit dictates the precise harvest day for each block.
Once picked, the grapes are processed on site, pressed and fermented in the farm's own winery. Regular tasting through fermentation and maturation is what shapes the final blends - and it is this hands-on, small-batch approach that has earned the wines a string of awards.
The Wines
Scaddows produces a range of still and sparkling wines from varieties that perform well in this part of the Midlands. The flagship is a traditional-method sparkling wine made from Solaris, a German-bred white grape that has proved particularly well suited to cooler English seasons and consistently ripens well at Scaddows. Around it sit the still whites, a still rosé and a still red that round out the cellar door offering.
All of the wines are made exclusively from estate-grown fruit, and all are grown, produced, bottled and labelled at Scaddows Farm. Visitors will not find Scaddows wines in supermarkets - the Cellar Door is the principal way to take a bottle home, which is part of what makes a visit to the farm feel like a proper small-producer experience.
Vineyard Tours and Tastings
For anyone who has driven past the vineyard on the A514 and wondered what is going on behind the hedgerows, Scaddows runs a programme of guided vineyard tours on selected dates through August and September. The tours are designed to be relaxed and informative rather than formal - a friendly walk through the vines with plenty of opportunities to ask questions about how the wines are made, before sitting down to taste the finished product.
Tours typically cover:
- The story of how a Derbyshire soft-fruit farm became an English wine estate.
- A walk through the vineyard block by block, looking at canopy management, pruning and the differences between the white, red and rosé varieties.
- An explanation of harvest decisions, pressing and fermentation in the on-site winery.
- A tutored tasting of the current release Scaddows wines, including the sparkling Solaris.
Tour slots are limited and August and September dates fill quickly in good weather. Tour tickets are booked through the Vineyard Tours booking page.
The Cellar Door Shop
The Cellar Door is the small on-farm shop where the Scaddows wine range is sold directly to the public. After reopening in July, the Cellar Door is open every Saturday from 10:00am to 1:00pm, with the next Saturday opening falling on Saturday 8 August 2026 and then continuing weekly through the rest of the summer and into autumn.
What makes a visit to the Cellar Door worth the trip is that the people pouring the wine are very often the same people who pruned the vines and pressed the grapes. The team is happy to talk visitors through each bottle, suggest food pairings and explain what makes the Derbyshire vintage different from year to year.
Opening times for the Cellar Door:
- Saturday: 10:00am - 1:00pm
- Sunday to Friday: Closed
Card payments are accepted, and bottles can also be ordered via the Scaddows online cart for collection at the Cellar Door or, in many cases, for UK delivery.
Pick Your Own Fruit and the Farm Shop
Soft fruit picking is what first put Scaddows on the map locally, and it remains a core part of the farm. The pick-your-own fields have been open every summer for more than thirty years, and traditionally include:
- Strawberries - the farm's flagship crop.
- Raspberries - both summer and, in good years, an autumn-fruiting selection.
- Gooseberries - a particular favourite for jams and crumbles.
- Blackcurrants and redcurrants.
The 2026 PYO season has now come to a close after an exceptionally warm summer, which brought an early and shorter picking window than usual. The team has thanked visitors for their support and confirmed that the fruit fields and farm shop will reopen in June 2027.
Alongside the PYO, the farm's small seasonal Farm Shop opens in late May or early June each year, stocking high-quality local produce sourced from Derbyshire, Leicestershire and the wider Midlands. Expect jams, chutneys, honey, baked goods, ice cream and other shelf-stable artisan products from neighbouring makers.
Scaddows CL - A Caravan and Motorhome Club Site
Scaddows Farm is also home to a small Caravan and Motorhome Club Certificated Location (CL), a five-pitch site reserved exclusively for current members of the Club. The CL is intentionally separate from the vineyard and PYO operations, which means guests get a quiet, adult-only rural base from which to explore the surrounding South Derbyshire countryside.
Key features of the CL include:
- Adults-only site.
- Maximum five units (caravans, motorhomes, campervans or trailer tents).
- Grass pitches on roughly 0.75 acres.
