August in England

I never thought I would be glad to see rain in August in England but boy do we need it now ! Hot on the heels of the hay making, we have just finished bringing in over 10,000 bales of wheat straw from the lower valleys surrounding Dartmoor.

This last Winter saw many farmer’s stocks of straw depleted as a long, cold run to Spring used up a lot of reserves. Sebastain’s aim of selling enough straw to cover the cost of our own straw for the forthcoming Winter would seem to have paid off which is a relief.

I am certainly glad to see the last trailer unloaded; I have needed to replace the hoover with a baler in the house; every time I come back into it there is a neat little trail of straw all the way through it to the shower, upstairs, everytime the washing machine is emptied etc etc. But then I am a farmer’s wife so what’s the problem!

The boys are contenting themselves with their chores and are enjoying playing “host” to all the children staying in the cottages. Daily routine orders start with them collecting all the kids to go egg collecting, pheasant feeding, pig herding and hunting for the elusive duck eggs in the hay bales. Several of the adult guests have even stirred their stumps away from a relaxing read of the paper on the lawns to come and lend a hand with unloading the straw.

A “Nature Ramble” down to the not so boggy mire yesterday revealed an exciting find for the boys; nestling in the undergrowth with the frogs and newts was an “Elephant Hawk Moth” caterpillar. Upon further research when we returned home to check our find, we discovered that their favourite diet at this time of the year is Willow Herb which is to be found in plenty in the mire.

Having been promoting the Fly Fishing and Hawking experiences hard from Holne Chase Hotel this year, is finally starting to make a difference with numerous guests returning with grins from ear to ear as they recall their magic moments. One family last night delighted with pride as the chef brought in their “catch of the day” for them to savour in the restaurant.


Another satisfactory sight for me today when I called in to say thank you to the staff for coping with such a busy weekend was a family playing croquet on the lawn after a picnic by the River. The last time we had the croquet set up was when poor Batty One ran into a hoop one evening on the way home in the dark and we heard her yelps of pain as she was stopped in her tracks. When we shone the torch on her and discovered the source of her sudden discomfort there were a few giggles as we un-hooped her!

The past few weeks have also seen us engage in frenzied activities abroad as well as at home. Sebastian ventured to France with a friend-mechanic to drive back a “Magazin Camion” or “Shop Lorry” as they call it in France. These are the amazing vehicles that transform into a mobile shop at the wonderful markets on the Continent.

We have purchased one as an extension to our Tor to Tor meat delivery service and plan to operate it as a Mobile Farm Shop touring Dartmoor and nearby towns and shows etc. The vehicle will sell all produce reared, grown, made or laid on Dartmoor and will now be branded with a stunning image of Dartmoor to also promote the destination on its travels. Unfortunately it was too late when Sebastian realised that there was only one driver’s seat and the top speed was 45mph ! They had to take it in turns to sit in the fridge !


I, on the other hand would only have been to pleased to have spent a few days sitting in a fridge after my recent trip abroad; I dashed over with the children to La Manga in Spain to rapidly finish furnishing two apartments ready for the first rental guests last week. Trying to achieve this with two children who wanted to be in water constantly to avoid over heating and purchase goods/accept deliveries/make beds and clean all in temperatures in excess of 36 degrees can only be looked back on now as sheer madness. The results of my toil can be viewed by visiting the new website at; http://www.lamangabeachclub.co.uk/


We have also managed to launch the new look website for Holne Chase. After over 8 years of an “evolving site” we felt the time was well overdue for an overhaul and a fresh approach. See what you think; http://www.holne-chase.co.uk/ any comments, suggestions would be gratefully received.

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