Archived News

26th September 2008

Thank you to everyone who came on our farm walk this evening, we hope you had an enjoyable time and went away having discovered something new about farming and the countryside.  We had a good turn out with twenty people from local villages and Dorking. 

We were pleased to have Con O'Kelly on the walk because he was able to talk about the Hazel coppicing he is starting this winter.  Our small coppice was once part of a much larger woodland and it is probably fifty years since the woodland was actively managed for coppice products.  Coppicing extends the life of the tree and cutting the timber in rotation provides a variety of wildlife habitats.

It was especially interesting to meet Mr Taylor who lived in a nearby cottage as a child and whose father worked for EDG Matthews during the war.  Mr Taylor’s most vivid memory is of a Doodlebug taking the roof off their cottage and exploding nearby.  He remembers Laurence’s Grandfather bringing some sheeting from the farm to temporarily cover the hole in the roof.  Memories such as these ought to be recorded for future generations, I am sure that Mr Taylor would have many more fascinating tales to tell.