News
Rare breed British White cattle at White House Farm, Hasketon Suffolk, East Anglia. British White cattle have attractive markings. The Sinfield Nature Conservation Trust is a member of the British White Cattle Society. We have started organic conversion with the Soil Association for the cattle and the land. This is the first organic herd of British White Cattle in Suffolk. Suffolk meadows with British White cattle grazing. Volunteer work will commence in January 2007. We have received a positive response from the local community and volunteers have been offering their time toThe Sinfield Nature Conservation Trust. Outdoor conservation work will start on the land next year. A management plan will guide the pond restoration, wildflower meadow, woodland work.
The Sinfield Nature Conservation Trust
White House Farm
Green Fair and Open Day 2009 The third annual open day and Green Fair at White House Farm took place on Sunday. It was a beautiful sunny day, which encouraged many visitors to this secluded wildlife site, to participate in nature-inspired activities, see craftspeople and therapists and be inspired by the beauty of this sacred land.
The open day included wild herb walks by Emma Eastham, a barn owl walk by Paul Jackson, a sacred fire workshop by Alex Moore of the Albion Group, and guided meditation sessions in Alice's rustic yurt. There was a wonderful variety of craftspeople including spinners and weavers from local villages, a pole-lathe turner, a tree-table maker, and Jo Hammond the willow weaver (Jo takes workshops here). We were also honoured to have Cosmo the Crystal Merchant from Bury St Edmunds, Rima and Tui with their beautifully converted horsebox and displays of artwork, as well as all the natural therapists. Folk musicians played in the morning and a classical string quartet performed in the afternoon in the open-fronted barn.
SITA Trust Grant - The Sinfield Trust has been awarded a 3-year grant by SITA Trust as part of a meadow restoration and recreation project. Work began in February 2010 to restore neglected grassland by removing encroaching young ash and alder. This will help to protect the orchid populations at the farm and with yearly management, encourage a greater diversity of flora.
Lowland meadows are a priority BAP (British Action Plan) habitat which has declined by over 97% in the past fifty years. The permanent grassland will provide ideal habitat for many small mammals, birds (including barn owls) and invertebrates. Wildlife surveys will be undertaken as part of this project to help us assess the effects of the land mangement and to record the species benefitting from the new habitat.
We welcome volunteers to participate in this project between October to March each year.
The Green Lady of White House Farm walked gracefully about Ley Meadow speaking to children. The Green Man was very entertaining and even helped with washing up when the refreshments volunteers were so overwhelmed with the number of visitors this year!
It was heartening to see so many happy expressions at the farm on Sunday and to receive a great amount of positive feedback from visitors. Thank you to all volunteers who helped on the day, and to those who committed time and support before and after the open day.
Our small herd of rare breed British White cattle enjoyed seeing the visitors on Sunday - they are very curious about any activity at the farm and so the open day is a highlight of the year for them too.
White House Farm Blog by Charlotte - Having not kept up with the times when it comes to technology, I had been rather reluctant to start a 'blog' about White House Farm but one of the exhibitors at this year's Open Day encouraged me to start one as an easy way of keeping people updated about news at White House Farm and sharing what happens 'behind the scenes'. I experimented last night and discovered it was a simple process, far easier than updating the Sinfield Trust website! The White House Farm blog is at http://sinfieldtrust.blogspot.com/ - please consider becoming a 'follower' of the site or leaving a comment as I think it attracts more visitors. Rima Staines who encouraged me to start the blog page, is a travelling artist, living in a beautifully converted horsebox with her partner Tui. Rima's site is at www.intothehermitage.blogspot.com
2009 Update - We hosted a range of events in 2008, and welcomed many new visitors to the farm. In 2009, we plan to hold an open season for members from 1st June to 31st August. Members can come to the farm between 11am to 6pm and walk the nature trails. Maps of the land will be available in the farmhouse parking area in an information box (in the form of a beehive).
On 30th April 2009 we hosted a Beltane celebration with maypole dancing (and musician) for adults and children. There was a ceremony to greet the adbundance of Spring, labyrinth walking and food was shared afterwards. See the events page for other 2009 events. Last year we welcomed a group of local schoolchildren here to take part in maypole dancing, and they all enjoyed seeing the 'Green Lady' and the cattle grazing the meadows.
