Category: Tipton’s Croft

A lovely sunny autumn day last week.

We’ve had a good crop of pumpkins this year, way too much to us or the chickens to eat so have donated most of them to local schools and they’ve proved very popular on account of being somewhat larger than typical ones from the supermarket.

A little incident today with a bonfire getting a little bigger than planned. Thanks to the amazing Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service it all ended safely with a scorched field but no significant damage. Lessons learned and someone at Tipton’s Croft has had his matches confiscated and is only allowed to use blunt scissors in the office.

• 

• 

• 

Not directly related to Tipton’s Croft, though a reflection of how much rain we’ve had this winter, here are some photos we took of the recent floods.

• 

• 

• 

The hay’s been cut and is drying in the sun ready for baling.

A night of thunder, lightning, and a lot of rain. Not a night for owls, and the hay’s been flattened, but the lake’s a lot fuller as a result.

It might not look like much but gushing out of the pipe is water from our new borehole. We now have an unlimited supply of free cool crystal clear fresh water!

Some spoil from the lake used to landscape a low hill at end end of the field. Seeded with a mixture of native English wildflowers and grasses, it has now blended in seamlessly with its surroundings.

• 

• 

We used some of the spoil from the lake to improve the drainage at one end of the field, with a new ditch and wildflower meadow seeding. Here’s before, during and after.

• 

• 

• 

Some work on improving the drainage in one part of the field using muck dug out of the old pond.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A brief flight up through a break in the low cloud above the field.

A frozen owl and a Garden Orb-Weaver in its web.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

New gates, fences, paths. And no more rusty metal.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In March 2016 we took ownership of the field and started down a long road of restoration with the aim creating a natural wildlife haven based on a traditional English meadow.