Blog Articles

I have cheated with this photo, finding it on Google but owls are definitely a feature of any stay at Broome Park Farm! At daybreak and dusk owls can be heard calling around the house and buildings, John says they fly through the shed when he is feeding the cattle. I think they are wonderful birds and we are very lucky to have them living on the farm, I just wish I could get close enough to take a photo!

After all the rain it has been lovely to have a few dry days, even if they have been very cold! I just love the frost on the trees and grass – it is amusing to see the patches of green in the field where the sheep have been sleeping overnight! I seem to be ahead of myself in my preparations for Christmas and worry I am suddenly going to discover I have forgotten a gift for someone! Christmas cake is made and I intend to make mince pies tomorrow, hopefully we will get a tree at the weekend!

We have 2 more piglets! They are just 9 weeks old and have been named Gayna and Jayne after the fabulous Manager and Deputy Manager of the Severn Hospice Shop in Cleobury. These are the noisiest pigs I have ever had so I think they are aptly named as the ladies never stop talking either!! Mack enjoys chatting with them although I think he is busy posing for the camera here!

There are some compensations to be had when all we get is sunshine and showers! You could almost believe the crock of gold is just at the end of the hedge! Everything has been harvested now although the beans were a really poor crop. Now it’s a case of catching up with the planting in between the showers. Fortunately we are located on high ground and don’t need to worry about flooding but the Ford at Neen Savage has been really high again and a tractor got stuck in it on Monday when we had more torrential rain – is there no end to this weather!

The spell of settled weather has meant John has been able to get on with the harvest. All the barley has been combined but unfortunately the Maris Otter had too high a nitrogen content so was rejected for malting. Wheat yields are not too bad but the oats are very light and need to be combined when the weather is dry and hot to prevent too much wastage. Mack had his first ride int he combine today – not too sure if he enjoyed it – he wasn’t too keen on getting in and took a while to settle but seemed to settle and was watching the reel go round! Another week of good weather and the bulk of the harvest will be safely gathered in.

Had a rare day out with my Mother today. We started by visiting Tarc Gallery at Stockton on Teme for a coffee – this is a great craft gallery and tearooms promoting local crafts people. From here we headed for Brockhampton Estate, a National Trust property just outside Bromyard. This is one of my favourite NT properties, hidden away at the end of a long drive it is a Tudor moated manor house – so romantic. We finished our day with a visit to Bromyard – a traditional small market town with an eclectic mix of independent shops.

Meet Adrian, a magnificent white sussex cockerel, who has joined the girls in the Hen House. After losing several hens to the fox over the summer I have also added 6 lohman brown hens to the mix. They are due to start laying in the next few days and hopefully egg production will improve as currently I am only getting 1 egg a day from my remaining 5 hens. The small black hen in the photo is one of the chicks that hatched out earlier in the year – I’m still not sure whether it’s a hen or cockerel – knowing my luck it will turn out to be another cockerel!!!

I took a couple of days off this week to visit the Olympic Rowing events at Eton Dorney with my daughter and a couple of her rowing friends. We decided to dress for the occasion and certainly attracted a lot of attention! Everyone was so friendly and helpful and all the arrangements ran like clockwork. Standing almost at the waters edge there was a fantastic atmosphere and everyone cheered on all the competitors, although we may have cheered a little louder for the home crews! We were lucky enough to see the lightweight fours win Silver in a closely contested race that could have gone 3 ways! Such a fabulous experience that I will never forget! Wenlock is particularly special to us all in Shropshire as he is named after the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games –...

Richard has set off today on a charity car drive from Canterbury to Bratislava, taking in 7 countries in 7 days! Organised by Student Adventures teams of 3 or 4 have to buy and customise an old banger then drive it to Bratislava completing different challenges on the way to earn points; the team with the highest number of points wins the race. The boys – Richard, James and James – have bought a Skoda Octavia and christened it Dennis as it’s supposed to be a fire engine!! Hopefully a successful trip will raise loads of money for VSO and Prostate Cancer.

After all the wet weather John is concerned the ground will be too wet to start harvesting the corn in the next few days so the combine is being fitted with 4 wheel drive to improve the grip on slippy fields. This involved removing the rear axle and fitting a new one with different wheel centres. When I took the photo the rear wheels were going backwards when the combine was in forward gear and going forwards when it was in reverse!! They assure me it is working correctly now!

I’ve always thought that living on top of a hill flooding would never be a problem but yesterday I was proved wrong! I got stranded in Cleobury when the road from Tenbury was impassable so I called on a friend who gave me shelter. John then told me not to attempt to get home as all roads from Broome Park to Cleobury were impassable too! Fortunately the water subsided as quickly as it had come and I was able to get home by 10pm – to a power cut! This morning damage has been wide spread and I think we got off lightly, the Ford at Neen was running fast and further downstream the bridge at Neen Sollars has been washed away – a long detour for trips to our favourite pub!

I have changed the bed in the Green Room to a zip and link format which means it is now a luxurious superking bed but can also be configured as 2 full size singles! In recent months I have noticed more couples are asking for twin over double rooms so decided I needed to cater for these guests too! Feedback so far has been great with all guests remarking on how comfortable the bed is, whether twin or double. Why not take advantage of the 3 nights for the price of 2 winter offer and come and try it out for yourselves!

