Shatton Hall Farm Holiday Cottages, in High Peak | Wed 28 July 2010 |
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Now we are in the higher level environmental scheme - HLS - we are laying flower rich hay over our hay fields to establish wild flower meadows, which should look beautiful and bring in more bird and insect species: all adding to the wonderful tranquil environment here at Shatton Hall Farm. We are seeing more dragon fly here too.
www.peakfarmholidays.co.uk | |
Dannah on TV again! | Sat 24 July 2010 |
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Imagine our surprise to wake up one Thursday morning in June to find a helicopter, wind machine, actors, extras, camera men etc etc wandering around in one of our grassfields. On closer inspection it turned out to be a film crew filming a scene for a new McDonalds advert who had inadvertently wandered into our field. They needed long grass waving in the wind and our field provided the best effect for the wind scene for their new advert. In the sdvert the helicopter was also used for a beautiful aerial shot with Dannah Farm star of the scene. Use the following link and look out for the wind and aerial view scenes. http://www.moving-picture.com/index.php/commercials/927-mcdonalds-weather.html
www.dannah.co.uk/pages/about-us/dannah-farm-diary.php | 
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Twix's First Litter at Hoe Grange | Wed 21 July 2010 |
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Twix our chocolate Labrador gave birth to 8 gorgeous puppies on 7th July, 2 girls and 6 boys!
All the puppies are growing fast and have just opened their eyes for the first time today - children are very excited! We are hoping to keep one of the girls so please give us your ideas for chocolate names - we already have Wispa, Drifter and Maltesers.
You can see her first two puppies just after they were born on our You Tube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9IvneP60NM
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Haymaking at Hoe Grange | Thu 31 June 2010 |
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We have been haymaking this week; with the dry summer the crop is fairly light and there is not the usual volume of grass we would expect. Fortunately for us we are no longer milking cows so just need small bales for the horses and calves. Making small bales is a much more manual task than making the larger modern bales, so it was a family outing to the top fields and all hands on deck.
The conventional balers have a mind of their own and are difficult to set correctly, so to start with we had very light fluffy bales which were great to lift, but bowed like a banana and useless on a stack, then there was the other extreme which were as heavy as lead bricks and I really struggled to lift them at all. Finally with various adjustments we got the bales just about right, and all gathered in before the light rain that followed.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Very dry weather and our heather fire | Sun 27 June 2010 |
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Since the previous diary entry we have had hardly any rain. We made silage at the beginning of June and the pit is only half full. We just hope we can make enough when we do a second cut later on. We have a small area of heather at the top of the farm and last Tuesday we had a 'phone call from a neighbour to say the fire engines were up there putting out a fire. Somebody in the town below had seen smoke and dialled 999. It is a known landmark as there is a wooden cross up there (erected in the 1960's) there are also some nice trees in the heather (planted in the 90's) I know the heather will recover and just hope the trees will. We are just grateful somebody spotted the smoke otherwise it could have been a lot worse
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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New recruits at Hoe Grange | Fri 25 June 2010 |
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You will be pleased to hear that following the incident with the Fox in the night there are 4 new arrivals at Hoe Grange to keep our golden silky (now named Lucky after her fortunate escape) company well I couldn't leave her all alone. They are all Warrens, a good reliable egg laying breed, and are settling in well, although as you can see from the photo Lucky is not entirely sure about the new recruits!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Disaster at Hoe Grange | Sat 19 June 2010 |
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Disaster at Hoe Grange this morning I went to let our free range chickens out only to find feathers everywhere. In horror I realised that I had forgotten to shut them up the previous evening having just come back from holiday my routine went to pot and I simply some how forgot.
The hazard of a truly free range life is that Mr Fox is never far away and ever ready to take advantage of any such opportunities unfortunately Mr Fox, or more likely Mrs Fox took 13 out of my 14 hens to feed her cubs. I have now got 1 poor lonely golden silky left, who is wondering around looking for her friends. Ever the opptomist I was hoping that at least one other survivor would reappear this evening as dusk approaches, but no such luck.
