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The stone steading at Charleton Farm on a sunny morning, with planters made from old fruit crates in front of the cafe and the farm shop door at the far end.
Angus

Charleton Farm

A family farm on the edge of Montrose with pick-your-own fruit from June, a cafe and farm shop in the old stone steading, and a free play park.

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Welcome

There's something about picking your own strawberries on a warm summer's day, and Charleton Farm, on the edge of Montrose, makes a whole day of it.

Graeme and Lisa McColl took on the farm in 2021, and its old stone steading now holds a cafe, a farm shop and a toy room. Strawberries are ready from June, then tayberries, plums, apples and brambles as the summer goes on, then pumpkins in October and Christmas trees at the end of the year. There's no need to book: staff hand out baskets at the field, and you pay by weight back at the shop. The cafe serves breakfast, lunch and home baking from ten till four every day, and the summer strawberry tarts are famous. Children have a free, fully enclosed play park with go-karts, trampolines and a flying fox, and you can book a farm tour to meet the Highland cows, goats and pigs. Dogs are welcome in the cafe and outside, though not in the play park.

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The Daily for 8 November, from Scotland with love. An ivy-covered ruined tower stands on a small headland across the loch, autumn hills rising behind it through a screen of green leaves.
A short drive awayMontrose Golf Links7 min by roadSee itMontrose Golf Links
Before you go

No need to book for picking: baskets are handed out at the field, and the fruit is weighed and paid for at the shop.

Book a table in the cafe by phone.

Where
Hillside, on the northern edge of Montrose, DD10 9EW.
Open
The shop and cafe every day, 10am to 4pm; hot food until 3pm.
Picking
Strawberries June to August, tayberries and plums in July and August, apples, pears and brambles in September, pumpkins in October, Christmas trees in November and December.
Children
A free, fully enclosed play park, a kids' menu and high chairs; farm tours to meet the animals, booked ahead.
Dogs
Welcome in the cafe and outside, but not in the play park.
Phone
01674 830407

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
10am–4pm
Tuesday
10am–4pm
Wednesday
10am–4pm
Thursday
10am–4pm
Friday
10am–4pm
Saturday
10am–4pm
Sunday
10am–4pm

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Where it is

At Hillside, on the northern edge of Montrose off the A92, DD10 9EW.

Close byMontrose and the Basin.
  1. RAF Tornado ZD744 stored in a hangar with squadron crests on the wallMontrose Air Station MuseumThe museum of Britain's first operational military airfield, opened at Montrose in 1913, with aircraft, hangars and the story of the flyers who served there.2 miles 4 min by road
  2. Tables and shelves of books in Ink & Quill, Montrose.Ink & Quill BookshopAn independent bookshop on John Street in Montrose, opened in 2024, with books of every kind, gifts, and a children's room through a wardrobe door.2 miles 6 min by road
  3. The shopfront of Lilybank Bakehouse on Montrose High Street.Lilybank BakehouseA sourdough bakery on Montrose High Street, grown from a home micro-bakery, baking bread, buns and pastries with local organic flour.3 miles 7 min by road
  4. Rusted boat rests beneath the brick arches of a river viaductMontrose BasinA great tidal basin behind Montrose, a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve where tens of thousands of pink-footed geese arrive each autumn from Iceland and Greenland.3 miles 7 min by road
  5. St Cyrus National Nature ReserveSt Cyrus National Nature ReserveA national nature reserve of dunes, flowery grassland and a long sandy beach below inland cliffs at St Cyrus, north of Montrose, one of the richest reserves in Britain.4 miles 8 min by road
  6. House of DunHouse of DunA Georgian house by William Adam above Montrose Basin, built for the Erskines of Dun over thirteen years from 1730, with fine plasterwork and walled gardens.5 miles 11 min by road
  7. Bridge of DunBridge of DunA three-arched stone bridge of 1787 over the River South Esk near Montrose Basin, rebuilt after Storm Babet damaged it in 2023.5 miles 12 min by road
Directions
AttractionsMontrose Playhouse2.2 miles
The painted front of the Funky Wee Teapot ceramic painting studio in Montrose.CafeThe Funky Wee Teapot2.4 miles
Two golfers on a coastal tee, one mid-swing overlooking a sandy bayAttractionsMontrose Golf Links2.5 miles
Restaurant tables laid with cutlery beneath hanging plants, overlooking coastal dunes at duskRestaurantsRoo's Leap2.6 miles
The window of Tomorrow Is Another Day on George Street, Montrose.CafeTomorrow Is Another Day2.6 miles
Black Labrador carrying a stick across a bowling green near a pavilionShoppingThe Flower Pavilion3.2 miles
Wet sand stretches towards a distant lighthouse on the headlandAttractionsScurdie Ness Lighthouse5.1 miles
Dunninald Castle, its turrets and pinnacles above a green lawn.AttractionsDunninald Castle and Gardens5.1 miles
Whisky casks marked "Arbikie Highland Estate 2022" stacked in rows inside a warehouseAttractionsArbikie Distillery7.2 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the farm, and when each is next free.

A stone cottage with a slated roof and black stove pipe sits beside a gravel drive, foxgloves and wildflowers lining the path.No 4 Steading Cottage
  • Sleeps 7
  • In Strachan
  • 16 miles from Charleton Farm
Free 12–13 NovA stone cottage with dormer windows stands behind a low pale blue gate, a bare-branched arch over the path to the front door and frost on the lawn.Gamekeeper’s Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Strachan
  • 16 miles from Charleton Farm
Free 10–11 NovA green sitting room with a blue sofa, a leather and sheepskin armchair and a rustic coffee table before a tall window with red curtains, looking out to pine forest and a valley.The Hay Loft at Glendye
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Strachan
  • 16 miles from Charleton Farm
Free 16–17 NovA stone steading with a slated pyramid roof and a chimney stands behind a green nameplate sign, a chair visible through the window.No 2 Steading Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Strachan
  • 16 miles from Charleton Farm
Free 12–13 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in AngusAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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