100 students descend upon Fordhall

This week Fordhall Farm had a visit from a Walsall secondary school. Tens of students tumbled up Fordhalls drive for their first visit to an organic farm and for many, their first visit to a farm of any kind.

They were taken on a farm walk by Charlotte and in the afternoon lit a fire in the woodland and made jewellery using natural materials. When asked how many had been on a farm before or had even seen a live pig, only a handful put up their hands.

What seemed like an unruley bunch of city children soon turned out to be a group of enthusiastic learners, keen to understand about the function of worms in the soil, and the process of pig to pork.

One parent later emailed us and said:

"I would like to say thank you on behalf of my daughter who visited your farm today. It made a pleasant change to hear my daughter comment on what a wonderful time they had and how much she had learned from a school trip. In this day and age it was refreshing to know that the school ( Brownhills Community Technology College) had arranged an educational trip rather than one to a theme park or skating rink. School trips normally cost a small fortune so I was very surprised when my daughter informed me that this trip was only costing £2. Being as my daughter Laura enjoyed it so much I think that it's only fair that you should receive the average cost of one of their school trips so I have sent you £20 through PayPal. I hope that my other children who attend the school have the same chance to visit your wonderful farm as I'm a big believer in keeping Farming British and that British Food and produce is the best you can buy and that more should be done to support our Farmers

So I would like to say thank you."

Richard and Judy axed...

Bad news everyone. We have been cut from this evenings show. We would have appeared on Richard and Judy, Channel 4 this evening, but due to the exciting news that David and Victoria Beckham are moving to the USA we have been cut!

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/R/richardandjudy/todays_show.html

Ben was half way to London when we found out so its all a bit last minute, and a shame we have been cut for such a completely different story. But, thankfully they have moved the slot to next tuesday. So, all being good we will travel down to London on Tuesday afternoon...

Watch this space!

The Fight For Fordhall Farm can now be purchased from our online shop linked from www.fordhallfarm.com

The Book is Launched.... By Charlotte

The last two days have been a complete blur as Ben and I have travelled across London from one interview to the next. Organised by our wonderful publicist from Hodder, Eleni, and accompanied by our partners Oli and Maz, two farmers were let loose on London...

The first was an interview on Radio 4's Midweek on Wednesday morning. As you can see from the pic on the right, interviewed with us was Henry Woolfe, an actor from from 'The Hothouse' by Harold Pinter, Lee Mead, the singer who recently won the opportunity to be Joseph on the BBC programme 'Any Dream Will Do', and K'Naan, a Somalian rap singer from Canada.

Striaght after this we went to another BBC studios for more radio. This time Londons LBC Radio (see pic on right). A pre-recorded piece to be aired early next week.

Following on was BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Cumbria (also to be aired next tuesday).

The day ended and we were all exhausted; the beginning of the day felt like years ago...

But it was an early night as we were being picked up at 7.30am the next morning to travel to BBC Breakfast TV.

Outside the BBC Television centre, we tried to see if we could spot any celebrities - but alas, there was only us and the taxi driver!

At 8.50am we did a live interview on the BBC Breakfast sofa, and I have to say that the studio was a lot smaller than you would expect. We thoroughly enjoyed the morning and the whole crew made us feel very relaxed.

Bed had to return straight home after Breakfast as 'Libby', our Gloucester Old spot was about to have piglets! I stayed in London for BBC Radio London interview.

But, tomorrow is Richard and Judy! And I have to say that we are a little scared.... Hopefully it will all go without a glitch and they will like the book.

Then last but not least we are on Radio 4's 'On Your Farm' programme at 6.40am on Sunday morning and then the Johnny Walker show on Sunday afternoon..... and home to Fordhall - phew!

Fields of Vision Buried by Books!

The much anticipated book arrived yesterday and Charlotte nervously helped to unload the lorry...

After spending an afternoon signing books to ensure Shareholders received their copy of the book first, both Ben and Charlotte whizzed off to London for an exciting week of press (see previous blog entry for more information).

Also today, follow the link to read the The Guardian Newspaper article: http://environment.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2122959,00.html

No rest for the wicked!!

Fordhall Press, just confirmed...

Just Confirmed......


After the article's in the Sunday Times and Saturday Mail over the weekend, the office has once again gone crazy as interest in the Fordhall Community Land Initiative gains momentum.

You can read the Sunday Times article by following this link
http://www.flintoff.org/one-farmer-8001-landlords

The pending publication of Charlotte and Ben's book, 'The Fight for Fordhall Farm' is drawing in all the press as they begin a week of interviews and tv appearances. They began today with a 15 minute interview on BBC Radio Shropshire on the drivetime programme with Sam Hatton. And they will travel to London tomorrow for many more and the list has just been confirmed...

If you want to listen then why not tune in to one (or more) of the following:

• BBC Radio 4. Midweek Programme - 9am Wednesday
• BBC Radio Scotland. 10.15am Wednesday
• LBC 97.3 Radio (London). 1.30pm Wednesday
• BBC Radio Bristol. Richard Lewis afternoon show. 3.30pm Wednesday
• BBC One Breakfast News. 9am Thursday
• BBC Radio Cumbria. The Ian Timmis Show. 1pm Thursday
• BBC Radio London 94.9. The Robert Elms Show. 2.30pm Thursday
• Channel 4 Richard and Judy Show. 5pm Friday.
• BBC Radio 4. 'On Your Farm'. 6.40am Sunday 15th July
• BBC Radio 2. Johnny Walker Show. Sunday

They will also be in the Guardian Newspaper on Wednesday - can you keep up - not sure if we can!!!