The ups and downs of farm life in the Derbyshire hills - however on the up side some exciting news Twix our chocolate Labrador is expecting puppies in July.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Summer at Old House Farm Cottages | Mon 14 June 2010 |
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Welcome to Summer at our Farm we are just preparing to ensile the grass for our winter feed for the dairy cows so hoping for a nice week with plenty of sunshine to help the sugars to rise in the grass.
The cows are enjoying the fresh fields since the rain came to moisten the ground and they are milking well.
We have a steady stream of cows calving at the moment and all is well.
www.oldhousefarm.com | 
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New cabin ready for first guests | Fri 28 May 2010 |
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David and I have been working hard and late to get everything finished for the first guests in our new Rainster log cabin this weekend. From clearing up outside and laying the turf, (helped by clucking hens at least that's what I thought David said) to hanging curtains, washing crockery, cleaning, making the beds and adding the last minute little touches that make it home from home.
Phew - now time for a little relaxation!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk/blog | 
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Leaping Lambs at Hoe Grange | Thu 20 May 2010 |
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Thought you would like to see our kade lambs enjoying the Spring sunshine at Hoe Grange. Our guests love watching them gambolling up and down now that they are out in the big paddock by the log cabins.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Delivery of new cabin at Hoe Grange Holidays | Mon 10 May 2010 |
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Our fabulous new self catering log cabin arrived today on two lorries, all the way from the Island Leisure factory in Perth. All the electrics, heating, bathroom and kitchen were already installed and within a few hours the two halves were in situ on the foundations ready to bolt together. David now has a busy few days finishing off the outside decking and parking areas whilst I am busy sewing curtains and unpacking furnishings and fittings ready for our first guests on 28th May!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk/blog | 
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Glorious Weather at Shaw Farm Static Caravan Site | Sat 17 Apr 2010 |
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The weather over the last week has been amazing, bright sunshine with a light breeze. It feels like the Spring is trying to make up for last years dismal summer! We have been working hard on the new static caravan and a few late nights mean its almost finished with just the garden and path to finish off. Whilst working on the patio today I looked up and realised how incredibly clear and blue the sky was and how quite and peaceful it had been all day. The volcano in Iceland may be causing travel chaoes accross Europe but at least its given us all in the UK a break from the air pollution and faint background whine of jet engines for a few days. Maybe we could ask them shut down UK airspace for just a few days every year. I'm sure we could use climate change as a good excuse for a few days of peace!
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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Tissington Well Dressing | Tue 13 Apr 2010 |
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The Teams that dress the wells are well on the way to designing and planning the beautiful board dressings. I have started to prepare for the big cake making sessions that I will undertake for 'Teas in the Village Hall' during Well Dressing week. We hope that you will visit us in there. Local cream and home made jam -scones and of course our home made cakes. We look forward to seeing you all. We still have some spaces in the B/B Check the vacancy calender.
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New Static Caravan flying high at Shaw Farm | Wed 24 Mar 2010 |
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We have just had an exciting day at Shaw Farm as a massive 70 tonne crane arrived to move our brand new Static Caravan into position. The crane lifted the caravan high over the top of the farm buildings into its new spot next to the other vans. Luckily the weather forecast of strong wind and rain was wrong (as usual!) and we had a lovely calm day.
The entire caravan was lifted up by only two iron bars slid underneath it. The straps from the crane were just looped over the ends with only the weight of the caravan stopping them falling off! I'm not sure our cows would have been too impressed to have their afternoon nap interrupted by a 5 tonne caravan crashing through the shed roof but luckily all went well.
It is now securely fastened into position so we can connect the water, gas, electricity and finish off the patio and garden. Hopefully we will get this completed by the end of April and can start to let it out. Who knows, you could be the first to stay!
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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Ground Source Heating at Hoe Grange | Wed 24 Mar 2010 |
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Today it appears as though a large mole has been at work in the farm field next to the log cabins, with mountains of dark earth piled high.
