This time last year...

 

 

 

...we were visiting Saddlescombe for the first time for the viewing day.  I remember it being freezing cold and so wet!  I was heavily pregnant so was finding it hard work walking the fields and climbing over the styles.  I had so many layers on that I know I had some looks from people wondering if they should ask when I was due, or was I just cold!  Now Freddie is 10 months old and here we are now making Saddlescombe our home!

The farm is split in two by Saddlescombe Road and the ewes are now the other side of the road in the next door field to the lambs who are at the furthest point of the farm. We put the rams in with them about 2 weeks ago and they didn't take long to get busy!  It was so funny as the days running up to them being 'released' we had the rams in the donkey wheel paddock (pictured above) behind our cottage and the ewes in Croft field in front of where we live, and they spent a long time looking "longingly" at each other through the gate!

We are starting to plan our first open lambing weekend here next year which will be the 12th and 13th April.  We are really excited about it and having the opportunity of sharing our flock and the amazing buildings with our visitors. We will keep you posted on our plans. Please let us know if you would like to get involved and help out during the weekend.

Lamb sales are going well both locally and nationally to our loyal customers back in Oxfordshire, thank you.  We've sold some lambs to a local farmer who is also a sheep trader/dealer to sell on to the open market.  So for the first time we don't know who will be eating our delicious lamb!

Over the next couple of months we will start laying some of the hedges and clearing some of the scrub which is invading the species rich chalk downland. We have been overwhelmed by offers of help from the National Trust wardens and volunteers, the South Downs National Park rangers and volunteers, and the members of Portslade Green Gym and feel very grateful for their support.

Our amazing friends John and Julia Sargent have been to visit us today from Little Wittenham, it felt so lovely showing them around.

More soon

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

Settling in....

We are slowly getting used to our new beautiful surroundings. The South Downs are just amazing and our sheep look so happy and we are loving being able to see them as we drive back home towards the farm.  We did our first big sheep job last week and brought all the ewes into the yard to select the ewes who we will keep their female offspring for our future breeding stock.  I love this annual job as it is selecting the 'prettiest' of our girls . . . although Roly is more interested in their genetics, previous lambing history and general performance as a sheep!  Molly and Freddie took part too and Molly has found a favourite spot in the yard which she is using as a dancing stage so the flock were even being entertained! We've selected 83 and they are in the 'croft' field which is right outside our window which is lovely.

We've had a couple of very wet days here but it still looks beautiful and then makes us appreciate the dry sunny days even more like this morning.  I stand at our kitchen window and look up to our far arable field and then beyond to our neighbours Aberdeen Angus cows grazing on Newtimber hill, wow!

Plans are already underway for our lambing open days, we will keep you posted on dates but we are so excited by using the buildings here for mothering up pens, it really will be special and will create a wonderful atmosphere which we can't wait to share.

Bed and breakfast, shepherd for the day, mail order, visits will all be up and running soon, watch this space and place your first Saddlescombe lamb order!

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

We've arrived!

The sheep move began on Sunday, when Roly with the help of lots of lovely neighbours in Little Wittenham helped gather the flock and bring them back through the woods, over the clumps, and then pen them up in the farm yard ready for their road trip the following day. Generally this went well . . .  although an enthusiastic dog who was taking its owner for a walk through the woods spooked the flock and the manoeuvre became a little more interesting. On exciting the woods (through a different gate than then one shown to the team of helpers during their briefing!), the flock were then ambushed by 20 Hereford cows as they walked back over the Wittenham Clumps Nature Reserve for the last time. After a second regroup, the flock finally arrived back in the farm yard.

 

The next morning Roly and John Sargent helped load up 300 ewes, 76 ewe lambs, 296 lambs and 8 rams into the two lorries each with 4 levels, not to mention lifts, stairs, compartments, etc - you name it, these lorries had it - we (sheep included) were all fascinated! It look about 2 hours to load the 2 lorries. The road trip itself to West Sussex took 3 hours. As the sheep unloaded it was the noise of the doors releasing and the sheep running down the ramps and the lambs springing in the air which all contributed to it feeling like a really historic moment for us and as we learnt later for the National Trust too who told us that us farming Saddlescombe was the first time since the 1940's that a family and their flock have settled here. The sun even shone for us!

