COWS AND CHRISTMAS

It's been a while since we lost our black and white cow and I must admit the Farm didn’t really seem the same without a 650kg beast greeting our visitors, so when Alan phoned me to say that he had this good looking heifer (that's how us farmers describe young ladies too) looking for a good home, I eagerly accepted to pay over the odds for her. Abbie decided to wait until she had a large audience before giving birth to a very strong Aberdeen Angus Bull (boy) calf weighing in at over 40kg (88lbs). A few mums seemed to sympathise with her as she struggled to push the monster-sized baby out!

Conor was delighted with his twenty-first birthday present from the Farm: his very own three-week-old Jersey heifer calf. He beamed from cheek to cheek as the calf was delivered to the Farm, and acted like a broody hen when the calf coughed or sneezed; hopefully this calf is the foundation of Conor’s own herd over the next few years.

Hallowe’en was a great success this year with record numbers of scary-looking children (and some adults) soaking up the spooky atmosphere. Luckily we were able to use the overflow car park, with only one mini bus getting well and truly stuck in the mud. The two girls from The Creature Teachers did a fantastic job allowing our visitors to be hold Barn owls, rats, all sorts of creepy crawly creatures and even a raccoon!

Calum has decided to go travelling during the winter period and has packed his bags ready to explore Indonesia and other Far Eastern  countries. He is even going to help on an elephant farm, so my guess is he will be suggesting that we introduce elephants at Longdown when he returns in February.

Some of you will remember Lisa Marsh who worked at Longdown for over 5 years, and is now a 

teacher. I’m delighted to say that she recently got married, so our congratulations go to her and her new husband Dan as they start their lives together. We wish them every happiness and hope that it's not too long before they are bringing their children to the Farm.

During the October half-term we had our VAQAS inspection, which involves an unannounced visit from an inspector from the Tourist Board. Our inspector (mystery shopper) brought along his grandchildren and spent the day joining in with all the activities. At the end of the day he gave us a report which rated aspects of his visit; I was extremely pleased to hear him congratulate all the staff for being so friendly and helpful— they scored 10 out of 10 for customer care. The tearoom also scored highly for its 

selection of food, and helpfulness of the staff. Overall, the Farm was awarded high points for its 

interactive activities and cleanliness. Great news. 

Steve has been busy digging out the goat pens with his mini-digger, creating a real rural aroma. I’m not too sure if our neighbours approve, however most of this well-rotted straw (with the added goat droppings ingredients) will be making its way down the A35 to Sunnyfields Organic Farm ,and to some local allotments. You have been warned!  

The Straw Den has now been emptied with the help of our volunteers and students. Rolling the 250kg bales of straw around to the other end of the farm is no easy task, and tonnes of dusty wood bark swept up from the barn floor is now heaped outside ready to go into the duck enclosures during the winter months. All of this activity is what Father Christmas has requested so that he can bring in his tractor sleigh, and set up home in the cottage in the straw den area. I reckon he gets fussier each year: he has insisted that he has two cushions to sit on this year as apparently his seat  was too hard for him last year. Judging by the calls enquiring about our Christmas Barn, I would strongly advise anyone to come and visit him during the week to avoid having to queue for too long. Father Christmas likes to spend time speaking to the children so unfortunately there could be a wait during busier times. Opens 6th December—take a look at our website for more details. Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan. 

SUPER STUDENTS

 The weather during the school holidays was fairly kind to us: not too hot and not too wet, with lots of cloud, meaning that most days of the holiday we were able to operate the tractor rides - much to the delight of thousands of 'mini farmers'. Of course, it did literally bucket it down on Bank Holiday Monday, but despite all that rain, it was amazing how many people turned up. And I thought that I was going to have to feed all the goats on my own! 

We have a new group of students from Southampton and Brockenhurst colleges, and also from Great Oaks school. Each group will attend the Farm for one day a week during term-time, working alongside our staff in order to gain experience working with animals. Quite a few of these students have learning difficulties, so it is very gratifying to me to see how much confidence they gain in just two or three visits by simply getting outside of their home environment and joining in with the daily activities at Longdown. Our volunteer scheme has also been a great success with over 20 regular volunteers joining the staff with the daily chores. So, combining the volunteers and students, we are now giving over 60 people a chance to 'get involved' each month, and judging by their comments and the smiles on their faces, I'm pleased to report that our work with the students and volunteers continues to be a great success.
We have more bookings for school groups this autumn, with several schools benefiting from the glorious extended summer weather. The schools have found that it's been a good 'bonding exercise' to bring their new pupils out to the Farm in the first term, aiding friendship and teamwork. Once back at school, the pupils can also discuss the experiences of the day and the animals they've met, giving further bonding opportunities.  

It might as well be spring what with all the baby animals arriving on the Farm: new chicks and ducklings are arriving on a regular basis, the Kune Kune pigs have decided to farrow now that the holidays are over, and we are now receiving over 100 goat kids over the next few weeks. We have so many goat kids as the large goat herds have changed their breeding policy to ensure the nanny goats will produce more milk during the winter whilst the milk prices rise. So lots of little mouths to feed! 

I never realised how popular straw bales could be! As a farmer, straw is something that you use to bed down the animals with, then you dig it out and spread it over the field, and wait to get complaints about how much it smells! However, during the last few months there have been quite a few requests for bales to go to school fetes, weddings, parties, and even to put into ponds to help keep the water clear! So, please let me know if you would like to borrow some bales for your next event - it's cheaper than hiring in chairs and obviously at the cutting edge of fashion!            

Before we know it, half-term will be upon us. We will be open daily with our usual schedule  of hands-on activities. There will be a few spooky surprises on Friday 31st October when The Creature Teachers visit with their barn owls and creepy creatures. There will be pumpkin carving and paper bat making too. Children in scary fancy dress will gain entry for just £4.50 on 31st October 2014. 

Look forward to seeing you soon. 

FARMER BRYAN 

MUCKING ABOUT WITH ACTRESS SARAH PARISH, AND A SUCCESSFUL SHOW.

The actress Sarah Parish came along to the Farm to promote the charity that she set up with her husband James: "The Murray Parish Trust". This was set up in memory of their late daughter Ella-Jayne who died of congenital heart failure. Sarah's passion to this cause was obvious from the moment that I met her: she simply wanted to get as many people involved as possible. My job was quite easy - all I had to do was to provide her with some really mean tasks such as cleaning out the Kune Kune pigs. What I hadn't explained was that these young pigs like to nibble on people's toes, and despite Sarah wearing some heavy-duty wellie boots, she soon found that her legs and feet were the objects of attention from several inquisitive young Kune Kune piglets. Whilst feeding the goats and calves she managed to speak to many of our visitors promoting the sponsored walk that the Trust is organising at Southampton Common THIS SUNDAY 7th September. All monies raised at this event will go directly to Friends of PICU - the charity that supports the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton General Hospital. We have made this our charity of the month, so if you would like to help us raise money for this special cause please let me know: there will be a charity churn at the Farm. If you would like to join in with the sponsored walk click here. 

The New Forest Show seems to get busier and busier every year, or maybe it's just me getting older!

If we could convert compliments into a monetary value then we would be very rich now as many people were very kind about the efforts we had put into our show tent this year. Our marquee was busy on all three days, so Dawn and I welcomed the help of the team who worked extremely hard to make it such a success. We left Conor in charge of the animals overnight in case any tried to escape, but he was so exhausted by the end of the day he probably wouldn't have noticed if a herd of elephants rushed through his tent. Samuel the donkey was on his best behaviour and didn't create too many problems this year, that is until the Show President walked by and Samuel gave a loud bray which startled everyone in the area - the President included! George, our large Nubian goat, was a great attraction especially when he reached up seven foot in an attempt to demolish the hanging basket above him. We installed fans inside the marquee this year to keep the animals cool, but found the visitors benefited as much as the animals, as once again, the Show benefited from some glorious weather. Thanks also go to Katie, our talented face-painter, the fabulous Countrywide staff, and our ace cartoonist, Simon Chadwick, who drew amazing cartoon animals for the show tent visitors for the whole three days, and produced our fun photoboard which is now situated at the entrance to the Farm.

  

The cow and tunnel that have been in the outdoor play area for nearly thirty years have finally been laid to rest! I didn't have the heart to put the wooden cow on the fire so she has ended up in our garden. In their place we have installed three new play structures: a Climbing Tower which enables the children to burn off some of their excess energy, the Clamber Stack which helps all ages test their agility skills, and my favourite, a Group Nest Swing, which is suitable for juniors and adults. Obviously, I had to try all this equipment out before we could let the children play on it! Next time you're at the Farm, pack the children off on a tractor ride and have a sneaky swing yourself - great fun! 

I do not watch much television so when Channel 4 phoned me up and asked if they could use the Farm to film a clip for a programme called Four in a Bed I was a bit reluctant; I had visions of this being a bit of a seedy programme and politely told the researcher that it wasn't my scene! She quickly pointed out that the series was about B & B establishments competing with each other, and that the production crew wanted to film some scenes at a local tourist attraction. I suggested some activities for the contestants, but these were dismissed on the grounds of Health and Safety. Where has the sense of adventure gone?

Thank you for all your kind comments about our new chicken website, however most of the remarks have been about how good the cartoons are, and not so much about the details on looking after chickens. If you haven't had a look yet, please follow this link: Farmer Bryan's Chicken Site  and let me know what you think. On the website, you will find lots of down-to-earth advice on keeping chickens, chicken news, and opportunities to purchase online the main items you will need. If you're local, you never know, I might turn up with your order in the new van! Watch out for more details about our Poultry Pack - a very handy pre-packed package for all your chicken's daily needs available on  a 6-week delivery basis. 

 Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan

THANK YOU FOR FARMER SAM'S WONDERFUL WHEELS

Farmer Sam 

I don't normally request money from our visitors or friends unless I feel there is a worthwhile reason to do so, but last month, my request for help to raise money for Farmer Sam's wheelchair was one of those exceptions. It's true, I did stand up and tell the wedding guests at our son's wedding that they wouldn't be able to leave the premises until they'd emptied their pockets into the milk churn placed at the exit of the marquee, but I was simply amazed by the generosity of Aaron and Lou's wedding guests. I have been stunned at the generosity of so many of our family, friends, and visitors - even Charley, our granddaughter, raided her money box saying: "Farmer Sam cannot talk, he cannot walk, and I can do both, so the least I can do is let him have all my money." Wow, that brought a lump to my throat. With all the goodwill from so many people, we managed to raise £1200.00 in just 18 days and I'm pleased to report that Farmer Sam's wheelchair has now been ordered complete with all the accessories that he requires. You have helped to make one little boy (and his family) very happy, so a big thank you to all.
FARMER BRYAN'S CHICKEN SITE
What do you get when you put a very skilled illustrator and a talented website designer together with a farmer? A fantastic new chicken website! Even if you don't keep or intend to keep chickens, it's still worth taking a look as Simon's cartoons are hilarious and will make you 'cluckle'! Click onto Farmer Bryan's Chicken Site if you're a keen poultry keeper, you will find lots of useful advice, news, and opportunities to buy chicken products. Do keep re-visiting the site as we intend to build our product range quite substantially.

HOP ABOARD
The weather has been perfect for the New Forest Tour's open-top bus, and the start to the season has got off well. The bus drops off visitors at the Farm gate and collects them again later to go to their next destination. It is a perfect way to see the Forest, and I am looking forward to having a trip on one when the holiday season is quieter.

VALUABLE VOLUNTEERS
Our volunteer scheme has been a great success with over thirty volunteers on our list now. We've had such a range of people joining us: some simply wanting to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, others who have professional jobs but feel a need to escape the rat-race once in a while. There are also those who wish to expand on their animal skills. It seems that all of them enjoy working alongside our regular staff, and are quick to take on the banter thrown at them.


SEE US AT THE NEW FOREST SHOW
Some of the animals are packing their bags to visit the New Forest Show again this year. See us in our show tent from Tuesday 29th July through to Thursday 31st July. This year the theme of the show is hands-on, and you will be able to get close up to a variety of animals including day old chicks, calves, kid goats, donkeys and rabbits in our tent. There will also be lots of fun interactive games with Countrywide, and drawing with cartoonist Simon Chadwick.
Look out for scarecrows this year, which will feature throughout the show ground, but especially at the front of our show tent!!

A Sad Farewell and some Happy Events

RIP Kerry Cow 

For over twelve years Kerry cow has been a firm favourite with the visitors at Longdown, not only because she was such a quiet animal who enjoyed all the attention, but she was a real film star having worked with Nick Knowles in Animal Rescue and also in Heinz soup and PG Tips advertisements. Kerry cow was very special to Dawn and I as she was the last remaining family member of the Deerleap herd of Holstein cows, which originated at Longdown in 1977 when we had a large dairy herd. We had been hoping that Kerry was going to produce a calf to carry on the herd's name, however, just before she was due to calf, she died of Grass Staggers - another name for magnesium deficiency. This is caused by a lack of magnesium in the grass, which in turn affects the cow's nervous system causing sudden death. It was quite sad to see how Fudge, her Jersey cow friend, pined for Kerry, pacing the field and bellowing day and night.

On a much happier note, Kylie had to turn into a midwife unexpectedly on the day of our Vintage Rally as FiFi, our donkey, decided it would be a good time to give birth in front of a very large group of visitors. As we debated if FiFi required a helping hand, or to let nature take its course, we noticed a young girl collapsed on the floor in front of the large group of visitors who had gathered to witness the birth. We think that the sight of this natural birth had proved too much for the little girl. As I went to the young girl's assistance, Kylie looked horrified. "I have never foaled a donkey before". she stuttered. By the time I had completed the first aid, FiFi had produced a healthy young girl foal with a helping hand from Kylie. I'm not sure who looked the most exhausted - FiFi or Kylie! And guess what? We named the new donkey Emily, after the young girl who fainted. Do come and see FiFi and Emily at the Farm and take a look at the birth video on YouTube.