But no not a mole, just David digging three large 100m long trenches for the ground source heating system for our cosy new log cabins. The ground source heating works a bit like a reverse fridge and uses a pump to circulate the natural heat absorbed from the ground through the ground loop pipes, filled with a mixture of water and anti freeze, which are buried beneath the surface. Let's hope it works!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk/blog | 
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Wall Building in the Garden | Fri 05 Mar 2010 |
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This last week Colin Boynton our handy man, also poet, has been rebuilding the garden wall for us. He is making a superb job. We hope you enjoy it when you come to stay.
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Drive Repairs | Fri 05 Mar 2010 |
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The weather has played havoc with our farm drive which we share with our Treking neighbors. We have spent 2 days repairing the ruts. Lets hope the weather is kind to us and the repairs last a long time. Keep the speed down when entering the farm. Thank you.
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New Cabin for Hoe Grange Holidays | Mon 01 Mar 2010 |
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Felicity and I are delighted that we have been successful in our bid for RDPE grant funding from European Union (EU) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), for the expansion of our self catering business fantastic news! we are now able to build two further log cabins with excellent disabled facilities.
The weather has picked up and we were fortunate to have some brilliant Spring sunshine today as we laid the concrete for the foundations of our new Rainster log cabin.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk/blog | 
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The Show Calf | Wed 24 Feb 2010 |
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7 year old William had his first trial at 'showing' a Pedigree Holstein Calf, Ear Tag No UK 162970 400821 D.O.B. 01/03/2009 Named 'Bassettwood Devil Jeanette' at The Manifold Show, where he came 1st. Later on in the year he tried again at The Ashbourne Show and came 3rd.
The calf's dam Bassettwood Ramses Jeanette has just had another heiffer calf. I wonder if she will be as good as the first one?
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New Year | Tue 02 Feb 2010 |
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A Happy New Year. What a start with the cold snowy and icy days and nights! The tractors wouldn't start and the water tanks and troughs all frozen up. The days started with some thawing out and keeping the water running. At least the cows and sheep were well fed and bedded down. Two calves were born during the month and they were soon up and skipping around. Susan, one of the longhorns, who is 15 years old has just produced another cracking bull calf but with her having big teats, he calf had to have a helping hand with the suckling. Oh well! all in a days work
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looking forward to spring | Wed 27 Jan 2010 |
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The snow has gone at last and we can get about and do our jobs. Snow creates such a wonderful splendid scene of beauty but for farms it can create serious problems for the animals such as the sheep who are still out and need daily feeding by the farmer regardless of the difficulties of getting to them. Water troughs get frozen, water pipes get frozen and burst leaking valuable water which has to be paid for. Now is the time to clean up once the snow has gone. Snow drops are on their way and we have a wonderful display every year to cheer us up. Then the daffodils to look forward to. Great news we have been given Gold Awards for our Church Farm & Dale Bottom Cottages for exceptional standards which makes all our hardwork worth it.
www.dovedalecottages.co.uk | 
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After the snow | Mon 18 Jan 2010 |
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A belated happy new year but haven't had time beforehand. Our son went off skiing after Christmas and missed all the fun and work of snow shifting and thawing the cows frozen water bowls. At this time of year we only have 2 horses outside who coped very well but we had to keep making sure the lane was clear as our milk tanker comes every day. They only missed 1 day so 3 cheers to them. We had to go to the vets one snowy Saturday (luckily we have a landrover) and it was lovely to drive along peaceful quiet roads. The rain came at the weekend and it's amazing how quickly the snow went; just a bit left under the walls. The evenings are starting to draw out so Spring will be here before we can blink!!
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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Snow Snow Snow | Thu 07 Jan 2010 |
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We have lots of snow great for sledging, very pretty for photography
On the farm it makes a lot of work, everyday we have to dig our way into all the cow shed to feed and bed them.
On the bright side we have had a lot of female calves born with good pedigrees this ensure the future of the herd.
Deliveries of cattle feed are due tomorrow we hope the lorries can get throught the snow!!
