William’s Den, the popular Yorkshire children’s attraction, has won a major honour at the prestigious National Farm Attraction Network (NFAN) awards.
The awards, the Oscars of the flourishing farm attractions industry, were hosted by television personality Jules Hudson at a glittering ceremony in Newport, Wales.
William’s Den, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year, is situated in North Cave, near Brough, in East Yorkshire and is owned and run by Tor and Christian Carver.
The Carvers were “absolutely delighted and extremely proud” that they triumphed in the competitive Best Food and Beverage category in the awards.
Jules Hudson, best known for presenting TV shows like 5 On The Farm, Escape To The Country and Countryfile, praised William’s Den for “providing restaurant quality food, lovingly made as if they are cooking for friends at home. Their reputation locally is for fantastic pizzas, delicious ice cream, cracking cakes and amazing dishes - cooked, presented and tasting like no other attraction.”
Tor Carver commented: “This fantastic endorsement of our food offering left us overwhelmed and very proud. It was also a fantastic tribute to our loyal and hard-working staff and our brilliant suppliers. This was a team effort.
“We do take tremendous care with our food, which is an integral part of a visit to William’s Den. We are passionate about sourcing our ingredients locally, so our delicious homemade ice cream features milk and cream from St Quintin’s Creamery near Driffield, while our very own Uncle James’ coffee is blended especially for us at the coffee roasting company, Lincoln & York, by the Humber Bridge,” said Tor.
“Meanwhile our home-made pizzas, with Yorkshire-sourced toppings and tomato sauce made from a secret recipe using the tastiest tomatoes in the world, are renowned throughout East Yorkshire and beyond, with our special pizza nights on Saturday nights from 5.00pm-8.00pm proving very popular.”
Tor explained that the William’s Den adventure began in 2017.
“The idea for creating an exciting and unique visitor attraction really came from hosting birthday parties for our son William in our garden and hearing the shrieks of joy from his friends as they relished the freedom and space to play outside. They never wanted to go home. An idea was born.
“Both my husband Christian and I had grown up on farms and we both remember rather nostalgically having vast amounts of freedom to play outside in all weathers, for hours on end. Along with siblings, cousins and friends, our childhood years were spent endlessly exploring on foot and by bike, building dens and using our wild imaginations to entertain each other for hours and days.
“When we were sharing ideas for the type of family visitor attraction we wanted to create, our own childhood experiences were never far from the surface. It became abundantly clear that we had to create an environment for children to play inside and out whatever the weather, where they could run wild and experience the freedom to roam, and while the kids were doing that, we wanted the grown-ups to enjoy being outdoors with their children and appreciate everything else on offer,” explained Tor.
She added: “It’s been hard work, especially when the global pandemic struck, but we have remained true to our dream. Winning prestigious awards like this one makes everything worthwhile.”
• William’s Den will be open daily for the July/August summer holidays from 21st July until the 4th September. For further information about opening times and prices, please ring 01430 472230, email hello@williamsden.co.uk or visit www.williamsden.co.uk
