Rosie and John live at Blore Heath Farm. The farm was created "Blore Heath New Farm" in the late 1800s as a mixed arable and dairy farm of 150 acres, and it was then part of the extensive Tunstall estate. Rosie's dad came to the farm during the second world war as a tenant farmer and retired from farming after the first foot and mouth disease outbreak in the 1960s. Rosie and John married in the 1970s and have lived at the farm since then.

The farm is run now as a partnership between Rosie and John and their sons, Matthew and James. Land is let for sheep and cattle grazing, and a 10-year Countryside Stewardship agreement has helped with an extensive programme of hedge replanting and pasture conservation. The longer-term diversification plan involves, however, not agriculture, but heritage initiatives.

Rosie and John have the dream of sharing the natural and historical heritage of the farm with a wider public, especially children. The farm is an increasingly rare example of a holding with traditional brick buildings and the couple are exploring how school visits can introduce children to farming and the countryside. The Royal Agricultural Society's "Farm and Countryside Education" (FACE) project is working with them to set up school liaisons. Perhaps the most important part of the farm's heritage, however, is its links with the first field-battle of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Blore Heath, 1459.

In late September, 1459, the farm was the site of the Lancastrian battle camp set up by James Touchet, Lord Audley. Audley had been asked by Queen Margaret, wife of Henry VI, to intercept Yorkist forces hostile to the King who were marching to Ludlow. On Sunday 23 September some 9000 troops clashed across Hempmill Brook, resulting in the death of Audley and the defeat of his Lancastrian army. Audley's Cross, a national monument on nearby Audley's Cross Farm, still marks the spot where Audley fell, and a stone at the entrance to Blore Heath Farm was placed there in 2000 to record the farm as the site of the Lancastrian camp. A special website recording the battle heritage (www.bloreheath.org) is maintained by Matthew Hegarty.

The highlight of the year for Blore Heath Farm is the annual commemoration of the Battle organised by Rosie and John with a large team of volunteers (the Blore Heath Heritage Group). 2004 will see the 7 th annual commemoration, which includes a battle re-enactment, a remembrance ceremony, and the recreation of a medieval fair and market, with juggler, hog roast, real ale, and authentic traders's stalls.