Look out for the New Forest Tour buses which start their service from Sat 28th June. We have a bus stop right outside the farm gate where you can hop on and off at hourly intervals using the red route bus. There are three routes around the forest - each inter-linking with each other, meaning you can reach the whole forest on one bus ticket per person. Show your valid New Forest Tour Bus Ticket at admissions to receive 20% off entry to the Farm (cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer). See The New Forest Tour website for further details about the tours.

 
Our annual Vintage Rally was great success once again with perfect weather conditions. There were many different tractors and engines on display, as well as all sorts of working attractions such wood sawing machinery and a crane. The children's tug o' war is always a highlight, and this year didn't disappoint with the children ending up as victors (with a little help from Shaun the Sheep!). The tractor parade was great too. Horse-drawn wagon rides took place alongside tractor rides, and the Victorian kitchen produced some tasty biscuits, which I simply had to sample on a regular basis - just quality control, you understand!
   

At last, our Pygmy goats have produced some kids: one giving us a set of twins and the other a single boy.
The pictured twin Pygmy goats were named Hugo (left) and Maisey (right) after we launched a competition on Facebook. These little kids like to show off as they chase around their paddock, making it extremely difficult for our visitors to take photos of them. It's all a lot of fun for the little kids - both human and goat variety!

Hope to see you soon, Farmer Bryan.

A Large New Arrival and a Poorly Goat

Dora and her calf

Dora, our Highland cow, has given birth to a large boy calf weighing in at 36kg. She 
quietly wandered down to the bottom of the field and had her calf early one morning. Once the calf was born, she wanted to tell the world, bellowing very loudly. Conor was like a proud dad as he went down to check the baby calf. We have brought Dora and the calf up to the main farm so that we can monitor them and put the ear tags into the calf’s ears, as this is a legal requirement and must be done within the first seven days after birth. The calf will then be issued with a passport – yes, all cows have a passport!

My farming friends will give me grief when they realise how much I spent on veterinary bills on one of our smaller goats. Louise was feeding the goats one morning and noticed that one of her favourites (bear in mind she has over 300 goats) was limping badly. When we looked at it more closely it was obvious that this poor little fella had broken the bottom part of his leg. At this point a ‘real’ farmer would have this small goat put down as it is only worth £20, but as I watched Louise trying hard to hide the tears, I phoned Sarah the vet to come out as soon as possible to try to splint the leg. Even vet  Sarah sounded surprised as she questioned me about the possible cost of this procedure. “Let’s give it a try", I said. Now you can look out for ‘Leggy’ hopping around the yard with his pink bandage on. Would anyone like to purchase a goat which is now worth over £400?

Talking of babies, it seems that Kylie has now realised her donkeys are simply too fat and that they are not so heavy in foal as she had once thought. She has now put them on a diet, poor things.

We have started to think up new ideas for our area at the New Forest Show - our aim is to make it as "hands on" as possible and have considered many different activities, however I'm not sure how the Health and Safety executive will react to some of our ideas! 

Spotty, the Kune Kune pig, and her piglets have outstayed their welcome in the animal encounter area after she decided to remove the boards along the outside wall and then kept turning her water trough upside down. She was given her marching orders and sent back to the Farrowing unit, which is where you will see her with her litter now.

Ducks and ducklings seem to be the 'in' pets this year: we have sold so many despite us warning people that they are the muckiest creatures on earth. We also have had some cute houses made to keep them safe from the fox, so they’ve been popular too.

New Forest Tour - we're on the Red Route

We’re now on the  New Forest Bus Tour (red route) from 28th June—to 14th Sept 2014, so hop on for a fun trip around the Forest after your visit to the Farm. 

It's always a bit of a struggle to make sure that everything is complete before opening the gates for the new season, and this year was no exception. With the dreadful weather making our annual task even harder, we were trying to drive fence posts into sodden ground, and pump out water from the livestock pens. Ben the electrician was balancing on his ladder whilst the wind whipped around him, and Chris and Gareth, the plumbers, were paddling around in the mud whilst they dug out the old pipes. Bearing in mind that these tradesmen only normally see the wind and rain on the golf course, we are grateful that they didn't give up on us, and they completed all their jobs successfully!
For the first time in the 30 years that the farm has been open to visitors, we have had to close off the outdoor play area. This was a decision made by me after the third time I had slipped up on my  backside whilst I inspected the grounds. With slightly wounded pride, I decided that it would be far too risky to open that area up to the public.
The day before our season started the heavens opened flooding the goat pens and the pathways, so with an early morning start, we pumped away the surplus water and cleared the debris that the gale force winds had deposited around the farm. With minutes to spare we were able to open the gates. Guess what? One of our first visitors complained that the car park was very wet; I did employ the ‘customer care smile’ as I explained to her that it was something to do with the weather!
It hasn't helped our staffing situation having Dawn off for the first few weeks of the new season: whilst on holiday she managed to slip up on some rocks and break her wrist. She now has a bracket and some stainless steel screws inserted into her lower arm and is on the road to recovery. It has made all the staff appreciate just how much we all rely on her.
Our main area for improvements this year has been the seating area for eating, which has been extended by over 30 more seats. Not only that, we have really spoilt you by installing heating and air-conditioning units in as well. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the farm staff have been creeping in there to have their lunch in comfort.
The farm is fully stocked again with over 100 small chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs, 50 new young goats (which were rescued from the floods in Oxfordshire), 20 calves, and 40 or more hungry pigs... all looking forward to being fed by our visitors. Sandy, one of Kune Kune sows, decided to produce a litter of 11 piglets on one of the first days of opening, so there will be a chance that you will be able to cuddle a piglet. In fact, it feels like a real farm once again!
Louise has returned to take on the goat area, which she will find challenging as we are expecting 250 young goats in during the next month or so. Kayleigh will continue to look after the stables, and has inherited the poultry as well, which should keep her very busy! Coner prefers the real animals, so he will continue looking after the pigs and calves. Callum has joined us to relieve the other stock people when they have a day off, and we also have employed some new weekend staff as well.  
Our season ticket promotion went very well this year with record numbers of visitors purchasing season tickets for this season. This increase is partly due to our new online purchasing facility, which we think makes life easier for everyone - although it does amaze me what time of day people are on their computer parting with their money! Despite having a 'cut off period' for our discounted season tickets, we still had phone calls from people who had forgotten to renew their tickets, giving imaginative excuses such as: "My letter had a different date on it", "My dog ate the form" , and "I thought that you were not opening until Easter".
Our thoughts go to all the farmers throughout the country who have suffered during the extreme weather conditions. Only half the story can be seen on the television: the devastation of finding your sheep floating down the river, sheds full of cattle wading belly-deep in sludge, and whole houses of chickens being drowned are just some of the cases that the farming world has been confronted with. It will take a very long time before this will be rectified. We are very grateful indeed that we seemed to have missed the brunt of the weather here in Ashurst. 
Hope to see you soon, Farmer Bryan

