Category: Blog post

Posted on by

Newsletter No 20

It’s our third newsletter of the year, and we wish everyone a happy build up to Guy Forkes and Christmas because we are galloping along towards bonfire night next week. We want to also say a big “hello” to all our new followers, and there are many. Thank you.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING ON THE FARM

Summer has come to an end, but the fields are still green, if not water logged. The first of the heifers has calved – Spotty III – and she had had twins as her first calves. She is from our original line of 5 Hereford cross Holsteins (milking cows) we bought in 2009, and fortunately the genetics for plenty of milk appears to be kicking in, as they are little guzzlers. Several people have seen them and they have stolen their hearts. Not much bigger than a very good sized labrador, fortunately for mum carrying them for 9 months, she calved on her own at the bottom of the farm. John was caught out, as he could only see one at first! Well done Spotty.

NEWS ON THE CAMP SITE

Although returned to a horse paddock in October, it will be brought back into a good field for campers, and in particular for campers wanting to hire A WHOLE FIELD just to themselves, for their friends, family and special occasions. Several weekends have already been booked for families wishing to get together, and this is encouraging as its only our 3rd full year of being open.

The field will re-open on 1st June 2025 right through to the end of September.

More information is on our Blog No 17 and our camping page.

The projects for 2024 were all completed:-

NEW water treatment system, in preparation for showers (hopefully) next year

and NEW cabinets to house electric plugs so you can charge your devices, safely, in a locked cabinet.

Enquiries are to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk in the first instance, and dates are only saved once a deposit is received!

NEWS OF THE FARM MEAT

Our NOVEMBER beef has “gone to market”, and the website shop has been updated. Our actual farm shop is now closed to casual callers, so please do speak to John if you wish to come and see us. His number is 07966 460312. Some popular cuts are selling out now, so please try to order early especially for Christmas. A minimum order of £60 gets you free local delivery up to 30 miles from the farm. Pork is now on the website, but if you wish to chat about your order, please let us know by email to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk. If we have sold out, do please email us, as John may have some in the freezer!

EDUCATIONAL VISITS

We welcomed 25 school visits this summer, and most were very lucky to have a lovely day here in sunshine. The piglets were the favourite AGAIN. Our EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES are free with 25 FREE of charge visits here for children under 16 or adults/children’s groups who have special needs. We look forward to hearing from schools how we can bring their “curriculum to life” with pond dipping, habitat trails, animal tours, all geared to your class! Teachers are able to book a “block of lessons” if they wish – in the past this has been used by SEND teachers.

As always, do get in touch if you have any questions, or experience any difficulties in getting the website to work.

Best wishes for the coming months and thank you all for your great support this year.

John and Pat

Posted on by

Newsletter No 19

It’s our second newsletter of the year, and we wish everyone a great Easter because we are galloping along towards Easter next week! We want to also say a big “hello” to all our new followers, and there are many. Thank you.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING ON THE FARM

Like our last newsletter, its wet and muddy, and we are calving the cows. We have also hedge planted by the new pull ins on the drive for our campers, and are still in negotiations about the water treatment system (ie septic tank!!).

The pigs don’t want to be left out either, and our first two litters are already here, and sold! However it is the cows that get the picture this month!! This calf being one day old and is in great shape to continue to grow and thrive here.

NEWS ON THE CAMP SITE

Although returned to a horse paddock in October, it will be brought back into a good field for campers, and in particular for campers wanting to hire A WHOLE FIELD just to themselves, for their friends, family and special occasions. Several weekends have already been booked for families wishing to get together, and this is encouraging as its only our 2nd full year of being open.

We will be getting the field ready soon, and sowing the wild flowers again after harrowing the field to make it flatter.

More information is on our Blog No 17 and our camping page.

The next big projects are:–

NEW water treatment system, in preparation for showers (hopefully) next year

and NEW cabinets to house electric plugs so you can charge your devices, safely, in a locked cabinet.

Enquiries are to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk in the first instance, and dates are only saved once a deposit is received!

