How a ‘mind-bendingly daft’ Goats on Zoom service made a Manc farm famous
Cronkshaw Fold Farm started hiring out goats to Zoom meetings back in April 2020 as a joke. But the service has now raised thousands and kept staff in work.
Zoom meetings have become part and parcel of everyday life during the pandemic.
In lieu of face-to-face contact, millions have turned to video conferencing platforms to host virtual meet-ups – with Joe Public, MPs and even Royal Family members communicating via video link.
But Zoom sessions – regardless of whether they’re for work meetings or social catchups – tend to follow a predictable pattern.
At least one person is impatiently urged to take themselves off mute. Other participants verbally bump into one another at deafening volume. And some bits of the conversation are permanently lost in a garbled, pixelated, blurry vortex.
Sometimes there’s a quiz, too.
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It’s the same thing day in, day out. So it’s no wonder, then, that one farm’s attempts to change the Zoom status quo have gone down so well.
Cronkshaw Fold in Rossendale – around 40 minutes north of Manchester city centre – is home to sheep, chickens and dogs, but it’s their resident goats who have catapulted the farm into the news headlines.
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The farm has been hiring out their goats for Zoom meetings right around the UK – offering some refreshing comic relief from video conferencing cliches in the process.
Cronkshaw Fold Farm
It all started back in April 2020.
Farmer Dot McCarthy decided to pop a message on the website that confirmed Cronkshaw Fold’s goats would be happy to get involved in any video calls moving ahead.
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If anyone wanted to invite a goat onto their next Zoom call, they could pay £5 and staff would make it happen.
But Dot didn’t actually expect people to get in touch.
“It was a joke!” she tells The Manc.
“Bored mates stuck doing home-working had shared stories about the mundanity of video calls so I said they should add a goat and see what their boss does.
“And now, yeah, it’s got a bit out of hand!”
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It definitely has – but in the best possible way.
Cronkshaw Fold’s goats have proven so camera-friendly that they’ve netted the farm over £50,000 – a vital lifeline at a time when doors have been shut to visitors.
The first two members of staff were hired just before the pandemic began, and whilst things looked bleak initially, the Goat Zoom service has successfully kept the duo in work.
Any extra money beyond the payroll will be put towards making the farm more eco-friendly – switching to renewable energy, electric vehicles and greener farming practices for the lowest carbon food production.
Almost one year on from launching, Zoom Goats is still a wild success – with people from all walks of life requesting the company of these furry farm animals for all kinds of reasons; from family breakfasts to butting in on marketing meetings.
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“The pranksters are the best!” says Dot.
“Anyone sneaking a goat in without any pre-explanation. The confusion and mild panic – ‘Is it a troll? No it’s a goat!’ – that ensues is hilarious.
“We’ve had all sorts; stag dos, toddler birthdays, family catch-ups – Gran and Grandad’s reactions are golden.
“We’ve even had meetings where there’s so many people the goat can go unseen… until it bleats in the middle of a speaker’s presentation.”
Anyone hoping to get themselves an interrupting goat can also take their pick from the different personalities on the farm – with a webpage packed with info dedicated to each individual animal.
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“Obviously this service is completely ridiculous, but that’s kind of the point,” says Dot.
“It’s funny because it is so mind-bendingly daft.”
Cronkshaw Fold has also grabbed headlines for running other innovative services involving its animals since lockdown – including virtual farm tours and bee adoption services.
Staff have also run Goat Yoga sessions in the past – where participants can “snuggle some goats at a safe distance from other humans”.
Naturally, with the current rules in place, this service is paused right now. But the farm is looking at potentially bringing back the exercise classes when restrictions are loosened a little later in the year.
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For now at least, Cronkshaw Fold Farm is focused on connecting people with animals via camera.
They’ve introduced bleating to meetings. And it’s tickled Britain pink.
Learn more about Cronkshaw Fold Farm’s Goats on Zoom service on their website.
Feature
Hardcastle Crags – the prettiest autumn walk in the North West with a great restaurant at the end
Daisy Jackson
This is the time of year where it’s particularly difficult to drag yourself off the sofa and into the great outdoors.
The weather isn’t quite crisp enough to feel festive and most of us (even the pumpkin spice latte, cardigan-clad crew) are missing the more reliable warmth of the summer months.
But autumn is here, like it or not, and it definitely has its perks.
One of which is the undeniable beauty the season brings.
It’s not just the blazing red, orange, yellow and brown leaves that suddenly take over the green spaces around the UK.
It’s also in the sunsets and sunrises that become so much easier to catch while the days are shorter (you have to admit, the commutes are prettier when they coincide with sunrise).
The riverside walk at Hardcastle Crags. Credit: Unsplash
And there aren’t many places better to soak in all the autumn beauty than Hardcastle Crags, just across the border in West Yorkshire.
The National Trust site sits between Leeds and Manchester and is a popular day trip destination for Mancs, given the trains that run regularly to Hebden Bridge.
A walking route around Hardcastle Crags at this time of year will take you through a landscape of blazing orange trees, babbling streams, and dappled sunlight.
When you catch a golden autumnal day the leaves will crunch underfoot, but even on a soggy day the leaf mulch has its own special kind of beauty here.
There are two walking routes between the main car park and Gibson Mill, a former 19th century cotton mill which is now home to a lovely cafe.
One will take you down to the river, where wooden boardwalks weave right along the water’s edge.