Most farmers have working dogs, which in most cases are Border Collies. These animals work extremely hard and all they want to do is please their master. Due to Health and Safety reasons our dogs have to be kept away from the visitors, so they are out on the farm early in the morning and again when the visitors have gone home. Most working dogs round up sheep and cattle, but my two dogs like to put the chickens and ducks away at night and also love to tease any escaping goats. The goats simply don’t want a dog to direct them back into the pen, so they give the girls a hard time trying to head butt them. Unfortunately we lost our "old girl" Jade, as she developed a tumour on her stomach and our vet decided that it would be kinder to put her down. At least you can do that with an animal to prevent them suffering. Now, poor Sky is constantly looking out for her mate.
Over the last few months we have been targeted by petty thieves - a very young rabbit was taken from its pen by a visitor, and unfortunately it would have been too young to survive without some loving care and attention. Let’s just hope that’s what it was given in its new home! When we did our regular inspection on the fire extinguishers, we were surprised to find that someone had even taken a few of these!
Calves are no different to humans and sometimes they go down with viruses. We had a batch of calves that looked completely healthy one day, then all of sudden 6 of them fell ill all at the same time. We went to feed them and found all 6 of them flat on the floor gasping for air, so we called in the vet as it's extremely rare to see a bunch of animals to go down this quick. After dosing them up with a bucketful of antibiotics and enhancers, they gradually made a full recovery. The blood test proved inconclusive, leaving it a complete mystery why these calves were so poorly. I'm pleased to report that they’re all fit and healthy now, and the vet has presented me with a bill for over £1000 for her troubles!
Our goats are travelling all across the country at the moment, with enquiries coming from as far as Scotland and North Wales. As our kids are hand-reared, we are finding that smallholders like them as they are easy to manage. Lots of people request them to go in with ponies to keep their old pony company, but what they don’t realise is that goats do have a habit of chewing on the pony’s tail until there is no hair left at all! Others buy them as lawn mowers, but find that they will demolish the garden without touching any of the grass! One family has purchased two of our stronger goats to pull a cart around their garden.
Well, after the school holidays, we had to check that Father Christmas was going to visit the farm again this year, so we called him up. He says that he would like a quiet corner on the farm and that he enjoyed having the animals close by him. He did have a grumble about the turkeys being a bit too loud next to his house last year, so it looks like we’ll have to move all the straw out of the Straw Den to accommodate him once again.
The new term will bring a different group of students to the farm; some with severe learning difficulties and others with physical disabilities. Brockenhurst College have a group that are going to help with some of our maintenance projects and Southampton College are sending two groups to assist with the animal-related projects (that’s another way of saying mucking out!). Great Oaks school is targeting social skills for their students, and are using the animals as an aid for the students to learn how to communicate. It’s always a challenge taking these students on, but it is soon rewarded by the enthusiasm that they put into their work; even if only one or two of these students find full-time employment after completing the course, it's got to be worth it.
Because we have had so many people enquiring if we sell animal housing, we have linked up with a family company in Devon who make Poultry houses and rabbit hutches, and even stables and field shelters. It’s nice to deal with a family who are passionate about making quality goods and deliver good old-fashioned values!
Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan.  

SHE'S A PEARLER!

After months of searching, I'm pleased to be able to tell you that we have found a new Shire to put into Billy's stable. We found Pearl, a 17.5 hands pure Shire, in Wales. Alan, who buys most of our larger animals for us, phoned me one Saturday afternoon saying that he was at an auction in Wales, and that this wonderful mare was up for sale. He said that he had been watching her for a long time and she appears to be bomb-proof. Unfortunately, I didn't receive his
message as I was busy taking a group, so by the time I phoned him back she had gone through the auction ring and failed to reach the reserve price. My message to Alan was to find the owner and see if he was prepared to accept a private bid; it seemed like hours before I got a reply and a after a few heated exchanges, we agreed a price. She was then loaded onto a lorry and made her way back to Longdown. As the tail-board dropped, I waited with bated breath as she slowly walked down the ramp: have I made a mistake? Had I been conned? To my amazement, this horse was just what I had been looking for since January when Billy had died. As we led her down the yard she nudged me as though to say “thank you”. Pearl is a pedigree Shire, her official name is Catwe Duchess Pearl. She was hand-reared when she was a foal, then eventually trained to pull timbers out of the woods in Wales where, apparently, she struggled with this work, so she was then sold as a riding horse. She was so large, her new owners found it very difficult to feed her so decided to sell her on, meaning that this great horse will now spend her retirement at Longdown - and she seems to be loving every moment of it.

Our Vintage Rally was a great success this year with lots of exhibits and a small food hall. The blessing of a sunny weekend bought a record attendance of visitors and the atmosphere was tremendous. It seems that the decision to change it from the autumn was the right one - for this year at least. I was called into hospital the day that the Rally started, and was kept informed of the progress. I was told how well it was going, how well everyone worked together, and what a great success it had been - I got a complex that things seemed to work better when I wasn't about! During my absence, the staff have been tremendous, taking over the day-to-day activities, and organising the school groups and birthday parties - it really has proved what a dedicated team we have at the moment

Our incubator has been busy hatching  ducklings and goslings during the last few weeks, so we are currently using them at the Animal Encounter sessions. The goslings seem to be a great hit as it's not very often that you get the chance to hold these fluffy little creatures. It's also
amazing the rate that they grow—when they are too large to hold, they will go out into the
paddocks to clear the weeds and grass.

We have been doing a lot of planning for the New Forest Show and are hoping to have an area which will be more educational and interactive than last year. We are taking some of our larger animals along - which ones in particular will remain secret, but I can confirm that Samuel the donkey did not get an invite to attend the show this year after he upset the cows and sheep (well, at least their owners) with his very vocal outbursts last year! We hope that you can come along to the 2013 show, and we look forward to meeting up with you all. Unfortunately, The Queen says she may not be able to attend this year, but I'm sure that we will have some important person come to our display.