NEWS OF THE FARM MEAT

Our APRIL beef has “gone to market”, and the website shop has been updated. Some popular cuts are selling out, so put in your order please. A minimum order of £60 gets you free delivery within a 30 mile radius. Following this, the next deliveries will be in JUNE. Pork is not on the website, but if you wish to order, please let us know by email to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk.

EDUCATIONAL VISITS

We welcomed our first school children this week, who were very lucky to have a lovely day here in sunshine. The piglets were the favourite AGAIN. Our EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES are free with 25 FREE of charge visits here for children under 16 or adults/children’s groups who have special needs. We look forward to hearing from schools how we can bring their “curriculum to life” with pond dipping, habitat trails, animal tours all geared to your class! Teachers are able to book a “block of lessons”if they wish – in the past this has been used by SEND teachers.

Best wishes for the coming month from John and Pat

Posted on by

Newsletter No 18

It’s our first newsletter of the year, and we wish everyone a great year. We want to also say a big “hello” to all our new followers, and there are many. Thank you.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING ON THE FARM

This time of the year it is always wet and muddy on the farm, but this year is it exceptional. Some of the pregnant cows are still eating haylage in the fields and can take shelter under the huge hedges if they wish. They are a breed called “South Devon”, and so as a native breed, grow a thick woolly coat.

Some of the cows have calved, safely, and all are doing well. These are the first calves by our new bull “Romany”. They are born small, and grow quickly, and we are very pleased with them.

The pigs don’t want to be left out either, and our first litter is already here, and we have about 3 left to sell, I think.

Romany, looking proud

NEWS ON THE CAMP SITE

Although returned to a horse paddock in October, it will be brought back into a good field for campers, and in particular for campers wanting to hire A WHOLE FIELD just to themselves, for their friends, family and special occasions.

More information is on our Blog No 17 and our camping page.

The next big projects are:–

NEW water treatment system, in preparation for showers (hopefully) next year

and NEW cabinets to house electric plugs so you can charge your devices, safely, in a locked cabinet.

Enquiries are to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk in the first instance, and dates are only saved once a deposit is received!

NEWS OF THE FARM MEAT

Our first beef of the year has arrived, and the website shop has been updated. Some popular cuts are selling out, so put in your order please. A minimum order of £60 gets you free delivery within a 30 mile radius. Following this, the next deliveries will be in April. Pork is not on the website, but if you wish to order, please let us know by email to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk.

EDUCATIONAL VISITS

Onwards and upwards towards lighter nights and Spring when we welcome back our EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. With 25 FREE of charge visits here for children under 16, we look forward to hearing from schools how we can bring their “curriculum to life” with pond dipping, habitat trails, animal tours all geared to your class! Teachers are able to book a “block of lessons”if they wish – in the past this has been used by SEND teachers.

Best wishes for the coming month from John and Pat

Posted on by

Newsletter No 15

PIGS FOR SALE

We have 2 litters for sale as at the 13th October 2022, with 12 gilts between them. All are offered for sale as we are keeping the boars.

Born in July 22 out of Dandy sows, by Jack and Alistair boars, all are birth notified to the breed society, vaccinated, wormed, electric fence trained, outdoor reared and ready to go. Email enquiries to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk please. Some are good enough to register as breeding gilts. Feel sure one of the boars would be good enough to register if you are wanting one to bring on to breed with..

For additional information see 5 gilts for sale and 7 gilts for sale

Many thanks for looking, and please share if you can.

Some of the litter
Posted on by

Camping Information – Post No 17

CAMPERS WELCOME PACK

CONTACT Tel 0745 0358 812  – PAT PIMLOTT

Dear Camper

We are so happy that you are thinking of coming to us.

OPENING TIMES

WE ARE OPEN 1ST JUNE TO THE 30TH SEPTEMBER INCLUSIVE.

Book before hand or up to 8pm on the same day, and see if we have room for you.

A little bit about your stay here –

  • It’s a grass 60 pitch site, with plenty of space,
  • A fresh water tap is supplied,
  • Somewhere to pour your grey water away,
  • Elsan point with hose pipe,
  • A flushable toilet and
  • Recycling and rubbish bins. 
  • Portaloos are also hired in, being cleaned and emptied each week.