There are even stepping stones you can use to scamper across the river – a great Instagram pic, or just a way to keep the kids entertained for a few minutes.
A walk around Hardcastle Crags in Autumn. Credit: The Manc Group
The other route goes up through the upper woodland, where pine trees loom and you get a great view of the valley below.
For an easy loop, you can do both – a stroll through the trees, a stop for coffee and cake, then return along the river (or vice versa).
But with 15 miles of footpaths, you can explore way beyond that.
The National Trust’s list of walks includes everything from a wheelchair and pram-accessible estate track to peaceful woodland loops, to rocky scrambles and former railway lines.
And when you’re done with Hardcastle Crags itself, there’s a world-class restaurant in the gorgeous town centre itself.
Coin sits in the shell of the former Lloyd’s bank, with exposed brick and massive period windows, and specialises in natural wine and small plates.
When The Manc Eats visited, we found plates of freshly-cut meat and cheese served alongside ice-cold batched classic cocktails, where ‘quality is key, and it shines through on the plate’.
Our reviewer said: “With its higgledy-piggledy stone mill houses, surrounding woodland, hidden waterfalls and treasure-trove charity shops, Hebden Bridge is a popular attraction all of its own for those wanting to venture beyond the city. Coin is simply the cherry on top.”
In celebration of Momo Shop: a Chorlton favourite that has flourished since its rebrand
Danny Jones
It’s not often we go out of our way to hammer home just how staggering we found a restaurant, but after now losing track of the number of times that a member of our team has eaten at Momo Shop in Chorlton and come back near speechless, it deserves more than a review.
We regularly hold ourselves back and resist the urge to talk in superlatives wherever possible, especially because we worry we might be falling into the recency bias trap, but in this instance, we’re going to go out on a limb and fall on our hospitality sword. Well, this particular writer is…
It’s official: Momo Shop Nepali Street Food – for our money, anyway – is up there with one of THE best restaurants in Manchester right now.
And there are plenty of reasons why, not least of all because of the years of practice they have feeding increasingly discerning Manc diners under a different moniker.
Simple but charming – all the focus is on the foodAnd the food speaks for itselfSome of the most flavourful fillings you’ll find in ManchesterBusy any given night of the weekNo review (Credit: The Manc Eats/Momo Shop via Instagram)
If you don’t live in/frequent Chorlton, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that this gaff was a somewhat new addition to Chorlton, but in actual fact it’s been gradually growing a loyal and passionate following for more than seven years.
This is because before the miniamlist rebrand that saw the walls stripped back, the exterior painted blue and cutesy little bits of artwork hung amidst that familiar and atmospheric festoon lighting, Momo Shop was once The Little Yeti.
Its former iteration boasted hundreds of glowing reviews in its own right, which already plated up plenty of stunning Nepalese food, but since switching primarily towards serving a menu primarily made up of momos (Tibetan-style fried dumplings hand-folded into various shapes) they’ve well and truly shone.
Now approaching a full 12 months under the new name, the Nepali street food spot isn’t just one of a relatviely small handful considering how much great South Asian food there is across Greater Manchester, we’d wager it could be the very best representing that Alpine-Himalayan belt in our region.
Our latest visit was genuinely just as good as our first, second, third and so on – take your pick.
From the simply incredible deep fried pork dumplings and the deeply moorish butter sauce that goes with literally any momo filling, to the super traditional buffalo ones that are not only authentic but, come on, where else can you find such a unique meat in these parts? It’s some of the best food we’ve eaten.
And we don’t just mean of late; Momo Shop might genuinely among of the nicest scran we’ve had in ages and it’s no exagerration to say that the first taste we enjoyed from many of these flavours have formed some of the strongest culinary memories we’ve created in quite a while.
It’s also worth nothing that it isn’t just one main snack-sized dish. The chow mein, keema noodles and cheesy chops are showstoppers themselves, and we’ve already booked in again for a 30th birthday celebration purely so we can try those lambs ribs and their take on a shashlick.
Nevertheless, we love the idea of the numerous configurations and concotions by pairing different dumplings and owner Niti Karki gave us some pro-tips of the best duos and even let us in on the trade secret of her go-to combo when she’s hungover. Legend.
Once again, at the risk of sounding too hyperbolic, odd moments have felt like core foodie memories on a par with our favourite all-time meals.
Personally, I’m glad to report that this isn’t just a review: consider this a declaration that Momo Shop has quickly become my favourite restaurant not just in Chorlton but in all of central Manchester, something I haven’t had since the heartbreaking closure of Cocktail Beer Ramen + Bun in 2023.
Plenty of varietyDamn straightNiti = absolute iconWe’ll keep your condiment secret forever, Niti…
There might be an element of the almost HakkaPo-esque style drawings, the colour palette and the carefully curated pop-punk, old school emo and post-hardcore playlist that’s over half a decade in the making that makes particualrly partial to this place
But before we wrap up this glorified love letter parading as a ‘review’, we also want to give a special nod to the charming staff and Niti’s mum, specficially, who was too modest to even let us share her picture, but whose wealth of wisdom, influence and experience has clearly inspired Momo Shop’s success.
Don’t be shy, Sue – the only thing more stylish than the food was you, girl. Pop off.
Put simply, we’ll be going back here as regularly as possible until we try every different momo + sauce variation there is, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.
If you are in the mood for more dumpling excellence, by the way, you might want to check out the unassuming Northern Quarter gem that is Chef Diao.
The Manc -
3rd February 2021 