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Winter in the peak District | Wed 06 Jan 2010 |
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We have had just had the first real snow of the winter, it as made the farm and surrounding area beatiful and perfect for walking. You could not ask for brighter days for exploring the footpaths and to catch sight of breathtaking views from losehil ridge.
In a few weeks we will be welcoming our first lambs of the year hope fully the snows will have gone and the new born lambs will be able to go into the fields.
www.riding-house-cottages.co.uk | 
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Freddie the 8 foot snowman | Sat 02 Jan 2010 |
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Our New Year Cabin guests were surprised to wake up to a heavy snow fall this morning, they set about building a new friend 'Freddie' the 8 foot snowman. He peers over the fence from the paddock watching for a new guest to arrive. Their friend had unfortunately got stuck in the snow, so I had to go out on the tractor to find them. Fortunately they managed to get here in the end.
Snow falls in the Peak District of this amount are very unusual these days, but with the use of shovels, road salt and the tractor we have managed to make sure all our festive guests have got here and enjoyed the seasonal
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Belted Galloways arrive at Hoe Grange | Sat 07 Nov 2009 |
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Those who follow the diary will have heard of Ruby, the red calf sold at our farm sale.
We hear that she is doing really well, and is being halter trained.
As she was a dairy cow rather than a beef breed, I promised Felicity when she was sold that I would get a more suitable replacement- in fact two of them.
We have taken delivery two rare breed Belted Galloway heifers
They are about 18 months old and not ready for breading until next year. They are quite friendly and look a bit like like cuddly stripey Teddy bears.
They haven't yet got names, so any suggestions are more than welcome.
Book now to come and meet them!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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The sun always shines at at Dannah Farm!! | Sun 11 Oct 2009 |
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Proof that it's always sunny and warm at Shottle! Our passion flower has gone crazy this year and has actually produced a fruit. Not sure if it's true, but an old friend who lived in Florida for many years tells us that this is a pretty rare event even for that part of the world. Hopefully the Indian summer we are experiencing will give us enough sun for the fruit to ripen so we can say that we grow and eat our own passion fruit at Dannah!
www.dannah.co.uk | 
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Hoe Grange Holidays - Bronze Award | Thu 08 Oct 2009 |
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We are delighted to have received the Enjoy England Excellence Bronze Award for Best Self-catering Holiday in the East Midlands. It was amazing to be in the top three in the region for the third successive year, a great achievement. Thanks must go to all our guests for their constructive feedback that has helped us improve our service and maintain such high standards. We promise that our next log cabin will be just as first rate!
Quality from the heart! Come and stay in our award winning, cosy log cabins and discover the delights of Derbyshire for yourself.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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While the sun shines | Fri 25 Sep 2009 |
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Well we're now at the end of September and what a lovely dry month it's been.July and August were wet, wet, wet! with one or two dry days. We managaged to do silaging at the end of August. Some went in the main pit for the milking cows to chomp their way through this winter and we made some into round bales which get fed to the youngstock as well as the cows. We have just finished repairing some field drains with it being dry. I think because we use contractors to do our silaging and their machinery is much bigger than ours, the drains in the field (which are not very deep) get crushed, so the water comes to the surface. The little chick is growing well (still not sure of the sex) and a hen has decided to sit on some more eggs so watch this space.
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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Flash - a new arrival at Hoe Grange | Tue 15 Sep 2009 |
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Life with farm animals is full of ups and downs, loss of life and new arivals. Last week we sadly lost our Black Rock hen she simply disappeared without a trace. We don't know where she went, whether she got stuck somewhere, or whether the fox visited, but unlikely as none of the other hens went missing and there were no feathers? We thought she might reappear, but sadly not.
However on a more positive note we fetched our new Aberdeen Angus pedigree bull today called Ivymoor Flash from a local breeder, Mr Mellor at Longnor. As you can see from the photo he is a handsome youngster and we intend to use him to raise the standard of our stock and produce quality cross bred beef calves for rearing and finishing.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Dannah Farm Summer Competiton Winner | Sun 06 Sep 2009 |
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Our Summer competition was to guess the combined birth-weight of the 2 newest members to the Slack family.
