One Unhappy Chicken

The rain finally came with avengence last week. Unfortunately on most occasions it was torrential and didn’t have the chance to soak into the ground as was desperately needed. It is amazing how quickly the grass has come back to lush green again though.


The new Shop Lorry extension to our Meat Delivery Service of Dartmoor produce; Tor to Tor has now come back from it’s MOT and is awaiting livery. We have selected a lovely image of Hound Tor and Great Tor with the bluebells in the foreground to apply to the whole length of both sides of the vehicle. At 7 meters long, this will be quite a striking vision and hopefully help to build awareness quickly.

We are now busy sourcing local Dartmoor produce to fill it in addition to the farm fresh pork, beef, lamb, game and poultry. Establishing venues to visit is also taking quite a time to identify, research, approach necessary authorities for permission etc.

One bit of good news this week was being advised that Tor to Tor had been nominated for the title of “Local Food Hero” – an initiative being run by the UKTV Food Channel that will result in a series of programmes that look in more detail at the activities of those businesses shortlisted by the voting process. Fingers crossed we managed to get enough votes to be in with a chance.

The annual South Devon Hunt Pony Club Event on Holwell Lawn took place thankfully before the rains came. We offer them the use of our top fields as they are nice and flat for their Dressage sections and the occasion was a huge success again popular with our cottage guests who enjoyed a picnic on the lawn watching the cross country phases with the stunning backdrop of the Becka Valley and Great Tor rocks.


Both Sebastian and I were in the “hot seats” this week, but for very different reasons;

Last week I was invited onto a programme called “Women in Property” to be shown on the new Sky Channel for Overseas Property due to be launched next month. This took the form of a studio interview with two presenters and myself surrounded by swinging cameras and blinding lights in a converted Church in the middle of a rather “iffy” area of North London. Sebastian on the other hand found himself escaping from a rather more dangerous predicament when the Low Loader he had been using to stack straw bales ignited and went up in flames from what looks like an electrical fault.

We are just finalising our Autumn packages for Holne Chase, Holwell and La Manga so keep an eye out for them if you subscribe to our “late deals” option. (link …)

There will also be a special “Coast and Country” 5 or 6 night break coming up soon in conjunction with St. Mary’s Hall Hotel on the island of St. Mary’s, The Scillies. We are teaming up with them to produce a Two Centre Autumn, Winter or Spring holiday inclusive of all accommodation, food and transfers. Holne Chase is ideally located to break the journey on the way and way back with “the bit in the middle” being the beauty all year round of this unique collection of islands. St. Mary’s always reminds me of what the Island of Sodor would be like from Thomas the Tank Engine; somehow surreal with it’s simplicity and innocence from any of the cruder effects of 21st century life.

My nails have reached an all time low waiting for this blessed window to put in the New House; Holwell Barton. With the first occupants due in on Friday, the Window is being delivered from Germany and fitted on Thursday; nothing like running up to the wire is there. If it does arrive, we will have one unhappy chicken who will no longer be able to sneak in and lay her eggs in the fireplace !

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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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