Land‘s End to John O‘Groats

Walking, cycling, motorcycling or driving, we are a great campsite for a stopover before you start your journey.

Big enough to accomodate transit vans and paraphernalia but small enough to consolidate and review your individual plans whilst encouraging a personal or team spirit. Our facilities and tranquil garden with outdoor shower, changing-room and compost toilets, help you to focus your mind on the task on the head.

We also love having you to stay and hearing about why you in particular planned the trip.
And Good Luck to all who attempt it!

A busy month of May

May has been a busy month of preparation for the camping season proper from May 27th, with the odd person googling us and turning up to borrow the campsite early.
First on the list of to-do jobs, was an experimental picnic bench which the men of Ashfarm have put together.  It is prototype and another is in the offing with a adaption to the seat and table, to make them more cost effective, although the frame is a winner.

Since new fronds are showing on the Treeferns and the threat of snow and frost now seems to be past us, they have been unwrapped from their woolly jumpers.

The kelpie and I went for a training session near Salisbury to hone our sheep herding skills. Here we are in action! Many thanks to Kevin Reeves from Lyndhurst Kelpies http://www.lyndhurst-kelpies.co.uk for his support and training.....we will be back!

The shower unit came out of winter storage and was put back in the shower cubical, so we thought it a good excuse to wash the dogs - well volunteered Dom - not sure Rowan is really enjoying it, but she did smell fresh as a daisy afterwards.

And the sheep got brought into the sheep shed to be checked over and to await shearing.

And Keith arrived to remove their fleeces and improve their comfort and wellbeing, now the warmer weather is with us and before the flies can strike.

The Portlands always have such oversized heads when they have been shorn, but it emphasises their lovely caramel coloured legs and faces and paler bodies. And the zwartbles look even more like goats than when they have their full fleeces....but they aren't, they are sheep!

Another family member joined the Airbnb club, renting out a room in her Dartmoor cottage. Look her up on Airbnb:  Homely relaxed cottage near NT Lydford Gorge.

Perfect for anyone visiting Lydford Gorge or cycling the Granite Way Route 27 which goes right past the cottage

or hiking on Dartmoor

Back in Ludgvan, the Magnolia has come into flower, why do the crows want to knock the flower heads off? I have moved a noisy wind chime beside the tree, to try and deter the birds.....

and the Treeferns seem to be coping without their winter jackets,

all except one. This one did not like the frost and snow last spring and never sent up fronds in the summer, but I have left her in the ground and protected her over the winter, hoping some sort of regeneration might happen. There are now some fronds coming up from the ground, which I would love to believe were Treefern fronds but I suspect are not.

 

And down at the end of our fields our young Horsefield Wood trees are budding and leaves are uncurling. The footpath from Ludgvan to Manwhidden goes through the young wood and there is a bench for resting on. It is a peaceful place to sojourn and if you are camping with us this year, we would recommend a short walk to visit.

And no blog would be complete without a small hello from the horses.... who have been mowing a track between the trees for me! Morning boys!

With the weather turning decidedly springlike, the odd campervan has turned up amidst our preparations and we have had some bookings for the camping cabin too. The real camping season starts on 27th May but if you are in the area, you can always phone and see if we can accomodate you. The summer is almost upon us!

Lambing and Tractor Shed

Over the winter we have been busy building the Lambing and Tractor Shed. It is finally finished and in use!

For those who camped with us in 2018 you will remember this space

Well, as soon as camping was over and we could make the site “untidy”, fashioning the space continued and over time, the shed has grown.

Sheep have grown too. We had ewes pregnant and they have been able to use new shed, instead of ousting the horses from their shelter.

We have 7 black 'Portable' lambs - so named because of the crossbreeding Portland with Zwartble - and at present they are frolicking in the paddock next to campsite.

The sheep have been grazing over the winter in the adjacent agapanthus field and doing a grand job of mowing, weeding and fertilizing! How symbiotic is that? So if there is a bumper crop of flowers this year we know who to blame.

And we are partially open for Easter, just the Camping Cabin and one camping pitch.
Roll on summer!

Another favourite winter walk and beach

You will have to imagine the sunshine on this beach walk. The sun did eventually reach us, having blessed the north coast and Marazion first, before rolling along the edge of England to reach the dogs and I at St Levan and then Porthcurno. But it was not cold, it was not raining and it was not windy.
That'll do!

Unfortunately the photo session and pasty provisions were done and dusted by the time the sun did roll up, so the photos lack the golden orb's light, but I still think they are worth a showing, if only for the fact that the dogs and I had the luxury of the beach ALL to ourselves.

One of the many pleasures of living in Cornwall in winter. Deserted beaches.

I believe this beach was extremely well visited last summer due to some facebook advertising which went fairly viral. Today it was EMPTY save for us.

I don't mind sharing at all. Sharing is good for us, but it is also very nice, to selfishly have something all to ourselves;)

Up on cliffs we met some Dartmoor ponies employed by an environmental management scheme to eat down the moorland vegetation and they are making a good job of it.

Walking back across the cliff path the Hebe is already out, in all it's purple glory.

Stopping off at Porthcurno to have a wander on the beach, to sink my toes in the shell sand and marvel at the variety of tiny molluscs.  I did have to share this beach with canoeists and surfers, walkers and a dog, watching 'his human' out on his surfboard. Still, a pleasurable place to share.

Shell sand is the comfiest sand to walk on, it sticks to your feet and legs and can be brought back home in your socks and shoes. Unlike most sand, that shifts around in your socks, uncomfortably, shell sand is simply a 'whisper', a reminder of sunshine and summer that lingers comfortably. Tiny, tiny flat fragments of what once was a living home, that attaches itself and then leaves a dusting of shell-glitter to everything..... nature can be quite wonderful.

Mushrooms and Funghi

I know this is a bit out of season, but I have a bit of a thing about mushrooms and funghi.

I love spotting them and photographing them and for anyone who has camped with us in July and August as the field and horse mushrooms start popping up all over the place on the campsite and in the paddocks of the smallholding, you will know I often 'tout my wares' as I walk through the campsite with a basket of mushrooms!

There is nothing like cooking and eating foraged edible funghi.

Well, this winter I took a little trip across the water to Germany and Holland and found some delightful members of the fungus family, some of which did get cooked.

Here are a selection of photos of them. Unfortunately I do not know the names of all of them and only one is edible as far as I know, but they are such wondrous species, that I have to share.