Congratulations to Susan Peart who correctly guessed the combined birth-weight of Hannah and Edward at 15lbs 5ozs. Hannah Was 8lbs 11ozs and Edward 6lbs 10ozs. We had a huge response to the competition with guesses ranging from a minute 5lbs 4ozs to a whopping 19lbs 8ozs!!!
Several people did guess correctly though, and as you can see from the photograph, on saturday 5th September Hannah picked out the winning entry. (We managed to wrestle it from her just before she ate it!)
Susan has won a two night, midweek stay, in the room of her choice, with exclusive use of the "Leisure cabin" for one of the days during her stay. A prize with a value in excess of £450
We are in the process of deciding what our winter competition will be so WATCH THIS SPACE!!!
www.dannah.co.uk | 
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A new door opens at Hoe Grange | Sat 01 Aug 2009 |
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As one door closes another opens at Hoe Grange. As the Friesian dairy herd has been dispersed a new project has begun - fantastic news, planning permission has been granted for 2 more self-catering log cabins. We intend to build the first one ready for spring 2010. The new Rainster cabin will offer the same excellent accessible facilities as our current Hipley cabin, with level thresholds throughout, full wet room shower and mobile hoist hire, not to mention the fantastic scenic views.
Why not be the first to book!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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End of an era at Hoe Grange | Mon 20 July 2009 |
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Over 60 years of dairy farming has final come to an end at Hoe Grange. With the introduction of new slurry storage regulations, which would mean an investment of approximately £75, 000, falling milk prices and increased cost of production, David and Felicity sadly decided to pull out of Dairy farming. A dispersal sale was held on the farm on 17th July which was attended by hundreds of potential buyers. First of all the surplus and old machinery was auctioned, with a top price being for a '05 reg' tractor and loader selling for £19, 750, after the machinery the milking equipment was sold and then the dairy cows and calves. Bidding was brisk for all the stock with the top priced cow selling for £2100 and calves between £350 and £700. All in all, a very successful sale.
Don't worry there is still plenty to see at Hoe Grange with over 100 beef cattle, chickens, horses and soon to be sheep, as well as all the wild life and fantastic scenery.
It does seem very strange though, not to get up at the crack of dawn to milk the cows!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Enjoy England Excellence Award Selection | Tue 30 June 2009 |
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Fantastic news! Hoe Grange Holidays has been shortlisted for the Enjoy England Excellence Awards 2009 for the Best Self-catering Holiday category. Can't wait to find out how we fare at the awards ceremony in October.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | |
It's a wrap! | Fri 26 June 2009 |
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We were slightly later harvesting this year due to several factors, but mainly as we are sadly giving up milking dairy cows in favour of rearing beef cattle the silage we shall need for the winter needs to be dryer and have more roughage. As a result of leaving the grass to grow there was too much to pile into the silage pit and we had to round bale the rest. We were lucky with the sunshine and managed to get it all done before it got wet. I just count myself lucky that I am a modern farmer and that our harvesting has only taken a couple of days and not a couple of weeks as in days gone by imagine having to wait for enough good weather to make hay and turning it all by hand!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Old House Farm 2009 | Thu 11 June 2009 |
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We now have a graduate in Environmental Science in the family which will be useful.
The cottages have been quieter through the winter than usual I think due to the uncertainty around the credit crunch. We are enjoying wonderful sunshine and the cows love it they are baskin in the fields. The swallows are busy diving around the farm. We were sheeting the silage late one evening last week and watched some bats swishing to and fro.
We have a lot of cows and heifer due to calve in the next couple of weeks.
www.oldhousefarm.com | 
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Catch up at Shaw Farm June 2009 | Wed 10 June 2009 |
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Well we are now in June and what a funny old Spring it's been. April and May turned themselves around so April was so good the cows were out in the day (we were getting short of silage so this helped make it last) and then May was cold and showery which stopped the grass growing well (except on the caravan lawns!!) so the cows weren't out all the time until the middle of the month.The shed where they are housed in the winter was then cleaned and washed out. Silage is made by contractors and they managed to get it in last week before the weather broke.