We keep the grass mowed for you, to make your visit more enjoyable, and it’s a lovely quiet site, next door to a special site of special interest (SSSI) woodland.

If your fire pit is off the ground, you are welcome to have one, but please park the other side of the camp site from the wood.  We can’t risk a spark setting off this ancient woodland with rare dormice in it, rare plants and rare butterflies.

We will be on site to welcome you, and can open the shop on most days and evenings  – days – mornings between 0800 and 0830, again in the evening after 6.30pm or if we know a preferred time, we will do our best to open then.  We can sell:-

  • Burgers
  • Frozen Sausages
  • Bacon
  • Eggs
  • Semi Skimmed Milk
  • Bread
  • Cereals

We can take credit card in the shop, providing the internet signal is good enough!  We may not be on site for some of the time.

We can:

  • Provide a barbecue for you if you wish
  • Charge mobile phones/battery packs for you in the house,
  • and put your icepacks into the freezer overnight, if this helps, but we won’t be able to hand them back to you outside the shop hours as we may go off site ourselves.

We can’t:

  • Have any vehicle over 6m long, and no caravans
  • Loud music because of our neighbours after 11 pm
  • We may struggle with a Saturday check in but we can discuss this depending upon your date

The pigs are close by, and please note they have a LIVE electric fence inside the outer fencing.  This is marked up, but please be careful.  Pig bites can be fatal, so do not put your hands through the wire.          The pigs are fed by my husband only, but you are welcome to watch them as much as you like.

The horses are close by.  All horses bite, so be wary, and we would advise you to keep away from them if possible.  They are not pets.           Please don’t feed the horses human food.  Some ponies, on Facebook, have died from having human food, or by choking, so please don’t feed them, they are much loved by us.

Our prices

  • Don’t include clearing up excessive amounts of rubbish left behind, so we will be charging a £200 deposit to cover any untidy campers.  Fully refundable if you are clean and tidy!!

THINGS TO DO

  • Get some well earned rest!  Enjoy some peace and quiet.
  • There are walks in the wood, just photograph your turns, so that you can get back, or see if you can get the What 3 Words App to work on your phone.  My phone says the farm house is  “unwell.thighs.boots” but I haven’t tried to navigate with this!
  • Listen to the bird song – it’s beautiful and you may even be able to identify the birds.
  • Walk through the woods to Loggerheads –  The Loggerheads Pub is there.  It’s a straight walk through, but take your photos.  The pub does lunches, and has outside seating.  The Co-Op has a shop and there is Mandalay  a Chinese Takeaway (which does chips) but only takes cash.  Mandalay – Loggerheads Takeaway is on Facebook and their telephone number is 01630 673 123.  The Lodge India Restaurant at Loggerheads does dine in, takeaway and delivery – see www.lodgeindiaonline.co.uk or call 01630 673609.
  • Enjoy the pigs – we may  have a litter of baby piglets born, if so they are tiny and very cute. 
  • Take a walk down our lovely drive and turn left at the bottom.  Follow the road into the woodland and turn left at the roadside.  You will come into Loggerheads.  A great walk, and perhaps a pub lunch at the end.

There are plenty of places to visit locally if you wish to drive –

  • Market Drayton is the closest town for Morrisons and the public swimming baths.
  • Chester is about 1 hour away.
  • Shrewsbury is about 30 mins away with its beautiful grass and river area called The Quarry.
  • Trentham Gardens has a great shopping experience and cafe, as has
  • Bridgemere Garden centre, both less than 20 mins away. 
  • Hodnet Hall gardens and the Dorothy Clive Gardens are particularly beautiful.
  • For children try the Trentham Gardens Monkey Forest! 
  • National Trust properties include
    • Shugborough and
    • Attingham Park which are both less than one hour away,

We look forward to seeing you.

Best wishes Pat and John Pimlott

Posted on by

Newsletter No 16

CAMP SITE NEWS

Camping

We are open for tents and camper vans under 6 m long. There is no suitable access for any towed vehicles due to the narrow lane and hairpin bends on the farm drive.

LARGE GROUPS, SUCH AS VW GROUPS, WELCOME.

YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS GET THE SITE ALL TO YOURSELF – Yes, that is right, we offer “exclusive” camping for you and your group.*

We are only 10 minutes away from our local town, Market Drayton by car, but once you are here, you will probably just “veg” out and have a complete rest, or entertain the children safely.

Let them see the pigs each day, and there may even be some little ones for you to see. There will be cows and calves as well, and Basil the pony will say “hello” we are sure of that!

FACILITIES are basic, but the venue is so beautiful

  • A 60 camping pitch field ALL to yourselves
  • Pitch by a woodland and feel calm
  • Portaloos and a flushing loo only
  • Cold water tap in the camping field
  • Elsan disposal unit
  • Dog friendly, but pick up after them
  • Child friendly
  • 15 Minute woodland walk to pub, shops, and takeaway
  • Recycling bins
  • Space to ride your push bikes safely
  • Children’s activities during the week only, include Pond Dipping and Feeding the Animals. Small charge applies
  • Basic farm shop selling cereals, milk, eggs, bacon, sausage and home grown STEAK
  • Fire pits allowed

NO EHU – sorry

Camp Site next to a SSSI Woodland

ENQUIRIES TO beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk

Posted on by

CHRISTMAS UPDATE

Happy Christmas to you all, and what a year we all have had. Next year will have it challenges, but let’s enjoy what is left of 2022 first.

NEWS FROM THE FARM SHOP

We are delivering the beef this week to our regular customers, but if your plans change at the last minute, we do have some beef roasting joints available. Just call John on 07966 460312 to discuss, as the shop is only a collection centre at the moment.

NEWS FROM THE FARM

It’s back to late nights, and cold ones at that, as we start to calve. We calve right through to May 2023, so not all the calves are born in this cold weather.

NEWS FROM THE CAMP SITE

At long last, the camp site has full permission to be open from June to September, and there is a page on our website covering what we do. The neighbours hired solicitors to stop our small, friendly, farm site, but fortunately the Planning Committee put in safe guards to make the road safer. It’s a win win for us and for the neighbours – and a safer approach road.

2023 FARM SHOP NEWS

The website will take orders for delivery in February 2023, ready for the first week of February. Any supplies in January 2023 will be from the freezer. A bit of a rest for us!!

This picture shows the new born calf with it’s mum “Spotty”. A lovely reminder of how farming keeps renewing. Hopefully all new mothers will take to their calves as well as Spotty!

THANK YOU

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year, and we hope to see you again in 2023. Happy Christmas everyone, from John and Pat with all our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

Posted on by

Newsletter No 15

PIGS FOR SALE

We have 2 litters for sale as at the 13th October 2022, with 12 gilts between them. All are offered for sale as we are keeping the boars.

Born in July 22 out of Dandy sows, by Jack and Alistair boars, all are birth notified to the breed society, vaccinated, wormed, electric fence trained, outdoor reared and ready to go. Email enquiries to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk please. Some are good enough to register as breeding gilts. Feel sure one of the boars would be good enough to register if you are wanting one to bring on to breed with..

For additional information see 5 gilts for sale and 7 gilts for sale

Many thanks for looking, and please share if you can.

Some of the litter
Posted on by

Newsletter No 14

WELCOME

A very warm welcome to all our followers and to our new followers. It’s getting to that time of year when people order extra beef and pork from us, so start having those conversations about “who is cooking” on the big day!

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING ON THE FARM and BEYOND

It’s that time, when cows need to be checked and fed special minerals if they are calving before Christmas.  John has a calendar of expected dates, so some of those extra jobs need to be done.  Hedge cutting, clearing the drive, making new doors, and patching the roof have all been done, but more jobs are still waiting to be started. 

On the accreditation side, we successfully had our Red Tractor Audit, and passed, with the proviso that we needed to replace 3 panes of cracked glass. We also had a clear bTB test, which I am so thankful for.  Nothing hurts more than seeing the girls going off because they have become innocent victims of this disease. Lastly, we also had a clear set of blood tests on the cows, so they are not harbouring any viruses or diseases that could be detected.

