Water Pipe laying update

We have decided to upgrade the water pipe here at Woodhayes, the previous pipe was installed in the 1950's, this was a metal pipe which has been prone to leaks due to rust. So we have now installed 800 meters of 32 mm pipe.

You can see the path of the trench here, we have Reg Dyer from Yarcombe doing the work with a large tracked digger. Top soil is removed first and placed in the outer area and then clay is dug and placed nearer the trench, this allows the digger to back fill leaving top soil to go on last.

This photo shows a length of the black 60 mm diameter coil  which covers the 32 mm water pipe, the small length of soil pipe covers the connection junction which joins the two lengths of 32 mm water pipe.

This picture shows the trench set 5 meters from the oak tree so that we  did not damage the root system. The pipe laying was quite a task especially connecting the junctions with high pressure. The pressure is now twice what it was before which suggests there were leaks elsewhere, so we are now relieved that the new pipe is in place.

This shows another section of the coiled pipe and a small section showing a join.

Water Water everywhere..

At Woodhayes Farm we are blessed with our own private Spring Water supply. The farm lies below a very large Artesian well containing thousands of gallons of water, consequently there are many springs on the farm. 

Further to the farm diversification into new offices, holiday let and art gallery, we have decided to upgrade all the water system here to cover our additional needs.  

The first phase is to replace the existing metal pipes with new PVC water pipes as we have started to encounter holes and fractures in the pipes caused by rust and old age.  Then we will be putting in a new silt trap to extract sand and silt created from the source of the spring; this has to be cleaned out each year with a manual flushing system. 

At the farm end we are restoring the old 10,500 Litre reservoir, filling in cracks and re-grouting the inside with a waterproof compound. We have also just installed a new 10,000 Litre tank which will double our capacity to 20,500 Litres. 

This November a specialist contractor will bring in a machine to dig a trench for the new PVC water pipe to connect the source of the spring to the reservoirs.

Watch this space for more news and pictures of the new pipes' installation.

New 10,000 Litre black water tank beside the old brick and concrete reservoir built into the ground 

FSB delegation visits No 10

On 24 June I was invited to be part of a delegation from the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) asked to a  meeting at 10 Downing Street. Originally we were supposed to meet David Cameron but the verdict of the phone-hacking trial of his previous special adviser, Andy Coulson, had been announced that day, so understandably he was otherwise engaged.

Nevertheless, we had an insightful meeting and it was certainly a useful platform to voice some of the concerns and recommendations of our members. During the meeting we called for :

• Switch to growth finance rather than just start-ups
• Boost to International Festival for Business
• Better tasking of Ambassadors overseas for UK businesses wanting to trade in those markets
• Improved links between civil servants and business
• UKTI and UKEF awareness needs to be tackled, but the services they offer are pretty good, including in the regions
• Business services staff in UKTI and elsewhere should have a business background
• Their concern to be noted about a shift of resource from small to medium-sized companies in UKTI

Daniel Korski, who is David Cameron's Special Advisor for Enterprise, confirmed that all these points had been taken board and would be discussed at Cabinet. 

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BHBA Summer Social at Woodhayes

On a beautiful summer's evening in June, the members of the Blackdown Hills Business Association gathered at Woodhayes for their annual Summer Social bash. 

Woodhayes has been part of the association since 2009. The BHBA is a not-for-profit organisation which brings together small businesses in the Blackdown Hills area. There are around 200 businesses who benefit from promoting themselves collectively and sharing best practices.

Our evening kicked off at 6.30 with drinks and then I gave a tour of the farm at 7pm. We had a delicious supper of local pork-many thanks to Ellis Farm and also Halco Products and Simpkins Edwards for a barrel of the famous Otter Ale, made just up the road by Otter Brewery in Luppitt.

Tour of Woodhayes

Ellis Farm's  delicious pork 

Discussion in Woodhayes Gallery

Woodhayes wins 'Best Farm Diversification' award

Woodhayes has scooped the award for 'Best Farm Diversification' at the Devon Farm Business Awards. 

This new awards scheme aims to celebrate the best of Devon Farming. The idea was dreamt up initially by Mary Quicke, a Devon farmer well-known for her award-winning cheeses.  The awards finally came to fruition with the help of the Devon County Agricultural Association together with farming charity, the Addington Fund and sponsored by Stephens Scown solicitors.