- Fresh water on site.
- Waste disposal facilities.
- Dogs permitted.
- No electric hook-up.
- Good TV reception.
- Open all year, with latest arrival at 8:00pm.
Nearby attractions for CL guests include Calke Abbey (a National Trust property), Donington Park, the village of Ticknall itself, and a wide choice of countryside walks, country pubs, fishing, golf and watersports - all within about five miles.
All CL enquiries and bookings are made through the Scaddows Farm page on the Caravan and Motorhome Club website.
Location and How to Visit
Scaddows is in an easy-to-reach part of the East Midlands. The farm is signed off the A514 between Ticknall and Hartshorne, just a few miles south of Melbourne and within easy reach of the M1, M42 and A50.
Approximate distances:
- Melbourne - about 4 miles.
- Ashbourne - about 12 miles.
- Burton upon Trent - about 8 miles.
- Derby - about 10 miles.
- Birmingham - about 35 miles.
- Nottingham - about 25 miles.
The postcode for sat-navs is DE73 7JP. The Cellar Door, the vineyard, the PYO fields and the CL are all on the same farm, but visitors should follow the on-site signage on arrival as different activities use different parking areas.
What's On and Events at Scaddows
Scaddows is not a large-scale events venue - it is a working farm first and foremost - but it does run a regular programme of wine-led experiences through the summer and autumn.
Saturday Cellar Door openings
The weekly Saturday Cellar Door opening (10:00am - 1:00pm) is the easiest event to plan around. The next one is Saturday 8 August 2026, and the Saturday openings continue weekly thereafter. No booking is required - just turn up, taste the wines and take a bottle (or two) home.
Vineyard Tours
Guided tours of the vineyard and winery run on selected dates through August and September each year. These are ticketed events with limited spaces, and booking is via the Scaddows Square booking page. The tours typically include a walk through the vines, an explanation of the winemaking process and a tutored tasting of several wines.
Festive Events
Through November and December Scaddows also takes a small presence at local Christmas markets - most regularly at the Calke Abbey Christmas Market, which runs across weekends in the lead-up to Christmas. Visitors can expect a pop-up Cellar Door pouring the sparkling Solaris and the still wines, alongside seasonal food stalls. Dates and stall locations for the current festive season are shared on the Scaddows Facebook and Instagram pages.
Why Scaddows is Worth a Visit
There is no shortage of English vineyards to visit these days, but Scaddows has a character all of its own. Three things make it stand out:
- It is a working family farm, not a destination vineyard. Visitors arrive and find themselves alongside a fruit farm, a small caravan site and a Saturday morning shop. There is no gift shop full of branded tea towels - just good wine, decent fruit and friendly people.
- Every bottle comes from the same field. All of the wines are grown, made, fermented and bottled on site from estate fruit. There is no bulk-buying of grapes from elsewhere.
- South Derbyshire is a quietly brilliant place for English wine. The same free-draining slopes and gentle autumns that make the strawberries famous also make the Solaris and other varieties ripen properly, and the resulting wines have a freshness and balance that punch well above the vineyard's size.
Contact and Practical Information
Key Details
- Winery and Farm: Scaddows Farm, Scaddows Lane, Ticknall, Derbyshire, DE73 7JP.
- Cellar Door Shop: Every Saturday 10:00am - 1:00pm.
- PYO and Farm Shop: Closed for winter - reopens June 2027.
- Vineyard Tours: Selected dates, August and September - book online.
- CL Site: Caravan and Motorhome Club members only - book via the Club.
Find Scaddows Online
- Scaddows Farm & Vineyard - official website
- Vineyard page
- Vineyard Tour bookings
- Online wine shop (cart)
- Contact page
Final Thoughts
Scaddows Vineyard is one of those quietly confident English wine producers that rewards a bit of effort from the visitor. It is not the easiest vineyard in the country to find, and the Cellar Door is only open one morning a week - but that is part of its charm. The combination of estate-grown fruit, a hands-on winemaking team and a Saturday morning tasting room in the Derbyshire countryside is what gives Scaddows its distinctive character.