Snugburys facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Snugburys

Park Farm

Snugburys is a super popular English company that makes delicious ice cream! It's based at Park Farm in Hurleston, a village near Nantwich in Cheshire. Snugburys creates over 35 different ice cream flavours. Besides making yummy treats, Snugburys is also famous for building huge, amazing sculptures out of straw and steel.

Where is Snugburys Located?

Snugburys operates from a farm in Cheshire called Park Farm. You might also hear it called Snugbury's Ice Cream Farm. It's located on Chester Road in Hurleston, close to the Llangollen Canal.

In February 2019, Snugburys opened a second spot in Chester. This new location is called Snugburys on the River.

How Snugburys Started

The ice cream shop at Snugburys

The Snugburys business began in 1986. Chris and Cheryl Sadler changed their dairy farm into an ice cream factory. In 2011, they opened a new ice cream shop right in the barn on their farm.

Snugburys also has three ice cream vans that travel around. In 2016, they opened an ice cream parlour at the Lakeside Cafe in Trentham Estate. They make about 35 different ice cream flavours. Some past flavours include damson and sloe gin, and toffee crumble.

In 2016, Chris and Cheryl Sadler retired. Their daughters, Hannah, Kitty, and Cleo, took over the business. The sisters became directors of the company in November 2015.

When the Covid pandemic happened in 2020, Snugburys started a special drive-thru service at their Nantwich farm. This made it easy for people to get their ice cream safely.

Amazing Straw Sculptures

Snugburys has been building incredible straw sculptures since 1998. Their very first sculpture was of the Millennium Dome. These sculptures are built with steel inside to make them strong.

The main reasons for creating these giant artworks are to attract visitors to the farm and to help raise money for charities. In 2015, the Guinness Book of Records even mentioned Snugburys' straw Dalek as the "Largest Dalek sculpture"! Mike Harper from Harbrook Engineering is the talented person who creates these sculptures.

List of Snugburys Straw Sculptures

Here are some of the amazing straw sculptures Snugburys has created over the years:

• 1998: Millennium Dome
  • This sculpture was playfully called "Millennium Cone."
• 2002: Commonwealth Games
  • It was nicknamed "Cone-Wealth Games 2002."
• 2003: Dinosaur
  • This dinosaur was called "Coneastrawus." Liz Considine had the idea, and Mike Harper built it.
• 2004: Angel of the North
  • This sculpture was known as the "Angel from the North West." Money raised from donations went to Hope House Childrens Hospice.
• 2005: Millennium Wheel
  • This sculpture was made using both steel and straw.
• 2006: Sputnik
  • This one was nicknamed "The Snugnik Rocket."
• 2007: Lovell Telescope
  • 

    The Lovell Telescope straw sculpture
  • This sculpture was called "Dish of the Day." People voted to choose this subject. It celebrated 50 years of the Lovell Telescope and the start of the space age. It weighed 6 tonnes and its dish was 32 feet (9.8 meters) wide. Donations went to Kids Company.
• 2008: Windmill
• 2009: Big Ben
  • This sculpture celebrated the 150th birthday of the famous clock tower. It even had a working clock that lit up!
• 2010: Meerkat
  • 

    The Meerkat straw sculpture
  • This meerkat was 36 feet (11 meters) tall and stood on a 6-foot (1.8 meters) base. Its eyes lit up! £2,880 was donated to Railway Children (charity).
• 2011: Polar bear
  • This polar bear was 38 feet (11.6 meters) tall and weighed 9 tonnes (with 3 tonnes of straw). Donations went to The Children's Adventure Farm Trust.
• 2012: Olympic cyclist
  • 

    The Olympic cyclist straw sculpture
  • This sculpture showed a British cycling Olympian. It was 35 feet (10.7 meters) tall, and the bike alone was 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall. It weighed 7 tonnes. It took 17 weeks for one person to build. The curved shape looked like the Manchester Velodrome. Donations helped cyclists and other charities.
• 2013: Dalek
  • 

    The Dalek straw sculpture
  • This Dalek was nicknamed "Dalick." It celebrated 50 years of the TV show Doctor Who. It was 35 feet (10.7 meters) tall and made from 6 tonnes of straw and 5 tonnes of steel. It took 700 hours to build. £3,000 was donated to Cancer Research UK. The Dalek's head and plunger could move, and it even said "Exterminate!" It was mentioned in the 2015 Guinness Book of Records.
• 2015: Cowboy on horse
  • 

    The Cowboy on horse straw sculpture
  • This sculpture was 20 feet (6.1 meters) tall. It was made from weathering steel and copper. Donations went to Riding for the Disabled.
• 2016: Peter Rabbit
  • 

    The Peter Rabbit straw sculpture
  • This Peter Rabbit was 38 feet (11.6 meters) tall and weighed 8 tonnes. It came with a 10-foot (3 meters) carrot, giant 10-foot ears, and a huge plastic blue jacket. It took 1,000 hours to create. It was built to celebrate the 150th birthday of Beatrix Potter. Donations went to The Children's Adventure Farm Trust. Sadly, the sculpture was damaged by fire in February 2017. A fundraising effort helped rebuild it. The rebuilt Peter Rabbit stood at the farm until 2019.
• 2019: Bumblebee
  • This bumblebee was 40 feet (12.2 meters) high. It was made from straw and wood dyed black. Donations went to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.