Beautiful Britain

We are fortunate that where we live in North Cornwall we only have to look out across the valley to be reminded of  the beauty of the country we live in.  The nearby moors, coast and beaches all have their own magic and magnitude that makes Britain such a special place. 

Our dramatic coastline

Even when you are well travelled and have visited many other places in the world there still is that special something about Britain.  I didn’t need reminding but when watching Secret Britain and seeing the splendour of Cornwall and beyond there really is good reason why we should holiday at home.  And so the current government is planning to turn Britain into one of the world’s top five holiday destinations – currently eleventh in the top holiday destinations in the world – adding a huge boost to our economy – and with holiday cottages I back that totally.

But one thing we should all do is help to preserve Britain’s beauty and the great British countryside, be kind to it, its flora and fauna and most of all please help Keep Britain Tidy….more on my recent beach clean soon !!

Stable Cottage – flower and herb filled planters….

Every year at Tredarrup we maintain and add more to our properties with something new for both our first time and regular visitors….
This year we made changes to Stable Cottage both inside and out….new sofas, big TV.  And for outside a woodland patio and a replant of all the planters in the courtyard…  Gardening here is always a bit of a battle, not only do you have the normal slug and snail attacks – how they love fresh new plants – but for us it is also the chickens…they just don’t make good gardeners!  Although they do a great job with clearing slugs and snails give them a patch of earth and they are in there digging away and turfing out any plants in their path… So next to the decision of what flowers and herbs  we should plant for our guests to use and enjoy was how to keep the chickens away…but we seem to have managed!!  

A new look courtyard

Herb and flower filled........

Plenty to choose froma round the courtyard

Meat With A Conscience

As animal owners we are strong believers that farm animals are sentient beings: Capable of emotion, of learning from experience, and aware of their relations with others both animal and human.  An emotion that for us becomes part of our buying decision when it comes to milk, meat and eggs…..and a message that is being echoed more and more these days…..and the importance of the welfare of animals…   

Now, a new BBC 2 series is lifting the lid on the amazing intelligence of cows, pigs and chickens – starting this evening with: 

“The Private Life of…Cows”:
BBC2, 8pm, Wednesday 7 July

We’ll be watching with interest as Jimmy Doherty joins the important debate about the intelligence of farm animals. Why not tune in too, and see what he discovers? 

If you missed (strong chance might have been watchign the football!!! ) would recommend watching….   

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s5dvn/The_Private_Life_of…_Cows/ 

The welfare of animals

Wildlife at Tredarrup – Greater spotted woodpecker

Over the years at Tredarrup we have tried our very best to encourage natural flora, fauna and a healthy environment with an abundance of insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, bumble bees and many more we can’t see…and we have  invested a lot in looking after the bird life.  Every year we have a group of returning swallows, our sparrows continue to multiply, taking up residence in all the bird holes (fondly named the sparrow estate) and boxes to such an extent that this year we think we must be around the 100 or more mark with all the youngsters now out and about…and a big list of other birds robins, blue tits, pied wagtails, robins, blackbirds and many more that rely on our feeders.  But this year we have a great new addition a pair of greater spotted woodpeckers that have been visiting the bird table and this morning we looked out of the window to discover them doing what they do, pecking at a tree for grubs and insects…for us magic to watch… 

Our woodpeckers

At work on the tree

On the feeder

Cows get hot too!!!!!

In the great weather we’ve been having…even cows need a bit of a cool down!!! 
Here’s to more great weather for the summer…. 

Having a cool down.... A lovely dip....

How I love this river....

So Much To Do In Cornwall

There is always so much to do in Cornwall.  Not only is there what nature has to offer with our great coastline, moorland and heritage but there are also so many events…   Something that I discovered even more this week when looking for things to do at the weekend to suggest to our guests, so if you are in Cornwall this weekend just a few suggestions….  

Biomes at Night at the Eden project this Saturday

Fowey’s Daphne Du Maurier Festival

The Lostwithiel Festival this Sunday

Our Birds – White Throated Sparrow

Bird watchers in Cornwall were treated to a rare sight over the May Bank Holiday weekend when an American sparrow was spotted in the county for the first time.

The White Throated Sparrow which normally lives in parts of North America and Canada was found in a garden in Boscastle not very far from us…… we have a mass of sparrows here at Tredarrup so will have to watch out in case it pays us a visit.   Story in full…… 

The Magic of Bodmin Moor – cycles of life

The magic of Bodmin Moor

 

 We are fortunate at Tredarrup to be in a location where we are both near to the North Cornish coast and the magical rugged Bodmin Moor.  Whilst many come here for the beaches and dramatic coastline, many do also for the moorland and its great walks, although it is sometimes overlooked.  But for us it is a place of such diversity and beauty and on a sunny clear day like today it was at its best…  My first sound of a cuckoo this year and that I was also able to spot in a tree, dramatic scenery but also animal life galore… Best always to stop if a herd of moorland cattle start coming towards you, intent on their path……and take time to look at the new foals and new-born lambs….always at a safe distance though.. 