We stood and watched as the ewes gradually spread themselves across the open field in front of us and they seem to think so far that Sussex grass is pretty tasty!  We walked back to the farmyard with members of the South Downs National Trust team who had come out to watch them arrive to greet the boys meandering their way through the farmyard to their new home in the donkey wheel paddock behind our house.  Basil was in front of course.  It is just the best feeling eating our breakfast and seeing them outside, Molly can't quite believe it!

Thank you to all our friends, neighbours and customers from Oxfordshire who have all been so kind. Please keep in touch with us and mail order will be up and running soon!  We are really looking forward to making friends down here and welcoming visitors to the farm and sharing with them this beautiful place.

More soon

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

2 weeks to go...

It is a mixture of feeling really excited and a little bit daunted at the same time.The lorries are booked for us and for the sheep.  It still doesn't feel real and probably won't until the sheep are being unloaded into their new home at Saddlescombe Farm in West Sussex and we will be able to see them from our window.  We arrive a few days ahead of the sheep so it won't feel like home until they arrive and we observe them settling into their new fields.  They are such creatures of habit so it will be so interesting to see where they will choose as their favourite spots.

There seem to be lists everywhere of things which still need to be done and I'm adding to them as quickly as I'm ticking things off!  We have our last market in Oxford on Thursday and we are not enjoying saying goodbye to all of our lovely customers who have kept us going on those chilly, wet market mornings.  We have learnt so much from them from amazing lamb recipes to top tips on bringing up a young family.

We booked a babysitter the other evening and went for an amazing walk around the Clumps and felt very nostalgic and sentimental.  We will miss the views here so much and watching them change through the seasons.   We will grow to love our new views on the South Downs particularly from some points where we can see the sea!

Our next post may well be post move with a lot of things to share, we look forward to it very much.

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

Meet Bruce

Meet a new member of the team – Bruce.  He's a Primera ram from New Zealand – which we think  sounds more like a Japanese car than a breed of sheep. We have chosen him because one of his qualities is ease of lambing – which will be key when we move to West Sussex later in September, as our flock will be lambing outdoors, hopefully unassisted – providing Bruces’ CV is correct!

We need to keep Bruce on his own in a small paddock for about 4 weeks, during which time any health issues will become apparent! If after 4 weeks he's still looking fit and healthy we'll give him one more medical - including the 4 T's - teeth, toes, tone and testicles - and then he can join the rest of the boys, Basil and co.

The big move is fast approaching which is both exciting and daunting. We'll post an update of progress shortly.

Bye for now

Roly, Camilla, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

Hay making 2013 - photo diary

Moving a flock? That’s the easy bit….

What we are most worried about is setting up broadband and taking deliveries at a farm where there is no mobile reception.  This is what is currently keeping me up at night.

With all house moves there are the ‘knowns’ and the ‘unknowns’.  The biggest known is the amount of oxygen we are going to need for all the deep breaths required for being on the other end of the phone speaking to someone about installing our lifeline for our business, broadband.  These conversations will need to be had half way up the hill away from the house and chances are in a rain shower.

Despite these ‘knowns’ we remain incredibly excited and focussed on the time beyond the initial start up teething pains.  Teething is a regular word in our house at the moment as I frantically race around trying to find anything which will relieve Freddie’s poor little gums.

Daily sheep checks are now last thing in the day when it is cool enough for them to graze.  They are all looking really well and what a contrast to last year when it was so wet!  We never had consecutive days of good weather so we can hardly believe our eyes when the 5 day forecast has full suns everyday!  The lambs will be weaned off their Mums fairly soon so we are busy planning the next months grazing plan to keep the lambs in good condition.

More soon

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle