Wealden Times | WT164 | October 2015 | Food supplement inside

competition
win an overnight stay in a
superior room with dinner
& breakfast for two at
dale hill hotel & golf Club
Dale Hill Hotel has a lot more to offer than just two challenging
and different golf courses as you will soon discover. It has all the
first-class facilities that you would expect of an AA rated black
four-star hotel and a few more besides.
Situated in over 350 acres of fine grounds, high on the Sussex
Weald between the villages of Flimwell and Ticehurst, Dale Hill
Hotel and Golf Club combines the best in modern facilities
with the style and refinement desired by discerning guests.
Many of the hotel’s spacious 35 bedrooms are located on the
south side of the hotel, offering stunning views across the golf
course and the surrounding Weald.
The Dale Hill team are very proud of their two magnificent
18 hole golf courses, the Ian Woosnam designed course and
the Dale Hill course, both are uniquely positioned in over
350 acres of undulating hills and historic woodland with
breathtaking panoramic views. Each course has been designed
to offer something for everyone; as Ian Woosnam OBE says the
Woosnam course “is challenging enough to test the pros, yet
accessible enough to be enjoyed by amateurs”.
Dale Hill also has superb facilities for its many members and
visitors, such as a driving range, two putting greens, a practice
bunker and a fleet of 40 electric buggies for hire.
With comfortable lounges and bars, impressive conference and
banqueting facilities, an air conditioned gymnasium, heated
indoor swimming pool and sauna, all guests will find something to
enjoy. Most importantly the hotel’s attention to detail, thoughtful
extras and above all comfort, contributes to a restful stay.
For your chance to win an overnight
stay in a superior room with dinner &
breakfast for two at Dale Hill Hotel &
Golf Club, just answer this question:
‘How many 18 hole golf courses does
Dale Hill have?’ Enter your answer with
your contact details* in the online form
at www.wealdentimes.co.uk/competition
or post to: The Dale Hill Competition,
Wealden Times, 21 Stone Street, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3HF by 16 October
2015. There is no cash alternative and the prize must be taken before 31 March
2016. *All entrants’ details will be passed on to Dale Hill and Wealden Times
Events. Please let us know if you do not wish your details to be passed on.
Congratulations to Irene Mepham who wins our September competition for a
Katie Mullally large silver wishbone necklace on a 32 inch silver chain!
I’ve just picked the blackberries and made the bramble
jelly – which is slack as usual – but lining up the jars in
the pantry serves as a real reminder that autumn is upon
us. All round the farm there are plenty of changes afoot
as we get ready for the wet and windy months ahead.
Down in the apiary the bees are slowing down. In July, at
the height of the flowering season, there will be about 50,000
female worker bees in the hive – all busy collecting nectar and
pollen – one queen and male bees called drones which are
called upon occasionally to fertilise new virgin queens. Now,
the number of worker bees will be beginning to drop rapidly
to about 10,000, which will survive the winter by eating all the
delicious honey collected and stored over the summer. As their
services are no longer required, with no sentiment or regret
the drones are now being turfed out of the hive to meet an
untimely end. There’s no room for passengers in the bee world.
The male wild boar are also on the move. At this time of
year, solitary males travel extensively in search of females and,
apart from the Forest of Dean, the wooded borders of East
Sussex and Kent have the highest population of wild boar
in the UK. Regular readers of this column may remember
the shenanigans a few years back when Wendy, one of our
Berkshire sows was – unbeknown to us – visited by such a
boar. Three months, three weeks and three days later, we were
expecting a litter of pedigree Berkshire pigs and were surprised
when we got a bundle of stripy and spotty wild boarlets.
The hens are moulting and look a right scruffy bunch
– the cockerel has even lost all his tail feathers – so that
means no eggs for a few weeks. Miraculously, a few days
into January and only about a week after the winter
solstice, they seem to know the days are getting longer
again and we’ll get our first egg. Isn’t nature amazing?
The sheep are also adjusting as the evenings draw in. This
year’s spring lambs were weaned in August and the ewes –
which are only ever fertile when the night-time hours exceed
the daytime hours – are being got ready to meet the rams
again on Bonfire Night. Having checked ‘teeth, toes and tits’
to make sure they’re young enough and strong enough to
go through another winter and another pregnancy we have
now put them on very good grazing – known as flushing – to
encourage optimum ovulation and ideally two lambs all round.
The rams meanwhile, who have had a life of idle leisure since
last autumn, are also counting down to November 5th.
The cows on the other hand are now on what is, frankly, rather
tired grazing. This is fine, as being Sussex cattle they have had all
summer to eat good forage and are now looking slightly broad
in the beam – in cattle parlance, this is referred to as being a little
too fit – and it will do them good to lose a bit before they calve
again in the spring. Luckily that still seems a long way off.
Follow Jane on Twitter @coopers_farm
Fables
From
The Farm
Jane reflects on autumn
as she stocks the
cupboards with the fruits
of her jam making...
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