It’s a busy time down on the farm

2:07pm Wednesday 13th December 2006

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Every year the Hurley family sell between five and ten thousand Christmas trees from their Hawkwell farm.

It's a business that's brought joy to families across Essex and beyond for 25 years, but it could have been very different.

Back in the Seventies when Roger Hurley was trying to ensure the family farm in Rectory Road remained a successful business, he was experimenting with new and unusual crops.

He was one of the first in the area to grow broccoli, aubergines and stringless beans.

At that time the farm would buy in and sell on Christmas trees from elsewhere, but when Roger saw an advert for Christmas tree seeds he decided to try growing those as well.

"I didn't realise quite how many I'd ordered," says Roger. "So I dotted them all around the borders and they started to grow nicely."

The emerging Norway Spruces soon caught the attention of the passing trade and at the same time planted an idea in the minds of Roger's sons David and Martin, who were about to take over the farm from their father.

As David was just starting a City job, and Martin was still studying at university, they wanted to turn the family business into something that would continue to be a success, but at the same time fit around their lifestyles.

So back in the early Eighties they decided to convert it into a full-time Christmas tree farm.

Since David, 43, and Martin, 39, took over, they have built up the farm into a hugely successful operation.

When they first took charge they filled the farm with Norwegian Spruces - the traditional variety of Christmas tree - but soon began experimenting with other species.

The problem with the Norway Spruce is that it's not the best for needle retention, often meaning plenty of cleaning and a bald- looking tree by the new year.

David and Martin now grow ten different tree types from the most popular Nordmann Fir to the up and coming American variety Fraser Fir and the pretty Blue Spruce.

It's not an instant result either.

It takes eight to ten years to grow a normal sized Christmas tree and 15 to 20 years for a 20ft one.

There are still two trees towering over the farm from when Roger planted his first batch in the Seventies.

Each year the prospect of hand-picking their own freshly cut tree draws carloads of people from Essex and beyond.

This year they've already had a visitor from Brighton and some former Essex residents who are taking one of the farm's trees all the way back to Germany with them.

"It's a big family decision deciding what is the right tree and normally causes quite a bit of debate," explains Martin. "Everyone has got a different view, even within a family."

With 2,000 trees in varying shapes and sizes to choose from, it can be a time-onsuming task.

"It's like being a kiddy in a sweet shop," explains Martin. "There's no point us saying that's the perfect tree, it's so individual.

That's why we love it."

The couple who took two and three quarter hours to choose their tree last year might not have loved each other quite so much at the end of it though.

Martin says car size has a surprising impact on tree choice as well.

"The smaller the car, the bigger the tree they have," he smiles.

"This weekend just gone we've had three Porsches where we've just dropped the tree in the back seat and they drove off happy.

"We've even managed to get an eight foot tree in a Ford Fiesta. The lady was amazed."

All this is a far cry from David and Martin's day jobs.

They both work in the City, David has a managerial role in a Japanese bank, while Martin works as a stockbroker.

"What I do is mainly brain work and it can be quite stressful," says David. "So it's great to be able to come down here and do something physical.

"The guys I work with think it's totally absurd," smiles David. "It is chalk and cheese but that's why it works so well."

The pair take holiday time to be at the farm during the busy December period and have managed to talk their parents out of retirement to help them.

There's also a younger generation of Hurley keen to get involved.

David's children Danielle, 15, and Christopher, 14, also work at the farm.

The hard work doesn't stop when the gates close on Christmas Eve either.

In the spring they plant the new trees, and then throughout the year pop back to check on their progress.

Soon enough it's November again and the madness starts again.