Labyrinth Project 2008 - To find out more please see our Labyrinth page or Centre Project page.
Patron of The Sinfield Trust
We are honoured to have Satish Kumar as a patron of The Sinfield Trust.
Satish Kumar has been editor of Resurgence magazine for over thirty years. His autobiography, No Destination, has sold 50,000 copies and is published by Green books.
In 2008, Satish Kumar presented a 50-minute documentary on the BBC as part of the Natural World series. In the programme Satish introduced the Dartmoor scenes and sights that most inspire him and contemplated the lessons they hold for humanity. A highly acclaimed documentary that mixed eastern philosophy with the western landscape of Dartmoor; the programme was watched by over 3.6 million people.
To see a brief biography, please click here.
County Award Ceremony
Creating the Greenest County Awards
The Sinfield Trust has been highly commended for its contribution to biodiversity in Suffolk by the Creating the Greenest County initiative. We received a certificate at an award ceremony in February 2008. We are all delighted with the accolade and would like to thank all our supporters who help us achieve the ongoing conservation work at the farm.
Cattle At White House Farm: To view our cattle page, please click here.
Rare breed British White cattle graze the meadows and hedgerow margins. In 2008 it is also planned to graze within some of the woodland glade areas.
Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project - The Sinfield Trust has worked with Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) to install barn owl nest boxes at White House Farm as part of SWT's Community Project. The Sinfield Trust has raised funds to install two nest boxes on oak trees at the farm. Charlotte Daniel, Rachael Dobbie and Ross Troup are accredited agents of a Schedule 1 Licence for nest recording so they will be monitoring the boxes at the farm.
Barn owls have been declining since the 1930s and their current population in Suffolk is estimated at 100-125 pairs out of the national 4,000 pairs. The barn owl population is showing signs of recovery and well-sited nest boxes will help address the shortage of natural nest sites for owls.
BT Community Connections Award - In June 2007, The Sinfield Nature Conservation Trust was awarded a free computer with a year's free BT broadband access as part of a BT Community Connections award scheme. The trust previously had to rely on using a computer 8 miles from the farm. Now Charlotte can update this website at the farm and volunteers can make use of the computer facilities when on site.
BT East of England regional director, Peter McCarthy-Ward, visited White House Farm in September 2007 and volunteers (and British White cattle) took part in a photo shoot. An article appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times environment supplement on 17th September 2007.
Winter Hedgerow Management
Nigel Creswell can be seen here trimming the roadside boundary hedges. The task was completed on Wednesday 12th December - an ideal time for the work to be carried out when the hedgerow growth is dormant. Our thanks to local landowner Andrew Fane for his help with the project.
Stroke Association Visit June 2007 - We were delighted to host a visit from the local Stroke Association carers', volunteers' and members' group. Refreshments and Amanda's cakes were served at the summerhouse followed by games on the lawn and walks through the woodland and wildflower meadows.
Field Trips To read about the field trips which have taken place at White House Farm, please click here
Volunteer Days 2007/08 - Rachael Dobbie will be organising volunteer days from September 2007 onwards. Regular volunteer days usually take place on the first Sunday of every month. To register interest or for further details please contact us and to see our latest work follow this link.
Volunteer day tasks have included constructing habitat boxes, clearing pathways, and maintaining open grassland areas. We plan to host species identification days for volunteers to help monitor wildlife at the farm.
The first volunteer day took place at the end of March 2007. Eight bird and bat boxes were constructed with everyone participating and the boxes were secured to trees or posts on the land. Thank you to all for your enthusiasm and work!
Organic Vegetable Garden and Orchard - The organic vegetable garden is now well established thanks to dedicated work by John. The produce from the garden is used for workshop lunches and at events whenever possible. This year, the small orchard has provided an abundance of fruits including cherries, plums, apples and pears. In January 2007, Charlotte planted two medlars and a quince tree and they have fruited well for their first year at the farm.
Beekeeping at White House Farm, 2007 – Deborah Lacey and Nigel McKean of Burgh were keeping bees at White House Farm throughout spring and summer 2007. The bee hives arrived on 5th April. The land proved very wet this year especially with the unusual rainfall so the hives had to be removed at the end of the summer. We hope the hives can return in the future and we are considering an alternative area for hives to be sited on the farm.