THE SHOW SEASON IS OVER

It’s hard to believe, but our catering and selling of fresh meat at shows in 2022 is almost over. This means it’s Christmas light switch ons, private party catering, and generally winding down as we reach the end of the year. Sounds idyllic, but in reality we will still be very busy with customers, and the farm of course.

FREE SCHOOL VISITS AVAILABLE FROM MAY 2023

Yes, it’s hard to believe, but we are offering free school visits, starting in May 2023. Natural England allow us 25 free visits per year, so please get in touch to see if we can help your school next year. Pond dipping is almost always the favourite activity, followed by stroking the pigs and cats.

LAST ORDER DATES

We have updated the website SO YOU SHOULD be able to order through it! A few gremlins crept in when we changed our website designer, so apologies to those who experienced difficulties. 

All the quarter pigs sold, but if it’s pork you need, you should contact us asap by email at beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk  We only have so many pigs/beef animals available before late November. Late November will almost certainly be our last abattoir date as the butcher has his own meat to get ready for the 23rd   December.

We go to Stone Farmers Market on the 5th November, so if possible we would like to receive orders by the 25th October so our butcher can cut the joints for you. Gammons take 3 weeks to cure, so please let us know asap about your gammon orders.

DON’T FORGET

IF YOU CAN’T SEE THE CUT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR on our website, you are very welcome to email beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk, or telephone/text John on 07966 460312 We will get it sorted for you!

 3 Pigs to Devon

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY   

Above are the special piglets that were 3 of the 4 pigs we took to Devon to start a breeding herd.  Their new owners are international chefs who have bought a small holding, and wanted rare breed pigs. 

They already have rare breed cattle on site, and John and I managed to get a night away on their farm, a paddle in the sea, and enjoy a lovely meal outside, overlooking the beach.  We were so lucky the weather held for us.  We think it is our first meal in a restaurant by the seaside since we got married.

EXPECTED DELIVERY DATES in NOVEMBER 2022

As usual, our free-of-charge home deliveries will take place after the farmers markets in November, (possibly on the 6th) and orders can be collected from the farm after the 7th, or from the Stone Farmers Market on the 5th Nov.

Unsubscribe – If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter please send an email to beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk, with unsubscribe in the subject line.

Posted on by

Newsletter No13

WELCOME

A very warm welcome to all our followers and to our new followers. Its a brand new month and we are working hard on the farm, and at events as well.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING ON THE FARM and BEYOND

We have also had some lovely little piglets recently. 15 Were born, 2 didn’t make the night, and one has sadly passed away, so Dandy has excelled herself. We have never had such a big litter before.

We also welcomed Ellie as a residential work experience student. She lives in France, but is English. We had a great week with Ellie, who is hoping to become a vet, studying in the UK. Sadly for us, the new Visa arrangements do not allow students to come here from the EU (except English Passport holders) unless they earn at least £26,000 pa. We had a nice reply from our MP about this, and we don’t see this changing in the future.

APRIL’S SPECIAL OFFERS AND LAST ORDER DATES

I have updated the website with some special offers. see https://parkhillfarm.co.uk/farm-shop/meatboxes/ – We prefer orders through the website and if it’s over £50 we deliver for free. This month we will be delivering those orders on the 3rd April all being well.

From the END of April, we will be delivering 1/4 pigs, which are on the website. We can substitute the belly meat for sausages if you prefer. It’s a good deal, and we won’t be doing it for very long.

If you wish to set up a standing order for meat, then please get in touch, and we will put it to one side before we go to Stone Farmers Market on the 2nd April. If possible we would like to receive orders by the 28th March, so our butcher can cut the joints for you.

IF YOU CAN’T SEE THE CUT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, you are very welcome to email beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk, or telephone/text John on 07966 460312. We will get it sorted for you!

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

Above is Ellie with one of the piglets born just before she arrived. All have found homes this time, and we are looking forward to more farrowings this year.

VACANCY

We will be needing extra staff this year, as so many events clash. If you know a young person or someone looking for occasional work, who is hard working, polite, and wanting an occasional job on a Saturday/Sunday, then please get in touch by email. The work is mainly over the summer holidays, and sporadic, but transport and uniform are provided.

Unsubscribe – if you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please send me an email with Unsubscribe in the subject box.