Grays Farm pick-your-own on Heathlands Road closes on Saturday 31 October after 53 years. The council's planned sports hub still has no decision or application.

Grays Farm, the pick-your-own farm on Heathlands Road in south Wokingham, has less than three weeks left. Its last day is Saturday 31 October.

The farm confirms the date on its own website, last updated on 6 October: “Unfortunately this will be our last year and the farm will close on October 31st 2026” (Grays Farm). It has sold to the public since 1973, and was named National PYO of the Year in 2013.

What you can still pick

The farm says it is fully open. Its current list includes:

  • strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb
  • potatoes, carrots, beetroot, onions and sweetcorn
  • runner beans, French beans, courgettes and marrows
  • cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, calabrese, spinach and sprouts
  • tomatoes and parsley

It warns that sweetcorn deteriorates through October, so not to leave it late. Keeping potatoes are sold in bags and onions in nets. Everything is available to pick yourself or ready picked.

The owners planted for a final big season. The website says they put in 45,000 strawberry plants, about ten miles of them, plus 2,000 raspberry plants and 600 blackcurrant plants this year.

Opening times to the end: Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm. It is closed on Sundays, so the last chance is the Saturday itself. There is no entry charge and no need to book: you pay for what you pick. The farm takes Visa and Mastercard.

The auction and the big strawberry

After closing, the farm’s equipment goes to an online auction run by Thimbleby and Shorland, ending on Wednesday 25 November. The farm lists tractors, picnic tables and “the big strawberry” among the lots.

The website also says some fruit plants may be available. It asks anyone interested to contact the Wokingham in Bloom organiser at Wokingham Town Council.

What happens to the land

Wokingham Borough Council owns the site. It bought Grays Farm in 2014, when the owners put it on the market, to build an outdoor sports hub (council, 13 November 2025). It said then that the fruit farm’s tenants knew about the plans and the timetable.

The options the council set out in November 2025 included:

  • several artificial and grass pitches for a range of sports
  • a two-storey pavilion of about 1,700 sq m, built to Sport England’s standards
  • or a larger, more commercial pavilion of about 3,100 sq m, with an events space, an 80-station gym, a studio and a soft play room
  • a circular activity track, a car park, and a walking and cycling link to the new housing to the north

The council said it would pay for the hub from developers’ contributions on new homes, possibly with Football Foundation money.

Timeline of Grays Farm, Wokingham: retail farming from 1973; National PYO of the Year 2013; council buys the farm for a sports hub in 2014; scrutiny committee reviews options in November 2025 and the Executive decision is deferred; last day of pick-your-own Saturday 31 October 2026; equipment auction ends Wednesday 25 November 2026; construction could start in spring 2027 and grass pitches could be ready in September 2028 under the council's 2025 timetable.
Graphic by Wokingham Online. Sources: Grays Farm website; Wokingham Borough Council.
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The hub has slipped behind its own timetable

The council’s November 2025 timetable said:

  • the Executive would agree the approach early in 2026
  • a planning application would go in around summer 2026
  • construction could start in spring 2027, after this year’s growing season
  • grass pitches would be ready for September 2028

None of the first two steps is on the public record yet. The council’s decision record for the Grays Farm Sports Hub shows the Executive decision on the budget and delivery programme, due on 20 November 2025, as “Item Deferred” (decision record). We searched the council’s planning register on 13 October by the farm’s name, its postcode and the words “sports hub”, and found no application for the hub.

So the farm closes this month with no approved scheme for the land yet. We will update this story when the council publishes a decision or an application.

What it means for you

  • Go before Saturday 31 October, Monday to Saturday only, 9am to 6pm. The farm is at Heathlands Road, RG40 3AN, phone 0118 978 5386.
  • Want a piece of the farm? The equipment auction ends on 25 November.
  • Interested in the sports hub? The council has promised a statutory planning consultation and earlier engagement with residents, clubs and community groups. Nothing has opened yet.

For other days out around the borough, see our things to do in Wokingham guide.

Sources