Moorland cattle

 

We're coming towards you.....

 

I'm still very young.....

 

New arrival being licked clean, I am a new born lamb honest!

 

Spring Cleaning for our West Country beaches

It’s that time of year when we all get on with a bit of Spring cleaning….and in preparation for our Easter visitors that is what is happening to our West Country beaches. From Saturday 27 March to Sunday 4 April, National Trust staff and volunteers will be conducting a mass beach clean at 26 sites such as Wembury Beach in South Devon and Godrevy Beach in Cornwall. 28 beaches, 20 miles, 8 days and £12,000. From Saturday 27 March to Sunday 4 April, National Trust staff and volunteers will be conducting a mass beach clean at 28 sites such as Wembury Beach in South Devon and Godrevy Beach in Cornwall.

Cornwall's beaches

Beach cleaning not only helps to improve the coastal habitat for plants and animals but also to ensure beaches that the Trust cares for are clean and ready for the first visitors of the season. The Trust routinely looks after 36 per cent of the coastline in Devon and Cornwall and estimates it costs around £400 per beach clean giving an annual bill of £30,000 on beach cleaning in Devon and Cornwall alone. If the Trust were to stand all the skips it fills with beach rubbish side by side collected in Devon and Cornwall, it would stretch as far as three Jumbo jets parked end to end. If stacked on top of one another it would stand as high as the Statue of Liberty. The tide of litter on our beaches appears is on the increase (up 146 per cent since 1994) and there are two pieces of litter for every footstep you take on a beach. Not only can litter be a health hazard to us and off-putting to tourists, its estimated that over 100,000 marine animals die every year from entanglement or ingestion of plastics, discarded on our beaches or at sea. Marine ecosystems are also hugely affected by litter pollution at every level – from tiny microscopic organisms through to the very largest animals such as whales and turtles. Even the most remote beaches are affected by litter blown or brought in on the tide. Litter comes from many sources – the public, fishing activities, sewage pipes and shipping, but it is all preventable. However, not all beach litter is bad however, driftwood provides very useful habitat for invertebrates.  This is the third annual mass beach clean, which began in 2008, a year in which items such as a sofa, Japanese crisps and medical drip feed bags were discovered. The majority of the litter collected was marine waste but more than 20 per cent came from beach users. Last year’s beach clean revealed a number of items from the grounding of the Napoli on Branscombe Beach including BMW parts. Parts of an old cooking range probably from old cottages washed away in the early 1900’s were discovered at a beach clean on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, a scaffold clamp from a WW2 beach defence barrier an unbroken light bulb and a telegraph pole weighing 1 tonne, were some of the other items. Brian Muelaner, who co-ordinates the Trust Mass Beach Clean says: ‘This is the first major beach clean of the season and certainly one of the largest, hundreds of people give up their time to help us with this process. It’s essential we wait until this time as generally the worst of the winter storms are over and to ensure our beaches are looking their best in time for our Easter’s visitors. ‘This annual event has become incredibly popular with local people and with 28 different beach cleans to undertake we could not manage without their support.’ Wardens in charge are anticipating that various plastics will form the greatest volume of litter, and these can present some of the greatest hazards to wildlife, both on and offshore. Plastics can be ingested by turtles, seabirds and cetaceans (whales, dolphins etc) and noxious contaminants can also poison wildlife. All the teams involved will be reporting on the volume of rubbish found on their beaches, and documenting the stranger or more surprising items found.

Our North Cornwall coast

If like us, you love birds and want to help them, then the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is your chance to do something that really counts.  Over this weekend spend an hour and help our birds by counting those in your garden.  We are lucky enough to have many birds here at Tredarrup, lots of sparrows, 100s of starlings, blue tits, swallows, robins, wagtails… an occasional sparrow hawk, owls and buzzards in our fields and lots more . Then many others out on the moor  …take a look..  (the starlings on Eastbourne Pier not local I know!).

Every year, some 6 million birds are spotted by us all as part of the survey and The Big Garden Birdwatch has never been more important than it is today, with the results from half a million people (that’s 280,00 gardens surveyed, which is rather a lot!) helping to create a ‘snapshot’ picture of bird numbers in each region, showing the RSPB that some of our birds are disappearing in scary numbers.  We’ve lost more than half our house sparrows, and three-quarters of our starlings, and the results have helped highlight these dramatic declines.

So take part in the surveys, help spot problems, but more importantly, you could help aid a species recovery.  The Big Garden Birdwatch is fun, easy and only takes an hour so have a go and help our birds…http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/