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November 2022 November 2022

Our cattle generally sell well due to the quality of the stock, home bred over the BRIANTSPUDDLE AND AFFPUDDLE
years and this year was no exception. The grass was harvested in good weather
late in the spring filling up the silage clamps in preparation for winter feeding the NEWS
cattle. How things have changed, a job that used to take 4 or 5 days can now
start late morning and finish just after tea the same day. We are very grateful that AFFPUDDLE AND TURNERSPUDDLE PARISH
we did not need to open the silage clamps to supplementary feed the cows
during the long hot dry summer, as many farmers have had to do, as we COUNCIL
fortunately made some extra bales of haylage (which is a much drier version of
silage) in the previous season which kept enough food in front of the cows. The
dry summer allowed us to make some high quality haylage and a few bales of The September Parish Council meeting was cancelled following the death of
hay, perhaps as good as we have ever made. As Roger has said, the cereal Queen Elizabeth ll as the meeting was due to take place during the period of
harvest gave us some concern due to the long hot, dry spell. The yield of straw mourning. A book of condolence was made available for Parishioners to sign in
was low but the majority of the grain yields have proved to be very pleasing. the village hall. The book will be kept in the Parish archive.
My 39 year of driving the combine here at West Farm has proved to be the The Parish Council in conjunction with the Village Hall Committee and the Shop
th
easiest yet from an operator’s perspective. Most importantly, and with many Committee televised the Queen’s funeral in the village hall for a good number of
thanks to the mechanic from our agricultural engineers, the air conditioning was Parishioners to come together in order to share this historic if sombre day. A big
functioning perfectly! Also, the crops were all standing and free of weeds, but we thank you to Amelia Chorley who was instrumental in using her technical skills to
did have a few mechanical issues, some still to be rectified this winter. So this year, magic the BBC to appear on an otherwise large blank screen.
instead of the customary pat on the wheel and a “well done old girl” after the
combine has been put to bed at the end of the season, I had to add “but we will At the October Parish Council meeting the “Our Parish Our Lives” (OPOL) Group,
need to do better next year”. formed to consider the issues of traffic and speed throughout the Parish, reported
that the Parish Survey had been issued and had been well received. The survey
Stuart Wilson had a beautiful field of maize alongside the road up to Roger’s Hill, was designed to gather the thoughts and aspirations of Parishioners about traffic
and speed and there had been a high response rate. This included 29 residents
Rose at Turnerspuddle Farm commented the same as all the farms in the county, expressing their willingness to be a volunteer in the “Community Speed Watch”
that the dry summer devastated the grass harvest. However, Rose also reported
good news that, akin to covid, the TB lock down had just been released, which
means they can now move the cattle again.
Philip Trim at Throop echoed the comments that the lack of growth of grass could
have been a problem. Fortunately, they had had a good harvest the previous
season and still had some fodder left. Without that they could have been in big
trouble. But if we have a bad winter there could still be serious trouble next
season. The chicken farm has long closed so Philip has taken over the barns,
stripped them out, and filled them completely with straw.
South of Briantspuddle The Erica Trust owns and manages the large oblong of
“wild land” east of The Hollow and a smaller oblong to the west. On both oblongs
the objective has been exotic conifer reduction to restore a combination of more
natural woodland and open heathland. In common with all managers of land,
we make plans which are then subject to the vagaries of the weather …
This year was the second in which cattle were brought to graze our restored
heathland. However, no sooner had they arrived than their natural source of
drinking water dried up and they had to be whisked away again. Sadly, they are
a long way away from a water pipe and too far for us to provide a trough. The
dragonflies and damselflies and other aquatic wildlife would also have missed

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