Farm taps natural resource to launch water brand

A family business is tapping into their natural resources to create their own brand of bottled water.

Pure, fresh water from an underground spring at Marlish Farm in Northumberland, is now being bottled under the Marlish Water brand, ready to be launched in the summer.

Elizabeth Walton’s family have lived at Marlish in Northumberland since the early 1930s and she hopes that the new venture will bring jobs and prosperity back to the farm.

Marlish was a thriving farm visitor centre offering educational tours for schools and families before foot-and-mouth disease struck in 2001.

Elizabeth said: “It was a really good business; on summer days we had many visitors enjoying the animals, farm walks and picnic spots, but foot and mouth came and the animals were destroyed, the equipment had to be burned and the business came to an end.”

Since then, Elizabeth has looked after the land for grazing and created wildlife areas and woodland.

Although the family had drunk the water themselves, Marlish Water, came about following a conversation with Elizabeth’s cousin and biomedicine graduate, Joseph Evans.

Joseph, from Ulgham in Northumberland, contacted geology and hydrology experts to look at the feasibility of bottling and selling the water.

Six months on, a 90m bore hole has been sunk to reach the historic underground aquifer, the aquifer is a completely sustainable resource which is naturally replenished by rain water, taking thousands of years to filter through the rock strata and gaining its high level of purity on the way.

Joseph said: “Marlish Farm is near the River Wansbeck and the Devil’s Causeway - the old Roman Road - runs through the farm.

“Historically, the Knights Templar are said to have stopped for refreshment at Hartburn , so it’s likely that the water we’re drinking now is the same water that the Romans and Knights Templar drank.

“We’ll be producing local water for local people and businesses.

“Marlish Water will be sold in local shops in plastic bottles and a premium version of the brand will be launched in the autumn of 2013 to be marketed in glass bottles which we plan to sell in restaurants, hotels, cafes etc.

“We’ll also be taking Marlish Water on the road this summer, to events and shows throughout the North East.”

Joseph is planning to grow the business and hopes to create local jobs for young people, support jobs in the wider community and already thinking of the environment, trees are being grown and planted on the farm to offset their carbon footprint.