Boris steals the show at Chyvarloe Farm Open Day

Chyvarloe Farm recently opened its doors (and gates) to welcome locals and visitors alike to come and have a look around to see the in's and out's of a working farm. Tenants Paul and Charlotte Parfitt and the Trust are working closely in partnership to ensure the future of the farm is based around a sound business, excellent conservation and loads of opportunities for people to get involved and learn about agriculture. 

The Open Day was the first time we had tried such an event, so it was great that over a hundred people came to visit the farm, meet the various animals, walk the farm trail and talk to Paul and Charlotte face to face.  Alongside that NT volunteers Greg and David provided some great fun activities for children and there were opportunities to see farm equipment such as the Combine Harvester up close (popular with Dad's as well !)

But it was Boris who took the event by storm. Boris is the farm's large white Boar, and as you can see from the photo's attached he is quite a character. He was the most popular of all the animals, happy to provide a (large) back to be scratched and to pose for a picture.


We hope to make the Farm Open Day a regular event, perhaps moving it around between various times of the farming year so keep an eye on the Trust events leaflet and Blog next year and come along. We are also running a guided farm walk as part of the upcoming Lizard and Penrose Walking Festival - check out the details across the page.

Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard in the planning and running of the day, Paul, Charlotte, Becky, Deborah, Peter, Greg, David, Rob and Paul's Mum and Dad.


Mike

StreetView comes to Penrose

A quick post - whilst none of us want to be stuck in the office when you are there you do see some interesting things out of the window from time to time.

So we all jumped when this cyclist pulled up for a breather....

Nice bike, smart camera (360 degrees at the click of a button) plenty of low gears although he was puffing a bit. He was looking for directions to Loe Bar so we showed him the map but thought he might like to give everyone a view of the Walled Garden at Penrose. He seemed pleased to help and peddled to the centre and took the picture, so hopefully soon you can access Google's StreetView and see for yourself the results.....

We are looking at how we can use this part of the Walled Garden and make it accessible for people to use it so let us know if you have any ideas or if we can help. We have used it for a Storytelling event recently and it's a great spot - so all ideas welcome

Mike

A whole lot of fun at Holifair!

The Lizard team put on another great range of activities for all at this years Holifair. From candlesticks and flowers in the green woodworking glade to felting in the tipi. Despite the rather wet end to the festival, a great time was had by the team and those attending.

Holifair is a sustainable festival held annualy on Holifield farm at Gweek and not only offers a good variety of music but plenty for the whole family to do. This is our second year attending the festival and we have made a welcome addition to the kids area. With thanks to our volunteers we were able to let everyone have a go on the woodworking lathes and shave horses as well as providing crafts for all and for the first time, felting, which was a great success.

We will of course be back there next year but in the meantime why not come along to some more of our events such as Lizard Lifeboat day on the 21st August or Gunwalloe beach family fun day on  26th August.

See you there,

Elle

Spring Tides and Sand Castles!

It's been a busy week here at Gunwalloe,with spring tides at the beginning of the week making for some excellent rock pooling sessions, and great sand castle competitions!

The guys rock pooling last Sunday did really well, and found some great creatures including an extra large strawberry form beadlet anemone and a common blenny fish. Conditions for rock pooling tend to be really good during big spring tides as all the pools that are normally always hidden under the ocean become exposed, making it possible for even more species to be spotted!

The Sandcastle competition on Wednesday also had a great turnout with some amazing creations being crafted.

We've got quite a few events planned for Gunwalloe in the near future, which Include the following:

• Wednesday 17th August: Seashore Explore, see what treasures of the shore you can find with prizes up for grabs for the best find!
• Friday 26th August: Family Fun Beach Day, come down to Gunwalloe for a day of Family fun, with sand castle competitions, rockpooling, nature walks and more!
• Sunday 4th September: Seashore Safari as part of the of the Penrose walking festival, another day of rockpool exploration and education. 

Gunwalloe Rock Pooling!

A few of us at Gunwalloe had a great time rockpooling last Sunday! The tide was mid-way down the shore at 3pm in the afternoon, so not too many pools were exposed however we still managed to find a nice load of different species with a couple of extra large crabs and a shanny fish topping the list!

Alfie claimed find of the day with this huge shore crab, and was the only one brave enough to pick it up!

A few Shanny's or Common Blenny's were also found. 

It was a great afternoon and we hope to run many more free wildlife activities at Gunwalloe this summer, if you're interested in coming along then please don't hesitate to get in touch, lb337@exeter.ac.uk


Lee.

Holfiair time again!

The Trust team are delighted to be attending Holifair again this year. Based at Holifield farm in Gweek, Holifair is a 3 day family music festival and is taking place on the 5th, 6th and 7th August this year. Its a great little festival and tickets are just £45 so make sure you get one and don't miss the barn dance on the first night!

Look out for us near the wooded area at the entrance. This year we will be putting on a range of childrens eco craft activities as well as bushcraft in the Tipi and green woodworking in the woodland glade.

For more info http://www.holifieldfarmproject.co.uk/holifair

See you there,

Elle

St Martin Mad Fest

Much fun was had by all at the Mad Fest on Saturday. No matter what the weather threw at us, St Martin community was determined to have a great time, and they did. We were thrilled to be a part of it, and yet again the 'bodging' proved to be a favourite and some excellent candle holders were turned on the lathe.

If your interested in learning more about bodging then check out our 'Dirty weekend in the woods' event at Tremayne Quay on the 1st and 2nd October.

Elle