One of the hens was sitting on an egg and yesterday a chick emerged I hope it's a female as 3 cockerals is more than enough especially at this time of the year when they compete to see who has the loudest crow. Luckily they are not early risers!!
We bought an Aberdeen Angus bull last week which is in quarantine at present as we don't normally buy animals in so we have to make sure he has no disease he could pass on to the cows. He will be used to serve the young cows.
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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Hot Air Balloon lands at Hoe Grange | Tue 02 June 2009 |
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What a surprise this morning when a hot air balloon landed in our front field. It was the most gorgeous sunny morning, the hottest day of the year so far and this enormous red balloon just floated slowly over the hill and landed gently in front of us. They were extremely lucky as we had only just finished sileaging the day before!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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New accessible facilities at Hoe Grange | Wed 20 May 2009 |
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Our accessible facilities at Hoe Grange now include a high back, high seated comfortable armchair in our Hipley cabin. An ideal addition for those who find it difficult to get up out of a low seated soft sofa. The chair was kept in our own lounge for several days before going up to the cabin and I have to say I found it extremely comfortable when sitting watching TV or reading - in fact it was so comfortable that David and I were fighting over it! Why not come and stay at Hoe Grange and try it out for your self!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Roman and Railway Ramble | Sun 26 Apr 2009 |
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Stunning Sunday sunshine enabled 28 walkers to take a step back in time for a Roman and Railway Ramble organised in partnership by Hoe Grange Holidays and Derbyshire County Council Rangers, as part of the Peak District Walking Festival. The 6 mile ramble passed through Royston Grange, once a monastic farm used mainly for food production, but which dates further back to Roman times with evidence of the Roman field system. The walk continued up the valley onto the High Peak Trail, one of the first railways to be built as early as1831 and based on canal engineering principles; it serviced the limestone quarries essential for the new manufacturing era in Industrial Britain. The final stop was the Neolithic burial mound at Minninglow, an amazing tumulus encircled by trees with stunning views over as far as Cannock chase. Ramblers then enjoyed a farmhouse cream tea back at Hoe Grange Holidays, with homemade and local produce, including biscuits from award winning Taste of the Moorlands Bakery. The Festival continues until 4th May - see www.visitpeakdistrict.com/pdwf for details of other events.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Dannah chosen for cover of AA's Best B&B Guide | Mon 13 Apr 2009 |
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An image of Dannah Farm's Granary Suite has been chosen by the AA to be used on the front of their Britain's Best B&B Guide 2009
www.dannah.co.uk | 
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"Egg"citing News for Easter | Fri 10 Apr 2009 |
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"Egg"citing news at Hoe Grange Holidays as our new free range chickens lay their first eggs in time for Easter. We have six different breeds including, a brown Warren, noted for their volume production, a native Derbyshire Redcap who is rather flighty, a White Sussex who has become chicken in charge, a Black Rock, a Speckled Lady and a fluffy Bluebell who is a gorgeous colour. They have settled in extremely well, are very easy to care for and produce the most wonderful bright yellow yolked eggs. Why not come and stay at Hoe Grange and meet the "girls" for yourself!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk |
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Spring Sunshine at Hoe Grange | Mon 16 Mar 2009 |
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It's difficult to believe how quickly Spring has come around again. I think this is he earliest we have ever let our milk cows out, but as you can see they have been enjoying the beautiful sunshine this week. It's fantastic to watch them kicking up their heels and rampaging around the field chasing one another after the long winter months inside, and there's nothing quite like a good scratch! Why not come and see our Friesian herd being milked when you stay in our cosy log cabins!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Lambing Time at Limestone View Farm | Wed 11 Mar 2009 |
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Things are busy at Limestone View with lambing, with over 200 hundred sheep giving birth from now until mid May! Come and see the lambs being born or help out bottle feeding
We are also awaiting the arrival of baby goats, chicks and rabbits....so watch this space
Special offers available for short breaks
www.limestoneviewfarm.co.uk | 
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Late Availability Special Offers | Tue 10 Mar 2009 |
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We are now offering discounted late availability on many of our rooms. Each week a selection of late availability special offers will be added to our website. These offers are only available via the website. For further details please visit www.dannah.co.uk and follow the links to special offers.