Also dont forget that the book is now available online direct from Fordhall Farm at http://www.fordhallfarm.com/

Many thanks to all our existing shareholders and volunteers for your support - we could not achieve this without you!

p.s. As Ben and Charlotte are in London for most of the week, Sophie is holding the fort in the office. Therefore please be patient if we do not answer your emails or phonecalls as efficiently as we normally would - you can be sure that we are doing our best to stay on top of everything.

Thank You

The Fordhall Book

As you may be aware, Charlotte and Ben have written a book entitled 'The Fight for Fordhall Farm' due to be released on July 12th by Hodder and Stoughton.





This book began as an update to their late fathers (Arthur Hollins) book 'The Farmer the Plough and the Devil' which charts the history of Fordhall from the 1920's through to the 1980's when Charlotte and Ben were born. But, the update grew in length and soon turned into a book of its own - and if any of you have been lucky enough to meet either Ben or Charlotte you will know just how much they can talk!

Anyway, the launch of this book brings another new chapter to the Fordhall story as more press is launched and the issues of farming in todays political economy are highlighted. The Sunday Times have the first story this weekend, followed by the Weekend Mail, Radio 4's Midweek Programme, BBC Breakfast (thursday), Farming Today (Sun 15th July) and Johnny Walkers show amongst more.

Charlotte said
"The flurry of press around the book is another surreal time for Ben and I. Charging across the country for photo shoots and interviews is not the normal life of a farmer, but we are enjoying the new experiences and hoping that our story provides new opportunities for other young people in the industry, as well as encouraging the public to support their local farmers and farm shops."

We hope to have a more detailed list of the press as it happens here - so watch this space....

Books can be purchased direct from Fordhall Farm
signed at £16.99 or unsigned at £14.99.
10% of profits from sales direct from Fordhall Farm go towards the educational work of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative - the community owned society that uses Fordhall as an educational resource and leases the land to Ben and Charlotte to farm.

Welly Wanging in the Rain

Even though the Family Fun Day was postponed due to poor weather, some enthusiastic volunteers still braved the rain and sold tea and cake to the flurry of visitors arriving throughout the day. The decision to postpone the original event was welcomed by everyone as the field to be used as car parking would have been destroyed. Overall, the day was nice and relaxed with everyone enjoying themselves and spending time at Fordhall Farm. There was even a substantial Welly Wanging Competition which seduced all passers-by.

A huge thanks must go to everyone who gave up their Sunday to help create such a lovely atmosphere. It was an excellent warm up to the rearranged Family Fun Day whcih will now be held on Sunday August 19th with exactly the same set up as before - Food and craft stalls, games, demonstrations, hog roast and much more, including the OFFICIAL Welly Wanging Competition 2007.

Watch this space for more information to follow shortly!

Please contact us at project@fordhallfarm.com to enquire about bringing stalls or to request welly wanging technique hints.

Postponed - Family Fun Day!

Due to the exceedingly wet weather this week we have decided to postpone our Annual Family Fun Day. The new date, with excellent weather confirmed, will be Sunday 19th August at the same time 11am-4pm and will all the same activities as this weekend. As you can see from the picture above the River Tern that surrounds the farm has burst its banks this week too. Luckily, Ben has brought all the lovestock to the higher fields, but the wet weather has caused further problems for our event such as car parking.

We hope this does not cause too much inconvenience for yourselves - but farms in the rain are not the most exciting of places to visit.

However, there is plenty to keep us busy on the farm with the soon to be published 'Fight for Fordhall Farm' book. Watch this space for new developments and more news on the August event.

Excitment Builds for Fordhall Family Fun Day

Not long now! As the last minute plans click into place, the biggest day of the year (Sunday July 1st) at Fordhall Farm is shaping up nicely. There will be lots of food and craft stalls, games and activities for all ages, tractors, animals, the Market Drayton gymkhana, demonstrations, guided walks, raffle, refreshments and so much more, including a BBQ, Hog Roast and the ultimate Welly Wanging compeition.

The event is 11-4pm and the entrance fee is £5 per car or free to cycle - all proceeds go towards helping Fordhall Community Land Initiative remain sustainable.

July 1st is also our FIRST YEAR ANNIVERSAIRY since Fordhall Farm was secured by over 8,000 shareholders and put into community ownership. Shares are still being sold and will be available on the day so its not too late to own a slice of the beautiful traditional English countryside and to be part of this inspriational project.

Hope to see you all there!

Otter Heaven at Fordhall

Another brilliant volunteer weekend at Fordhall Farm with the sun shining and the enthusiasm bubbling. A huge list of jobs was proposed on Saturday morning and with grim determination and a healthy slice of team work the list quickly diminished.

Aside from clearing nettles, pruning hedges and moving log piles, there were two main activities: Coppicing to create a round house and other educational games; Building an otter holt. Starting with the first of these, Helen Howes taught volunteers how to coppice and worked together to start building an exciting roundhouse which can be used for school groups. Other educational tools that were created over the weekend included shopping baskets, orienteering disks and butterfly nets.

Now onto the otter holt. Hindered by the marshy area that logs were being carried over, the team worked amazingly well to persevere and create the perfect otter holt. The activitiy was led by Cindy Joule who rallied everyone together and filled them with interesting facts. After such hard work, volunteers jumped into the River Tern to cool off and revitalise.

Sunday 10th was also National Open Farm Sunday and there were educational games and information for all visitors available. The BBQ was popular!

All the work was in preparation for the Family Fun Day on July 1st. A tremendous amount was finished, especially considering the heat. The weekend booked up far in advance so please reserve your space for future weekends as soon as possible to avoid disapointment. Check out the events page at www.fordhallfarm.com for more information.

Perfect timing - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1917951.ece for more information about increasing numbers of otters (June 12th)!