Judging took place in the Spring by a panel that came to the farm and asked many searching questions including 'how many hours I spent on a tractor'... 

The inaugural award dinner and ceremony was held at the Westpoint Showground, on 21 May, the night before the Devon County Show opened. Phil Reed, a partner at Stephens Scown, was master of ceremonies. We were up against stiff competition :Wild Beef, Hill Head Farm, Chagford and Lily Farm Vineyard, Budleigh Salterton. We still can't believe we won! The glass trophy and a bottle of champagne were presented by Laura Leigh from the CLA (Country Landowners' Association).

We are thrilled that all the hard work that has gone into the diversification programme at Woodhayes has been officially recognised. Thank you Devon Farm Awards !

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

Of all the trees studding the parkland at Woodhayes, our personal favourites are the majestic oaks. According to my faithful method of wrapping a piece of string around their girth to estimate their age, our oldest oaks date back 300 years. They have been an integral part of our rural landscape, the farm cattle using them for shelter from the Devon sunshine or more often that not, from the rain...  

It is always sad to lose one of our faithful landmarks. The gas pipeline laid in the late 1980's affected many of them and several of our gnarled, old friends have died, so 2014 seemed the right time to put into action our tree replenishment plan.

Over the last few weekends Brian Clapp, myself and our helper Daisy, the labrador, have been putting up the tree guards. Knocking in the heavy posts was back-breaking work but pretty satisfying and not bad for my waistline either... Our sturdy new tree guards should keep the roe deer at bay, who seem to find the little green buds on the trees particularly tantalizing.

The 15 replacements trees came them from Dulford Nurseries, Cullompton who are always a font of tree knowledge. 7 were Quercus robur (English Oak) and 8 Quercus Petraea (Sessile or Cornish Oak). They all went in one wet Friday and seem to be thriving. 

This weekend we will be killing the weeds around the bases of the trees to give them the best start possible. Watch this space for updates.

New tree and our helper Daisy

Mature oak tree

Pilates with a difference at the Enlightened Body Pilates Studio, Woodhayes, Honiton

Since June this year, some very strange-looking equipment has been arriving at 5/6 The Stable Yard at Woodhayes. These pieces of equipment with enigmatic names such as the ‘Reformer‘ and the ‘Cadillac’ use springs and pulleys to both assist and challenge movement, and are the foundation of the Pilates Method. Katharine Moran, owner and teacher at the Enlightened Body Pilates Studio, has been teaching Pilates since 2006, but for the first time has put down roots in a dedicated studio where she can specialise in using the Pilates equipment to tailor movement sessions to meet the needs of anyone, regardless of their physical fitness or age.

The Pilates equipment is still relatively little known, compared with its better known other half, the Pilates Matwork, which is also taught in small groups at the studio. The archaic-looking contraptions were devised by German-born Joseph Pilates as early as WW1 and he continued to refine his method at his New York studio, where he taught alongside his wife Clara from 1926 until his death in 1967. Contrary to what you might have seen in the UK press recently, with reference to a certain high profile footballer / designer couple, these are not “torture trapezes”! Far from it. The equipment gives a framework and support to your movement that makes the Pilates Method in its full form accessible to everyone. As you learn movements, the springs give you support to help you move efficiently. As you progress, the springs and pulleys offer resistance that can be tailored to suit your goals.

Many of Katharine’s clients (whose ages in recent weeks have ranged from 15 to 87) come for individual or shared sessions to address a niggling pain or improve their movement function in sports and daily life. Katharine has worked with people with osteoporosis, MS, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s and dyspraxia. Clients have included pregnant women, musicians, elite dancers and gymnasts, and a growing number of men of all ages, something of which Katharine is particularly proud – the myth of Pilates being a “ladies’ thing” is perhaps finally being dispelled!

Photography by Lydia Baker at Willow Studio in Sidmouth willowstudiosidmouth.com

Katharine’s goal in her work is to empower people to feel at home in their own bodies, whether that is through achieving more flexibility and strength, or through learning a new way of moving to address a specific goal.

You can find out more about Enlightened Body Pilates at the website www.enlightenedbody.co.uk or ‘like’ the Facebook page for news of new classes and seasonal offers at www.facebook.com/EnlightenedBodyPilates

telephone: 01404 548 349

email: pilates@enlightenedbody.co.uk