About Rainfords Farm

Five generations. One family. Nearly 170 years on the same land.

The Rainfords have farmed at Catchdale Moss since 1858 — through five generations, five sets of hands, and more changes to farming than most families ever see. Today it’s Richard Rainford carrying it forward, the fifth generation to call this farm home.

Nearly 50 years ago, Christmas trees started life as a few Norway spruce sold through the family farm shop. They didn’t stay small for long. Rainfords now grows its own trees on a scale nobody else in Merseyside can match — the only, and the largest, homegrown Christmas tree farm in the region.

Today the farm grows thousands of Nordmann Firs, Norway Spruces, Fraser Firs, Balsam Firs and Blue Spruces — all choose-and-cut, all homegrown.

Every tree that’s cut is replaced with a new one the following spring, so the farm keeps growing for the next generation, not just this one.

The barn came in 2016, and with it a whole new chapter: the Après Tree Kitchen & Bar, where a hot chocolate by the fire or a prosecco before choosing your tree became part of the tradition. Pumpkins followed, then firewood — the newest branches on a very old family tree.

One tradition means more to us than any other: every baby born in our community since the previous Christmas gets the gift of their own baby Christmas tree. Watching those saplings grow alongside the children has been one of the most special parts of this whole journey.