Summer at West Ilkerton

I've finished Midnight on Lundy at last! It's now with Sally Chapman-Walker, who's doing the book design. Hopefully it will be ready for the printers in early September. It's got to be printed by 11th October, because I've hired the MS Oldenburg for a book launch (hopefully literary, not literal) in Ilfracombe Harbour. So publication day is 11th October. The books will cost £8.50 each, and can be ordered in advance so they're posted on Monday 12th. Please see http://www.tortoise-publishing.co.uk/ for further details.

Luke's bear, outside the house at West Ilkerton

Luke (Sarah's boyfriend) was 21 yesterday. He had a really good Wild West party last weekend. I wonder whether people living in the Wild West ever have Frightfully English parties, where they sip Pimms, eat cucumber sandwiches and play croquet. I do hope so.

As this is really a farm news site, I'd better start talking about the farm now. I can't believe it was April when I wrote the last news page. Many apologies for leaving it so long, but I had to get the book finished. We had one or two other things on our minds, too:

We got planning permission for the Alvesta 20kW wind turbine, but we've decided to wait until there are actual output figures from the ones which have been installed before we go ahead. If the Alvesta turbines don't deliver their estimated outputs we may go back to the drawing board and apply for a Proven turbine. We definitely want to get something, but we don't want to end up with an expensive mistake.
In May, our Land Rover was stolen and used for robberies in the area (where trailers and quad bikes were taken) until, a week later, it was involved in a police chase through the fields at Woolhanger, and was written off. Unbelievably, despite police cars, a helicopter and tracker dogs, the thieves escaped. Thank goodness, the NFU gave us a very fair payment for the poor old Land Rover in the end, and we now have a dark green one of roughly the same age (which is locked at all times). It's so sad that crime like this has reached Exmoor - but don't let that put you off coming on holiday here!

On the subject of vehicles, we have just sold the lorry because it was too expensive to keep on the road, with all the HGV regulations. It was like selling an old friend, as we've had it for twelve years. Beetle always seems to get in photos, doesn't he?

Shearing was in July. Here are some photos of Ian South, Sam Smyth and Sarah E:

Sam teaching Sarah how to shear a sheep - and the result!

Our Exmoor pony breeding programme has been a bit of a disaster this year. We had four colt foals and one filly foal. Loving Cup's colt foal (pictured here) was a friendly little chap, but he was never very strong. The terrible weather in July proved too much for him, and he died from pneumonia. A couple of weeks later, Chris was moving the ponies, and Trifle's filly foal came reeling out of the herd - as if she were drunk - and dropped down dead. She had seemed fit and healthy, so we can only assume she was kicked or squashed in some way. We now just have three colt foals. However, I have arranged to buy some more colt foals from Woolhanger for the pony-handling course. After handling, all the colt foals will be gelded and put out on Ilkerton Ridge as ecological grazers for a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement. The foals from last year (Kirbie, Rocky, Sandy and Pixie) are already on Ilkerton Ridge, along with two fillies from the Moorland Mousie Trust, a gelding called Clover and an old gelding called Steady Eddie.

This year, a pair of house martins decided to build their nest on top of the electricity meter in our porch. Daddy house martin took up residence on the antlers above the front door. They've made a terrible mess, but it's been fascinating watching the chicks grow.

While on the subject of wildlife, Chris took a picture of this badger on the field we call Opposite (because it's opposite the house)

Our new bull, Wellshead Duke, has settled in well, and (luckily) appears to be quite a lady's man. Here he is chatting up his latest love a few weeks ago:

July was a wash-out, and so we're late with the hay harvest again. In fact, it looks as if we'll have to make silage out of all the hay fields now. Last week there was a slight weather window, and we managed to make some good haylage in Cow Field and Marley Combe.

Chris immediately started ploughing Cow Field, before the grass grew back. The field suffered very badly when we were organic, and became over-run with hay rattle. This is a parasitic plant which takes over at an alarming rate - a problem which only ploughing and re-seeding with vigorous grasses can solve. Chris ploughed most of the field, but Sarah did some of it. Anne supervised on her Tramper:

Enjoying some summer sunshine