Despite the unseasonably wet weather a huge number of parishioners and scarecrows gathered at the Parish Hall to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Festivities included games, stalls and a delicious tea; scarecrows had also gathered from all corners of the Parish for their Annual Convention. The ‘Royal’ judge went with the popular vote, choosing The Royal Barge as the overall winner, closely followed by an amazing willow Bodicea! The Royal Barge had been lucky to survive the wet weekend moored under the footbridge on the River Rea.

Guests recently requested afternoon tea instead of a 3 course dinner which is my usual offering for an evening meal. I was happy to oblige and this is what I provided – a selection of sandwiches, fresh fruit salad and a selection of home made cakes. It was very well received! Iam always happy to accommodate guests preferences whenever I can! I enjoyed some delicious cake this week on a visit to Shelesley Walsh Hill Climb venue. Hill Climbing is a motor sport where cars compete against each other to travel up the hill in the fastest time possible. The venue was formed in 1905 and is very proud of it’s heritage, celebrating with a weekend of Nostalgia at the end of July – more details on their website. A great idea for something different to do when staying here...

Another first for Broome Park Farm B&B – our first JOGLE cyclists! Simon and Mark are cycling to raise money for research into pre-enclampsia at John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford and Cancer Research UK and hope to reach Lands End on Saturday. So far they have raised over £15,000 for their good causes.

It has been a traumatic week here at Broome Park – Mack ran out in front of a car on Tuesday and has a broken leg. He spent Wednesday night at the Vet’s but we were able to collect him this morning. He is now sporting a very stylish green and blue plaster on his back leg and managing to hobble around! I think it is going to be tricky keeping him quiet whilst his leg heals, even if he looks very comfy in his basket in this photo!

A beautiful frosty morning today and I was walking the puppy just as the sun was rising – bliss! The photo doesn’t really do the view justice! January has got off to a great start and half term will soon be upon us – I suggest if you are thinking of coming to stay you book up now! We will hopefully have lambs on the bottle to feed and John is planning another batch of calves to be raised on the bucket. Why are animals (and people?) so much more appealing when they are young!!

Our first arrivals for the New Year are 2 Aberdeen Angus calves, who have been named Sunny and Lucy after 2 more of my daughter’s friends! It is apparently a great honour to have a farm animal as a namesake! 2012 is going to be an exciting year for Shropshire as the Olympic Games approach with Much Wenlock being widely recognised as the birthplace of the modern Olympics and there are many events planned to celebrate this in the run up to the Games in London. Closer to home the Olympic Torch is passing through Cleobury Mortimer on the afternoon of the 24th May and a committee has been formed to ensure it is a memorable occasion! More news as events unfold!

Just to get in the Christmas Spirit Crooked Steeple Morris danced in The Kings Arms, Cleobury last night. It is always a bit of a squeeze, even with all the tables removed and sofas pushed back against the walls - I feel sorry for the Christmas tree and those looking for a quiet pint! It is fantastic dancing on the wooden floor – the noise is amazing although I wouldn’t recommend popping down the cellar to change a barrel when we’re in full dance! Thanks to the Staff for being so supportive and the delicious sandwiches!

Our latest arrivals are piglets Ellie and Bumble – named after 2 of my daughter’s friends! These ones differ from previous piglets as they have sticky up ears! This is because their mother is Gloucester Old Spot, as usual, but their father is Pietrain – the aim being to produce a leaner pig. They certainly look very snug in the straw! The puppy has now been named (finally) and he is called Mac, short for Maceson!

Great excitement this weekend – we have a new puppy! He is 8 weeks old and we collected him yesterday. His mother is a black labrador and his father a working sheep dog. As yet he has no name as my children can’t agree! He seems very contented, spending most of his time snoozing infront of the fire! I’m sure that will all change though as he grows!

As the nights are drawing in and there is less to do in the fields John has bought 20 calves to rear ‘on the bucket’. These are calves from dairy cows which are surplus to requirements so we buy them in and hand rear them. They will be fed powdered calf milk for the first 3 – 4 weeks then graduate onto a milled mix until the Spring when they will go out into the fields. These are friesian crosses but my favourites are the charolais calves which look just like teddy bears!

This year has been a fantastic year for apples – I have never seen so many on all the trees! I have picked sacks and sacks to make juice and now have over 200 bottles safely stored in the cellar ready for guests. Next weekend is our annual cidermaking day so John and I spent yesterday afternoon collectiing cider apples ready for pressing and again there were so many to see on all the trees that they will never all be picked! We are 2 regulars down this year and as Richard is not home to supervise me I don’t hold out great hopes for the 2011 vintage! 2010 was a cracking year so a lot to live up to!!

Guests often wish to visit local National Trust properties and I always recommend Croft Castle and Berrington Hall, which can both be visited in a day and the NT offer a special deal to visit both properties. However I had never visited Berrington Hall so yesterday John and I went. It was a lovely sunny day and as the house doesn’t open til 1pm we started by walking around the parkland, designed by Capability Brown. Next was lunch in the old servants quarters then a self guided tour of the house. The small scale of the house meant it was easy to imagine the families living there. We caught the laundry section of the ‘Below Stairs’ tour and were disappointed not to go on the full tour – something not to be missed if you visit – perhaps next time for us! The...