C C COLD WEATHER AND EASTER ANTICS

With the previous bitterly cold weather, the daily job of keeping all the animals warm has been a challenge. We’ve had heat lamps on the guinea pigs and chicks, and even the goat kids had their own centrally heated areas. Once the gates were open to visitors, it was an even larger challenge to keep our visitors warm, but we managed with electric heaters in the Tea Room and shops. These were much appreciated by the staff and visitors alike. I imagined that I could see the smile on the faces of the Electricity Board as the meters spun round out of control! Not all our visitors are under the age of seven: we have seen an increase in the older type of visitors from local nursing homes. As the guests are taken around the farm, we hear some of the same comments that we hear from the children, such as: 'Phew, it smells here" and "Wow that cow’s big!" However, the older visitors really do like to join in, and love being kids again. It is heart-warming to see how the older guests communicate with the animals - some love to hold a chick or a rabbit, whilst others just like to watch the goats play. Easter was extremely busy—the weekend beat all attendance records since the Farm opened to the public thirty years ago. Visiting families joined in with the egg hunts, with a lot of competitive dads looking for the golden eggs that I had hidden (some eggs probably hidden far too well in some cases). I even resorted to Facebook to give out further clues - oh, how times have changed in those thirty years! Stuart has taken on the role of Poultry Keeper - I call him Doctor Dolittle because early in the morning we hear him talking to the animals! We hear his voice beaming from the chicken houses: "Come on girls, out of the way. How can I clean you out when you’re stood on my spade?" We then watch him carry the chickens around under his arm as he introduces them to his duck friends. One thing’s for sure, I am convinced that we have employed someone who really does enjoy working with the poultry. The ewes decided to lamb a little later this year, which considering the weather, was a good choice. At least ours were inside the sheds and not outside in the appalling weather conditions that some of their cousins up North had to endure. I heard one farmer from North Wales quote that finding his dead lambs in the thawing snow was as heartbreaking as losing his flock to Foot and Mouth disease back in 2001. At least the weather has warmed up now, and is kinder to all the little ones. The cows, not wanting to be last, have now started to calf, geese are hatching, and even the Kune Kune pigs have decided to join in and give birth to a litter of piglets. So, at last, spring is in the air with all these new arrivals. I think we’re owed a sunny summer don’t you? Hopefully, the grass will start to grow soon, and we can put the cows back out into the fields to graze for a few months. To the astonishment of all the staff, on Saturday 6th April, Tilly decided to give birth in front of a group of visitors. It is very unusual for donkeys to give birth in front of people (let alone a group of 25) however, she slipped her foal out very quietly as the cameras clicked and astonished visitors watched. Since it was born, the foal’s long legs and equally long ears have been the talking point at the Farm, and visitors have been helping us choose a name for this little girl….. Well, that’s what I thought she was: a week after it was born, Kim and Louisa were watching the foal playing in its stable when they noticed a little extra bit! “Look at that—that little girl is a little boy!”, they laughed. We had created a fun competition on Facebook to name the little donkey foal, and it wasn't until after over 250 suggestions for a girl’s name that Farmer Bryan had to confess on Facebook that he couldn't tell the difference between a boy donkey and a girl donkey! And yes, it’s true, I should have gone to Specsavers! And no, I still haven’t lived it down!

BIRTHDAY FUN, EASTER EGGS AND GOATS GALORE!

What a start to the new season! Despite the very cold weather it seems that lots of families have had enough of the long, cold winter and just want to release the children! They visited the farm in their hoards during February half-term, and also over the Easter weekend (more of Easter later). We have also been very busy with school groups. Despite the cold weather, everyone seems to be having a great time. Most of the children come wrapped up nice and warm, and do not notice the chill, but some of the adults come in their summer attire and wonder why they feel so cold! The birthday parties are back in full swing; it still amazes me that children come back year after year knowing just what the party involves, yet never tire of it. Maybe it's because I make the birthday person the "Farmer" or "Boss", as we call it, for one and a half hours! One of those who has had birthday parties with us for the past few years is Farmer Sam. Sam is six years old and is completely paralysed. He spends the entire party in his wheelchair, unable to speak and his vision greatly reduced too. What is very touching about Sam is the smile he gives when I put a chick or guinea pig next to his ear. Sam wriggles his fingers in delight when the goat kid that I put onto his lap bleats at him, which makes me realise that all our efforts to communicate with him are so worth it. Most of Sam's friends also have disabilities - some more severe than others, but it is amazing how they all respond to the animals. This year we have taken on four new members of staff to help look after the animals. Their job involves cleaning out the stables and chicken areas before we open the gates at 10:00 o'clock. Tom and Katie look after all the poultry on the Farm, and Kylie and Poppy have the task of looking after the horses and donkeys. Hopefully this will enable the other staff to spend more time assisting our visitors with the daily activities. We say goodbye to Rachael, who has been looking after the goats for the past two years. She has got the travelling itch and is off to New Zealand to work on a large sheep farm assisting with lambing. We wish her well in her adventures. We have been busy planning what we are going to take to the New Forest Show in July. We have lots of ideas and are currently discussing them with the show's committee. Thank you for all your messages regarding Billy the Shire. We have commissioned a craftsman to design a play structure in the shape and size of Billy to go into the outdoor play area. After several meetings, I am confident that John will come up trumps, and produce this for us by the beginning of the summer holidays. Our goat sheds are crammed full at the moment with more young kids than we have ever had before. Poor Kim is at her wits' end wondering where to put them, and also desperately trying to train them to drink off the bottles before the next batch arrives. I stand my distance when I inform her that another group of kids are due to arrive any moment; I'm not a trained lip-reader, but I can guess what she's calling me! The problem this year is that all our suppliers have decided to kid their goats at the same time, when normally they kid down at different times. At least we can guarantee that everyone will get a go at giving a goat a bottle of milk at feeding time. The Easter weekend was a great success with many visitors taking part in our fun Easter egg trails. The little ones enjoyed looking for the nests around the farm, and counting up the eggs inside - although, I suspect they enjoyed the little chocolate treat at the end just as much! We had much rivalry between the visitors to find the hidden golden eggs - and that was just from the dads! As usual, I made sure that the ten golden eggs were hidden at the beginning of each Easter weekend day - NO ONE was allowed to know where they were hidden - not even Dawn! However, they had all been found by the end of each day - you must be getting cleverer! We are open for the rest of the school holidays, and of course, daily after then. Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan.

IT WAS HARD WORK, BUT WE'RE OPEN!