www.dannahbooking.co.uk/ | 
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Abominable Snow Man spotted at Dannah Farm! | Sun 08 Feb 2009 |
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We awoke on Thursday morning to find an extra guest. Despite Martins best effort he refused to settle his bill!!
www.dannah.co.uk | 
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Hunt at Hoe Grange | Sun 01 Feb 2009 |
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Hoe Grange today played host to the Four Shires Hunt with their blood hounds, who followed a trail of about 20 miles in the Ballidon and Parwich area. But don't worry no foxes were harmed as this is a drag hunt and the hounds track the scent of a human runner, whose biggest risk to safty is being licked to death on being tracked down! They were lucky with the weather as the snow held off, but it was bitter and one of the coldest hunting days of the season. Our 3 horses were quite excited and Oliver wanted to join in and was racing round his field at top speed.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Gourmet meals for cows at Hoe Grange | Tue 27 Jan 2009 |
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They say that "we are what we eat" - I hope this is true of cows as well as humans, as we have recently invested a rather large sum of money in a new feeder wagon at Hoe Grange. Basically this wonderful new machine is just like a giant food mixer so that we can chop and blend our sileage with other ingredients such as straw to give roughage and molases to improve palatability. The resulting blend is easy to digest and provides a high fibre diet that increases the quality and quantity of milk produced per cow. It is early days yet, but feeding is simple and it seems to be working - we will let you know if the proof is indeed in the pudding!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Happy New Year to all | Wed 07 Jan 2009 |
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Well here we are at the start of another year and it's being a winter that we oldies remember as chidren. Snow on the ground, frost on the windows and for our cows means water bowls to unfreeze, at least the tractors are all starting as the diesel doesn't now freeze.The picture is of wild ducks on our frozen pond. I wonder if this means the summer will also turn out to be a proper one as last summer here; like a lot of the country was cold and wet, wet, wet.Christmas went well with all our vans full with families visiting relatives and one family thinking about living in a van so decided to try it out for a short break.
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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Drilling at Hoe Grange Holidays | Fri 21 Nov 2008 |
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With the uncertain current economic climate we are all looking to increase efficieny and save costs. At Hoe Grange we are busy drilling deep into the limestone rock to create our own borehole, which will provide our very own water source. With a herd of 120 milking cows drinking up to 100 litres each a day we are hoping to make significant savings - currently the water meter seems to spin extremely fast! If the quality of the water proves soft enough we will also use the supply for our own farmhouse and holiday log cabins - next we will be bottling it and charging vast amounts of money - now there's an idea! No only joking.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Triple Awards for Hoe Grange Holidays | Fri 10 Oct 2008 |
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David and Feicity are proud to have received the Enjoy England Excellence Silver Award for the Best Self-catering Holiday in the East Midlands for the second year running.
We are delighted to announce that we also achieved Bronze Awards in the "Access for All" and the "Best Tourism Website" categories - A huge thank you to all our guests for their feedback and encouragement that enabled us to attain not just one, but three prestigious awards against such stiff competition.
Why not come and try out our superb accommodation and hospitality for yourselves!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Luxury Private Spa! at Dannah Farm Country House | Tue 01 Jan 2008 |
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Our new luxury private spa, the "Leisure Cabin" is bookable for exclusive use, with any of our bedrooms. Private and secluded, The Cabin has a huge Canadian Spa Hot Tub set on a private terrace, a Finnish Sauna, double steam shower and luxurious living space. Available year round, it is the perfect way to spoil yourselves, winter or summer.
www.dannah.co.uk/pages/spa-facilities.php | 
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