Snugburys

The business was founded in 1986.^[1] It was converted from a dairy farm to an ice cream factory by Chris and Cheryl Sadler.^[6] It opened a new ice cream shop in the barn on the site in 2011,^[5] and has three ice cream vans.^[7] They opened an ice cream parlour in the Lakeside Cafe at Trentham Estate in 2016.^[8] Snugburys produces around 35 flavours of ice cream,^[9] which have included flavours like damson and sloe gin and toffee crumble.^[10][11]

The business was taken over by the Sadlers' daughters Hannah, Kitty, and Cleo when their parents retired in 2016;^[6] the sisters became directors of the company in November 2015.

In 2020, Snugburys launched their drive-thru at their Nantwich site in response to the Covid pandemic, offering take home tubs of ice cream.^[12]

Snugburys has been making straw sculptures since 1998, when its first straw sculpture portrayed the Millennium Dome.^[13][14] The sculptures are reinforced with steel, and are constructed to attract visitors to the farm and to raise money for charity.^[2] In 2015 the Guinness Book of Records included mention of Snugbury's straw Dalek as the "Largest Dalek sculpture".^[15] The sculptures are created by Mike Harper of Harbrook Engineering.^[16]

Photo	Year	Subject	Notes
	1998	Millennium Dome[13]	Nicknamed "Millennium Cone"[14]
	2002	Commonwealth Games[17]	Nicknamed "Cone-Wealth Games 2002".[17]
	2003	Dinosaur[17]	Nicknamed "Coneastrawus". Idea by Liz Considine, made by Mike Harper.[17]
	2004	Angel of the North[17]	Nicknamed "Angel from the North West". Donations supported Hope House Children's Hospice.[17]
	2005	Millennium Wheel[17]	Made of steel and straw.[17]
	2006	Sputnik[17]	Nicknamed "The Snugnik Rocket".[17]
	2007	Lovell Telescope[17]	Nicknamed "Dish of the Day". Subject was decided by a competition, and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Lovell Telescope and the space age. Weighed 6 tonnes, with a 32 feet (9.8 m) diameter dish. Donations went to Kids Company.[17]
	2008	Windmill[17]
	2009	Big Ben[17]	Celebrated the 150th anniversary of the clock tower. Featured a working, illuminated clock.[17]
	2010	Meerkat[17]	36 feet (11 m) tall,[17] built on a 6 feet (1.8 m) base. Had illuminated eyes.[18] £2,880[16] of donations went to Railway Children (charity).[17]
	2011	Polar bear[17]	38 feet (12 m) tall, 9 tonnes (3 tonnes of straw). Donations went to The Children's Adventure Farm Trust.[17]
	2012	Olympic cyclist[17]	Representing British cycling Olympians. 35 feet (11 m) tall (the bike was 8 feet (2.4 m) tall), weighing 7 tonnes. Took 17 man-weeks to construct. The curve represented the Manchester Velodrome. Donations went to the cyclists and chosen charities.[17]
	2013	Dalek[17]	Nicknamed "Dalick". Marking the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.[17] 35 feet (11 m) tall made of 6 tonnes of straw, 5 tonnes of steel, and 700 man-hours.[17] £3,000 of donations[16] went to Cancer Research UK,[17] as the father of one of the company's staff was being treated for cancer.[19] The head and plunger of the sculpture moved,[20] and it played back "Exterminate!"[21] Mentioned in the 2015 Guinness Book of Records.[15]
	2015	Cowboy on horse[17]	20 feet (6.1 m) tall. Made of weathering steel with copper.[17] Donations went to Riding for the Disabled.[2]
	2016	Peter Rabbit[17]	38 feet (12 m) tall, 8 tonnes (8,000 kg). Accompanied by a 10 feet (3.0 m) carrot, 10 foot ears, and giant plastic blue jacket. Took 1,000 man-hours to create.[2][17] It was created to celebrate the 150th birthday of Beatrix Potter, and donations went to The Children's Adventure Farm Trust. It was destroyed by fire at 5.30pm on 2 February 2017 in a suspected arson attack,[3][22] and a fundraising campaign to rebuild it was subsequently launched.[4] It was rebuilt in 2017, and stood at the site until 2019.[16]
	2019	Bumblebee[23]	40 feet (12 m) high, made of straw and black-dyed wood, donations go to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.[23]
	2024	Paddington Bear[24]	50 feet (15 m) high. Metal, willow, straw, supporting the MPS Society.[24]