It’s surprising how many tonnes of material are brought onto the Farm (and off it) in preparation for re-opening. In the few weeks before the gates opened, 72 tonne of grade two hogging arrived for the levelling of the car park, then 26 tonnes of stone the duck area to replace the 30 odd tonne dug out in an attempt to reduce the smell, followed by 18 tonne of Barley straw to re-instate the Straw Den. Also 80 tonne of play bark for the play areas and animal pens, and besides all this coming in, there was over 100 tonnes of good old farmyard manure, which we dug out of the sheds and sent down the road to Sunnyfields Organic farm! All our staff joined in with the painting, or should I say, splashing on paint, as all the indoor areas have had a coat or two to tidy up the tired wood. I seemed to have a permanent job of driving up to B&Q to top up on the supplies. It was on my third visit in one week that I arrived at the checkout with my loaded trolley, (now bear in mind that I simply do not like shopping at the best of times, and find it difficult to get these trolleys to go in the direction that I need them to go), when this young lad then directed me to the scanning device on the side. I politely explained that I would prefer to be served by a "real person" only to be told that there was no one available and that I needed to use the scanner. As I desperately tried to get the trolley to reverse out of the till area (doing my best not to swear), the young lad excitedly showed me the way to the dreaded scanning machine, and then disappeared as I loaded my 23 items onto the small space in front of me. The machine started to blurt out at me to put an item on the scales; my young friend turned up again explaining that only one item should be put on the table at a time, and watched me as I started to throw all the goods back into the trolley. As the prices showed on the screen and five products went through my confidence started to grow, well, that was until the machine blurted out: "Call for an attendant". When my young friend arrived, this time quite sheepishly, he explained that I had a multiple purchase and waved his yellow card and the machine started to proceed again. I looked over my shoulder at the long queue forming, and I whispered to the lad: “If it calls you again, this trolley will stay here and I will buy my goods down the road”. Well, blow me as he walked away again, the dreaded machine told me to call for an attendant! Using his well-rehearsed customer care, he informed me that he would need to know my age as I was purchasing white spirit! He must of seen the steam coming out of my ears as he tried to persuade me not to walk out. As I apologised to the waiting crowd, he discreetly called in a supervisor who finished putting through my goods. Got some service in the end! The Farm is almost fully stocked again with piglets, goat kids, chicks, and all the guinea pigs and rabbits (or fluffies, as I call them), Kerry is excited about the introduction of some Continental Rabbits and her French Giants. More of these later... It has been a very long winter with the never-ending rain making life very difficult. The Farm has been so very quiet without the sound of noisy children, so we were all delighted to welcome back our visitors at the beginning of the half-term holiday. And what a lot there were! Unfortunately, due to the saturated ground, we were unable to use our overflow car park, so we did have a few parking issues. Apologies to those that experienced problems. Hopefully, the overflow will be in use over the Easter period. Farmers are known to be hardened when it comes to losing one of their animals, however, I will admit losing Billy, our Shire, certainly hit us all hard. He was such a great character, and the celebrity of the Farm. We are searching for another Shire, but we certainly will never find one with the same qualities that Billy had. As I have mentioned before, we will be adding a permanent memorial to Billy on the Farm. In the meantime, there is a small tribute display on the wall between the tearoom and gift shop. This is DARIUS— officially, the world’s largest rabbit! He is The Guiness World Record holder of the title: “largest rabbit”. He measures 4ft 3in from nose to tail and was only 12 months old when he took the title! We are the proud owners of BRUNO, one of Darius’s babies. We are really hoping that he will reach the size that Darius has achieved. Find Bruno and his other rabbit friends at the Farm next time you visit. When Bruno is a little bit older, and he has settled in to his new home, we will be introducing him to the visiting children during the small animal handling sessions. Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan.

START OF A NEW SEASON

With Christmas over for another year, we are now busy planning and scheming for the new season’s activities, and reminiscing over last year’s events, the year in general, and how it all worked out. We are looking at ways that we can improve the Farm for this coming season. We were delighted with the response that we had from our visitors who visited the Christmas Barn. Our sincere thanks go to Tim, all the staff and the contractors that helped us turn the straw den into a Nativity scene, and of course Steve, John and Matt who literally bailed us out when we got flooded; bringing in a JCB to dig out a trench to divert the flowing water away from Father Christmas's house. It was 6.00 o'clock one morning, that I realised that the water was reaching a dangerous level, not just flooding the pathway, but by now it was shooting off the roof and flowing towards Father Christmas's house. Realising that the pump that we had installed the day before was not working, I clambered over the fence and tried frantically to exercise my electrical skills. I soon re-discovered that electricity and water do not go together, as a massive spark and a few choice words flew in all directions! I decided to find a replacement pump, which I soon attached to the pipe work and was pleased when I found water squirting through the pipe. What I hadn't realised was the end of the pipe was now above me, showering the dirty water down on top of me - the smell of this water left me wondering where it had come from! The worst part of the morning was about to begin, as I struggled to get the end of the pipe into the outside ditch, I slipped into the ditch. Now this is not the best place to be just three weeks after having an operation on your foot. I was unable to put any weight on my right foot, and my left foot was sinking further into the now full ditch, filling up my welly boots. As motorists slowed down, I can only assume that they thought I had had a few too many the night before, as not one of them stopped to give assistance. The only way out of the ditch was to roll up and over the bank, and by now I was looking like a pig in mud, but definitely not so happy! We are making some changes at the farm this year: all the materials have been booked, machinery hired in and a great team of staff raring to go. A new guinea pig village is being built, where visitors will be able to watch them play, and hopefully see some being born. The Animal Encounter will now be in the Rabbit House, which we are hoping will give visitors more time with the smaller animals. This is Kerry's new project and she has put a lot of effort in making this work. We are also working on a new "meet the pigs area", however this has encountered a few unexpected problems, so just watch this space. There will be very few staff changes this season, as most of our loyal staff wish to stay on, so once again we have a great team. Chez, a little Shetland pony, has joined us during the winter with the intention that he will be a stable mate for Billy. It is time for our orphan New Forest foal, Toby, to move on to pastures new, simply because he is being wasted at the farm, as he has great potential of being broken in as a child's pony. We open again on the 16th February, but please remember that if you wish to renew your season ticket or purchase a new one, the discounted price ends on the 13th February 2013. We all look forward to seeing you soon. Farmer Bryan.

A FESTIVE FARMYARD

Who said that Christmas was a relaxing time? It took us three weeks to transform the Straw Den into Father Christmas’s Barn, with lots of debate on the lighting; is it going to be too dark? Are the trees too large? Is it wheelchair accessible? Is there enough air flow for the animals? However judging by the numerous positive comments, it does appear that it was worth all the hassle. If you are planning to visit the Christmas Barn, please remember as from the 19th to the 23rd the Barn will be open until 7.00pm - we are expecting these evenings to be quieter than the weekends. Please remember that you do not have to bring a child to have a look at the Barn, you are welcome to just call in and have a look; best to choose an afternoon when it tends to be a little quieter. And don’t forget, adults are free! The Ministry decided that December would be a good time to come and check if they could find any signs of E-Coli lurking about on the farm. I did explain that we are not fully stocked at present and as there are no visitors to pass E-Coli on to, would it be better to take the swabs nearer to when we open? Allegedly the ‘powers that be’ know best! Well, at least the results have come back showing no signs of E-Coli on the farm. Another department of the Ministry requested that we test the ducks for Salmonella as we sell the eggs; so armed with swabs and plastic bags this fully qualified vet from the Ministry crawled around the duck enclosure collecting fresh samples of ducks’ poo. The vet was trying to catch the droppings as they flew from a duck’s rear end. It’s given us a new idea for a new Activity next season! What a year it has been for us at Longdown - our main highlight of the year being recognised by The Queen for what we have achieved at the farm, including the work that we do with our ‘special needs’ friends with their training, and the continued educational programme. This year we have had more schools visit us than ever before. With the addition of our special events activities, our attendance figures have increased this year, but probably what’s more important to us is the encouraging comments that our visitors pass on to us. So a very big ‘thank you’ from all of us at Longdown. There have been some companies and individuals that have supported us through the year with certain types of sponsorships (even if it’s forgetting to invoice us!). We are extremely grateful to the Barker Mill family, R&M Electrical, Forward Securities, Countrywide Stores and, of course, The New Forest Tractor and Engine Club….. and anyone else I may of forgotten. Work has already started for the changes that we intend to make to the farm for the next season, with builders, plumbers and electricians all armed with their ‘action list’ Watch out for your season ticket renewals which will be coming through the post during January, where we will be offering a large discount on the price of our season tickets for 2013. Farmer Bryan, Dawn, Kerry and Charley wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hopefully we will see you all next year PS—the Farm Produce Shop is open again from Wed 2nd Jan. See website for more details.

