This is Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey, one of the most exclusive golf & fitness centres in the UK. This was the Venue for the Tourism South East ExSEllence Awards 2009. Dress was very formal, black suit and bow tie !. Drinks at 6:30pm and a sumptuous dinner at 7:30pm. There were over 500 people at the event, travel industry experts, journalists, media outlets and of course the few nervous ones who had been shortlisted for the awards. The awards presentation started at about 10pm (I had to have a short walk outside beforehand to calm down a bit, I was sooooooo nervous !)
Gyles Brandreth hosted the night and the winners were announced by category. It soon came then to the SELF CATERING HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR CATEGORY and the winners were announced in reverse order. (agony or wot !) The Highly Commended Winner went to receive their certificate and then a sudden silence. This was the big one ! Obviously as soon as the Silver Award winner was announced everyone could work out the Gold winner ! The Silver Award was….. not Coldharbour Cottage and then everyone round the table gasped and said you have won the Gold Award ! I couldn’t believe it, the second time in 3 years, it was fantastic. Then the floodlights came on and I couldn’t see a thing ! When the Gold Winner is announced there is a 3 minute video clip of the property so everyone was looking at that as I stumbled my way to the stage to receive the plaque and certificate. As soon as I was finished on stage I was rushed into the media room to do radio interviews.
I needed a drink after all that.
Occasionally trees fall over and crash into the stock fences, like this one. This is an Ash which is great for log fires. We cut up and use the branches as well as the logs and store them in the log store by the cottage ready for the guests who like to have a warm fire in the Living Room of the cottage. Its surprising how much wood you get from one tree – this one we think had been struck by lightening and had fallen over within the last month or so. In the old days wood would have been the farmers primary source of heat and every spare piece would have been used. It would have taken the Farmer a long time to cut a tree down into logs by hand saw. Nowadays with the aid of chainsaws we had this one all done within 2 hours.
Soon after I bought the property in 2005 I went to the British Library in London to see if there were any old maps of Coldharbour Farm. Interestingly enough, there was and on all the maps I found a ‘cottage garden’ next to the farmhouse. In the old days the farmer and his wife would try to grow some fruit and vegetables for their family. Fruit in particular was used for making jam and stored in jars for winter time. In the garden there are damson trees, a pear tree (conference), a quince and even a cherry tree. With the help of a local fruit expert called Ken we are gradually bringing these once overgrown trees back into shape. This year we have had a bumper crop of damsons. Damsons are not very popular in the shops these days because a lot of people try to eat them before they are ready. The velvety skin needs to be very soft and you will find they are quite delicious. This week a very kind lady who stayed in the cottage made me a damson tart – it was delicious !
During the last 2 months there has been very little rain on the land. Deep cracks are appearing in the earth in numerous places. The grass is no longer green but a dried out sandy brown colour. Its a worry for the farmer and we have to be very careful to rotate the stock into different fields on a regular basis. The sheep don’t like the tall spindly grass (called Robin grass, I think) but like the shorter, greener sward and clover. But because this is not growing as fast as usual careful pasture management is necessary. It is also important to provide shelter for the sheep when the sun is very hot and a good supply of fresh water.The shepherds keep a particular eye on all the stock this time of year checking for signs of exhaustion and weight loss. Some have to be taken in and fed supplementary feeds.
Great tour last week, just when the farmers were finishing all the wheat harvesting. Really dusty on the farm with all the combine harvester’s and tractors in operation. The weather has been ideal this year for the farmers. We visited the grain store which is massive – and the last loads were coming in from the 1000 acre farm. The Barn has to be kept at the right temperature to prevent the grain getting damp, hence the blowers which are inserted into the mountains of wheat. Out in the countryside about 5 minutes later we had some fantastic sightings of the buzzards. Birds of prey are very active this time of year, the harvest is cut and the fields have small remains of wheat grains and the small mammals have to make do – but leave themselves very exposed as they can no longer hide in the tall wheat stems. Good day on the Farm.
Sheep shearing is a big event on the Farm, it is also very hard work. Here, Graham and Helen work as a team as today they manage to shear over 150 ewes. The setup takes about 1/2 an hour and the shearing knife is powered by a small generator. Next Graham and Helen shepherd the sheep into pens and then further divide them up into groups of 20. The ewes are very strong and some difficult to handle but Graham is an expert. During the season he will shear over 10,000 ewes. I ask him does he get back ache and he says after you have done the first 3 or 4 you get into a ’system’ and from then on its easy ! Helen does all the prep work, checking the ewes as they are released for any sign of injury and gathers the wool into those big wool sacks. Each sack contains 20 wool bundles. These get delivered to Kent Wool Growers and are washed and often used for house insulation. Before the advent of electricity and generators all this was done by hand by shearing scissors, one of which is on display in the cottage. It must of taken the old shepherd ages to do his flock every year.
Repairing Gates is a common task on the Farm, so this time I tried to fix one myself. Having removed the rotten panels and side posts I set about replicating the mortice and tenon joints using a saw and chisel. It took me ages and I couldnt help thinking of the old farmer who used do all this by hand week in and week out with the most simple tools. I had the use of electric light so could work in the evenings but in the old days all these repairs had to be fitted in during dailylight hours on the Farm. Once the frame was put back the whole thing was fastened with dowels – you can see the original ones on the side of the gate. These were simple bits of branch from birch/hazel which were cut to shape and inserted into the holes and they are just as strong as nails or screws. The brackets I managed to salvage and reuse as well. Then I sanded down all the wooden surfaces and covered the gate with 3 coats of Danish Oil. A masterpiece (sort of!) but it probably took me 10x longer than it should have done.
Its been great to watch these animals over the last few weeks. There has been a family of six living on the Farm living in and around the Barn. They are a bundle of fun. The baby stoats are called kits and they love to explore. They are quick movers too and can outpace and snatch a rabbit easily. I have seen them pick out rabbits about 3 times their own size. Early morning they are very playful and will dart across the farmyard, play under the piles of logs and all around. You can get quite close to them but you have to be quick with the camera.
The Barn Owl. Finally I have got the photograph of this beautiful bird. Last week it was in the Barn overnight and seemed to come out about 8am everyday and sit on the fence posts just outside the cottage. On Wednesday morning I managed to get the camera ready and he just looked straight at me. Fantastic sight, the clients staying in the cottage were so excited. Look at the heart shaped face, the claws and the piercing eyes. A lot of you will have seen the Owl during your stay at the cottage but this time it was close, really close. Awesome !
I found this old wooden trough in the barn. Its about 12ft long and ideal for a small range of herbs. I lined the inside with weatherproof membrane sheeting to stop the wood rotting and applied some varnish on the outside. With this and a few herbs in an old butler sink I now have a range of herbs to accompany all sorts of dishes. As in the old days I put this outside the back door just off from the kitchen and as long as you water them everynight – enjoy the herbs ! Rosemary is excellent with Roast local Lamb, parsley can decorate most dishes and fennel ? Well, part of the fun is to experiment.
