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Please keep dogs on a lead.

Stay on the paths, if you wander off you might damage crops or conservation areas.

Keep an eye on children, especially near the ponds.

No. 10 - SIDEHILL SPINNEY

From this point you can chose to carry on along the bridleway, or climb the little bank to your right and take one of 3 alternatives:

the sunny ride between the hedge and the spinney

through the spinney itself (following the signs - or not!)

to the north side of the spinney, alongside another small wild bird mix plot. The field, here, is called 'High Back Lands', the farming name for 'ridge and furrow', which was virtually the only way of farming such heavy land 150 years ago - before the advent of steam driven machinery.

Side Hill Spinney

This is the largest of the dozen or so small copses planted around the farm. We have used varying proportions of the same wide range of species, planted in a random (hopefully 'natural') pattern in all of them.

They are intended to be coppiced on a medium rotation (10-15 years) for firewood and poles, with some trees (mainly oaks) being left to grow in to mature constructional timber. The ground is being planted to woodland plants (Violet, Wood Anemone, Primrose and Bluebell - English of course!).

Straw Bales

Keeping our cattle and pigs bedded down, during the winter time, requires a lot of straw. For ease and speed of baling, mechanized handling and bedding down, we use large round bales (such as can be seen in the stack in front of you to the left).

After the combine has finished harvesting the grain from a cereal crop, the stalks (straw) are left in long rows (swarths).These swarths are picked up by the baler and rolled up into tight round packages, all tied up with string (or net).

We then unroll one or two a day for our cows to lie on in the barn.

Whitwell Drift

The South-North track at the (western) end of Side Hill Spinney is called Whitwell Drift, a very old droveway leading to Whitwell Farm in an outlying spur of Barton Parish. Whitwell is an ancient, well name, referring to a pre Christian White Goddess.

Beetle Bank

Another of our beetle banks can be seen across to your left, dividing Longshotts field (nearby) from Stimsons Lane field. If you are here at dusk you may see one of our Barn Owls hunting along it.


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