TERRIFIC TRACTORS AND PIE-EYED IN THE PIGSTY!

Our Vintage Tractor Rally was a great success – well, at least on the Saturday with record numbers of people attending and enjoying the sunshine, and the exhibitors showing off their pride and joy. The craft stalls were kept busy and the atmosphere was terrific; just like a good old country show. The forecast for the Sunday was simply diabolical: wet and windy all day. Now, I do not have much faith in modern technology and computer forecasting, but unfortunately, this time, the weatherman was spot on - it rained and rained and rained; the yards flowed like a river! However, those who did turn up, really did enjoy themselves and had an added bonus of being able to watch a sow farrow down (give birth) in front of them - a total of 7 piglets popped out whilst they were watching. I was a little surprised when I received an invitation to join Dame Mary Fagan (Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire) to a reception. Normally I only receive invites to Farmer club meetings or the local gardening club! Evening suit was the dress code. Dawn soon put me in my place when I asked if she could wash a pair of overalls, and followed on with a statement that haunts me: “You know that you will have to wear a tie?”. Now it takes a wedding or funeral for me to put on a tie, and normally it’s ripped from my collar at the first available opportunity! However, I did as I was told and dressed up for the occasion and was pleased that I made the effort, as it was a very enjoyable evening. It was staged as a thank you to all the New Forest Show members who had made the Queen’s visit to the Show such a memorable occasion - and guess what? I kept my tie on all evening! Once a year, all the cattle, including calves, have to be tested for Bovine Tuberculosis. This dreadful disease has hit the headlines in recent months, as all farmers who keep cattle are very concerned at the alarming rate that TB is spreading throughout the country. It won’t be long before it will affect all the cattle in the New Forest. There is no vaccine licensed to control this disease, so permission has been given to cull badgers in certain areas of the country, as they are believed to be the main carriers. There is a great deal of public debate on the matter at the moment, unfortunately there’s not enough data and true facts available for a judgement to be given. At least all our cattle have been given a clean bill of health for another year. Pigs and goats are leaving Longdown gates each day to all parts of the country and their new 'forever homes', as we reduce our stocks for the winter season. Other open farms are keen to take on some of our goats as they know that they are ‘people-friendly’. Likewise, smallholders are keen to have our pigs. Some animals have travelled to Wales and the West Country, others have headed East to London and Essex, but please do not worry; we will still have plenty of animals left on the farm! Ashurst Community Group held an ‘Apple Day’ where apples are pressed to make into juice or cider. This meant that there was a surplus of apple pulp, which was binned up for the pigs’ breakfast. As the pigs love this pulp, and I was feeling very generous whilst I was feeding them the next morning, each animal received double their normal dietary requirements. It wasn’t until an hour or so later that I noticed that there were no pigs in the outside run! Then it suddenly dawned on me that this pulp was still fermenting! Well, there were 50 or more pigs flat out indoors making some horrific snoring sounds! That lunchtime there was still hardly a pig to be seen for the pig feeding session, and as the staff frantically tried to wake them up, I kept quiet……..

As we close during the whole of November, we will be working hard to make sure that Father Christmas likes his new surroundings in the Straw Den area, which will be where the Longdown Farm Christmas Barn is sited. He has requested lots of animals and plenty of things to keep the children occupied - and most of all a nice warm Grotto. Hopefully we can sort all this out before he arrives on December the 8th. See our website for further details.

SUMMER'S END AND AN ITCHY SHIRE

Where did those summer holidays go? Seems that they go quicker every year! Despite everything else that was going on this summer, we were kept very busy at Longdown, with lots of new faces and just as many of our regular visitors. Judging by the majority of comments that we have received, it seems that most of our visitors have been happy ……. well, we did get a complaint from one lady who felt that the smell from the pigs was offensive, so I offered to provide her with some air fresheners! Welcome to the real world of farming! Our pigs have been busy farrowing throughout the summer with 10 litters being born, much to the delight of the visitors. We have had to create temporary accommodation for them – no different than the NHS! Before the little piglets get too old (or to be more precise, before their teeth get too sharp!), we allow the visitors to stroke them in the animal handling sessions, which has been very popular over the holidays. We so enjoy seeing the children’s (and adult’s!) faces light up when they get the opportunity to get so close to these delightful little pigs. Poor Billy the Shire has been plagued by the dreaded mite once again. These horrible little creatures burrow into his legs through his hair, which then causes him to itch. Unlike us, he is unable to scratch with any fingers, so he finds the nearest upright and wallops his leg against it until he either bleeds or the upright gives way! We seem to be constantly replacing fence posts when he has one of his ‘itchy sessions’. Sarah, our vet, decided that it would be best to trim his feathers (the long silky hair on his legs) out completely. However, Billy used his 1100kgs to resist, stamping on the floor with his size 20 feet, then leaning on Sarah until she ended up a heap on the floor! It became a battle of wills with Sarah: five foot nothing, against Billy, 18.2 hands. So in desperation, a large syringe with a sedative was produced. With Kim and Conor on the lookout, the vet quickly trimmed all four legs before the giant woke. He is on the road to recovery now, even if he does look like a freshly clipped poodle! A new influx of students have arrived from Brockenhurst and Southampton colleges and our task is to get them into a work mode and to get them to work as a team. We have set them some interesting challenges - let’s hope that they can come up with the goods. It’s always interesting to watch these students on their first few weeks doing their utmost to keep clean. After a few weeks with us, they soon learn to accept that a little bit of dirt doesn’t harm anyone. With our summer staff heading back to universities all over the country, we have hijacked Katie from the Gift Shop to help with the animal work – quite a challenge for someone who cherishes her well manicured nails! However, she seems to be coping very well at present. We wish all our young summer staff success in their various university courses. Forty of our goats have been transferred up the M3 to Kent where they have the job of clearing the shrubs and overgrown brambles from a power station. Goats are browsers—not grazers, so are absolutely ideal for this task. Don’t ever buy a goat in the hope of getting yourself a cheap lawnmower, as they will make a beeline for your best shrubs and flowers well before they even consider taking a nibble at the lawn! Hopefully, this is a new outlet for our larger goats, as we have an on-going agreement to provide other sites in the country with over three hundred goats. We just hope that they are behaving themselves!

