Newsletter December 2007
We’ve been Certified!
(Some might
say “About time too!”)
Terrific news! The Camping and Caravanning Club has given The Anchorage certificated
status!
This means that we can take up to six caravans and an unlimited
number of tents on our new site at the head of the Clun valley, with its
breathtaking views. We have installed the necessary water supply and a
chemical disposal point, there is a shower room and a laundry room on site
and we have a rolling programme of landscaping and tree planting.
Flicks In The Sticks
This is a winter entertainment during the long dark evenings. Many local village halls arrange showings of top class films; last winter’s included “The Queen” and “The Devil Wore Prada”. The final film was “Precious Bane”, a dramatisation of the book by Mary Webb, who lived in Shropshire and based her books in this area. I bought the book some time ago but didn’t start to read it as it was written in dialect. The film was stunning, the characters entirely believable, and the story totally credible. The dialogue was, in the main, lifted straight from the page, and the two main families – Sarn and Beguildy – are the names of nearby villages. It was a hauntingly beautiful film, and even now I find my mind drifting back to it in quiet moments.
Red Kites, White Owls And Aitches
Just recently we have been thrilled to see Red Kites along the Bettws top, just half a mile from The Anchorage. Although still rare compared to the common Buzzards, Red Kites are increasing in numbers here, as elsewhere in England
Barn Owls too are to be seen. This year I put up two barn owl boxes at New Cwm Farm, in the hope of encouraging roosting and eventually breeding. It will probably take a while for these rare and beautiful owls to risk investigating the boxes!
Jays, by contrast, are very common, and are usually seen in pairs, two or three times a week. Flashes of blue and white, a dusky pink rump and a harsh squawk! Why “aitches”? When my sister was a little girl she knew these birds were a letter of the alphabet, but she didn’t call them “J’s”, she called them “H’s”!
Hatched, Matched and Despatched
Misty and her foal Trooper have been moved to The Anchorage, as the foal is now seven months old and his training must begin, and also he must be weaned. He was turned out with several aunties at New Cwm, and they spoiled him rotten!
Download the December 2007 newsletter (pdf).
Newsletter Archive
Check out previous newsletters.
The March 2007 newsletter.
The June 2007 newsletter.
The September 2007 newsletter.
As from next Easter we will also be offering our two,
three-bedroom static caravans, Ash and Chestnut, for holiday hire.
The
campsite is open all year, Ash and Chestnut caravans from Easter to October.
The
breaking in had to be done with extreme sensitivity.
When Richard eventually got on her back, she spent most of her time
on her hind legs, and as I write no-one else has been able to ride
her. We called her Nipper after her late owner, and when we acquired
the mare, we kept the name. Her papers show her name
to be Mauna, which doesn’t seem to suit her at all! So
Nipper it remains, although I sometimes call her “Nipsy Wipsy Tiddly
Pipsy” which is pretty silly by anyone’s standards.