Elvetham Heath village fete

Ranger Duke and apprentice ranger Will had a great time at the Elvetham Heath Village Fete at the weekend the virtual pond dipping game was really popular

Fleet Pond cattle

The cattle at Fleet Pond on Wood Lane Heath have been taken off to be put on Elvetham Heath, with 2 other cows, so don't be worried if you are walking past Wood Lane and can't see them! They will be replaced tomorrow with 2 others from the farm, so keep an eye out for our new arrivals.

Year 2 of the Grazing Trial

Hello all,

Firstly thank you for all your help and efforts last summer. There were a few hiccups with the trial but I feel the first year over all was a success.

We are now entering the second summer of grazing. You may have noticed that us rangers have put the electric fencing back up on to the heath. We were hoping to put the cattle on to the heath at the start of May but it will very much depend on the weather. At the moment it is too dry, the fire risk is too large and the heath has not really greened up enough for there to be enough food for the cattle to eat. If we get some rain over this coming weekend then I think we will try and get the cattle on sometime next week. The grazier is going to go up to the heath next week anyway and assess whether he thinks there is enough forage.

We are using the same grazier that we used last summer. There will be 4 Friesian steers on the Hart side of the heath and 6 on the Timpany Trust side.

We would still like people to use the blog to tell us when they have checked on the cattle and any little other bits of info such as wildlife sightings or problems. We have a new grazing trial ranger, Laura, who will be in contact shortly.

Lets hope we have another good year of grazing! And wish for rain this weekend. :)

The Cows have left

Hi guys

Just to make you all aware that the 6 Friesian cattle which were grazing the Timpany site have been completely removed from the Grazing Trial. There will be no cattle grazing on the Hart or Timpany site until spring 2011, either April or May.

All the fencing material (except for the wooden and metal posts) has been removed from the Hart site. I will be dismantling the Timpany fence this week.

Thanks for all your work and time volunteered, I hope to be returning as Grazing Ranger for next seasons grazing trial beginning mid April.

Regards

Craig

Moving cattle

Hi Craig,
I will come over on Monday to help.
Do you want me there at midday (? and where to meet) or will you text me when you get there?
Hilary

The Cows are leaving!

This coming Monday (4th October) the 6 Friesians on the Hart site will be taken off the heath as the grazing trial comes to an end for this year : ( . The plan is to herd them up into the corral on Monday afternoon and either

a) take them back to the graziers farm, or

b) move them up on to the Timpany site for a couple of weeks as long as issues with the grazing agreement are sorted by Monday.

Either way, it would be extremely useful if we could get a few extra bodies on the heath to help herd the cattle up the hill towards the corral (last time I believe Lynda and the grazier had a bit of a challenge herding the belted Galloways by themselves!).

If anyone is available Monday afternoon between 12:00 and 16:00 and wouldn't mind giving a hand, please let me know either on this blog, via text to the grazing phone or simply call me! The number is 07774263889 if you haven't already got it.

Cheers guys

Craig

Weekend 25/26th September

Cows checked and all fine.

It is planned that the cattle will be taken off a week Monday/Tuesday after speaking with the grazier. It seems the cows may be running out of palatable things to eat as the season comes to an end.

I will keep you updated

Craig