In my last blog, I mentioned my absolute privilege of meeting the Queen. Well, I was talking to a six year old boy about this, and he asked me: “Farmer Bryan, if the Queen married you, would you be called King Farmer Bryan?” …..That’s why I love my job. We are setting up for our annual vintage tractor weekend on the 22nd &23rd September. Hopefully the sun will shine on us that weekend. There will be lots of bygone sights to see including vintage tractors, engines, a working Victorian kitchen and a saw mill. The children love the working crane and, weather permitting, there will be the popular tractors v children tug of war as well as a tractor parade. Crafts too, so lots to see and do. Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan

BRYAN MEETS HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

After months of preparation, we set up our “mini farm” at the New Forest Showground—truck loads of hurdles and equipment, straw and feed then finally the animals. It took seven of us four days to set it up—with me changing my mind every few minutes, however it was well worth all the effort. By the time the gates opened on the Tuesday, we were happy with what we had achieved. We had been sworn to secrecy about our “special guests” months beforehand. Several security briefings, dress code, correct procedure and I was told not to give a farmer’s embrace when shaking Her Majesty The Queen’s hand. No need to bow as this is not a formal occasion, no new dress and hat for Dawn as The Queen wanted to see us at work! (Phew, that saved me a fortune!). There seemed quite a lot of concern on how I would greet her, with one Buckingham Palace official stressing that the correct term being “Mam” - that rhymes with ham. I soon quashed that terminology when I dreamt one night that I greeted her with “Good afternoon, Ham”!! Dame Mary visited us the day before the royal party and she stressed that The Queen loved children and animals, therefore she would spend four minutes with us to discuss our work. Four minutes, I thought—is all this preparation worth four minutes? I can now confirm that those four minutes without doubt were the longest four minutes of my life!! As The Queen was introduced to me, all my rehearsed formalities went out the window, as I took her hand and said, “Good afternoon and how are you today?”. The smile that beamed from this magnificent lady was so contagious and soon we were chatting away as though we were best of friends. What probably surprised me most of all was her genuine interest in the work that Dawn and I have created at Longdown over the years. She enquired on the work that we have done with special needs children and adults, and told us that it’s important that we continue the good work. The visit was unrushed and she spent time watching the children bottle-feeding the goat kids and holding chicks and rabbits. Charley presented The Queen with a picture that she had drawn. As she studied it, she bent down and said, “That’s wonderful”. Charley was overwhelmed. Prince Philip was interested in the micro pigs—”Who on earth would want one of these as a pet?”, he asked. When I replied, “the rich and famous”, he made it clear they must be mad. Someone pointed out that you can get “mini chops” from them and with that Prince Philip burst into laughter, commenting that it would be ideal for those on a diet.

As it was the last Official Engagement of the Jubilee Tour, Dawn and I and all the staff at Longdown Activity Farm were flattered and highly honoured that The Queen spent those four minutes with us in recognition of the work that we do at Longdown. Alan Titchmarsh, the Show President, spent a long time at our farm display, and along with his wife, Alison, we shared our passion in educating our children. My favourite quote for this week:- A young five year old was so excited to hear that I had met The Queen that he asked me, “Farmer Bryan, if you marry The Queen, will you become King Farmer Bryan?”

TINY TEARAWAYS & A BIG INSPECTION

The Micro pigs are undergoing an extensive training programme at the moment, as Conner spends any spare minute that he has encouraging them to sit, stay and walk on. That’s the easy bit, because when it comes to going for a walk with their brand new harnesses attached, Thelma decides to turn left, Louise goes to the right, and poor Conner ends up on the floor! Although these little pigs are small, they are very strong—and they have very determined little characters. You have to give him his due, Conner he does not give up too easily, which is just as well. Lola our Pygmy goat kid, who is being hand reared at the farm, has been a great hit with all the visitors, especially when she goes on one of her ‘walkabouts’. Kim has taught her how to jump over bales and do backward flips, I’m convinced that it won’t be long before this goat will be found in the Tearoom helping herself to ice creams! She is going to find it hard when she has to join the rest of the Pygmy goat herd and become a real goat. We had to decide when was the best time to shear the sheep, so as Tim sheared away at the Grey Faced Dartmoors on a hot and sunny afternoon, we thought that we had timed it just right, but two days later it rained and the wind blew. The poor old ewes where not impressed, nor was Tim when he took the fleeces to be weighed and priced, to be told that they weighed in at 5kgs each, which was valued at 55 pence a kg! I am convinced that the rain will go away in time for the summer holidays—well, we’ve all got to stay optimistic, haven’t we?! The Tourist Board does an annual inspection on most tourist attractions each year, this is called a VAQAS report, where a mystery shopper visits the site, then gives a detailed report on what he finds on his visit, including good and negative comments. Well, this year on his visit, it was probably the wettest day of the summer with over 5omm of rain falling. The car park was afloat, and the Farm itself was soaking. I was dreading the moment when we met up to discuss his report. He started by saying: “Why would so many people want to visit a farm on such a wet and horrible day?” He then pointed out that all the visitors that he had followed were so busy feeding all the animals, and having a good time, that they didn’t even notice that it was raining outside. In fact the assessor passed us with flying colours, stating that he will be back again before too long as a visitor..….phew! It’s not very often that you hear me swear about our visitors, but we recently had some of a very unwelcome type. A few weeks ago a group of youngsters decided to visit the farm in the early hours of the morning, break into the soft play area, and wreck the vending machine to steal its contents. Not satisfied with just smashing the glass, they then kicked the broken glass around the play area, and then urinated around the walls. I have suggested to the police that when these youngsters are caught (we have them on camera), I will be only too happy to provide some community service placements for them! We are hand-rearing a New Forest foal, as its mother died of colic after eating several bags of lawn mowing cuttings that someone left in a car park in the forest. The heated grass would have fermented in the animal’s stomach and caused a long and agonising death for the poor mare. I am pleased to say that her foal, Toby has adapted to calf milk substitute, and is now looking extremely healthy and enjoying his stay at Longdown. He has made friends with Billy on one side, and the donkeys on the other side, and is really quite a little character. See him in the stables. What a build up and lots of planning, and all for a three day show. Yes, the New Forest Show is nearly here, and as we have been asked to run the animal tent again, we have spent lots of time considering how we can improve the display that we had last year. We are trying to make it as interactive as possible, and gradually our plans are forming together. It looks like it’s going to be a really good show, so please call in and see us, we might even get you helping out! School holidays start on 24th July, so we have plenty of events planned, starting with The Creature Teachers and their amazing animals on Friday 3rd August. My favourite is the beautiful barn owl who will sit patiently on the visitors’ outstretched hands for a wonderful photo opportunity. Check our website for further details of all events.