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.