Category Archives: Farming

March 25th 9miles Luckett start


Starting at Luckett car park at 10am, (there is limited space here) we’ll stride out to Horse Bridge along the muddy footpath. Or meet us at there. ( it’ll take us 1/2 hour to walk ) More muddy footpaths take us through Scrub Tor (where we spotted deer on our recce) and fields with new born lambs to Sydenham Dameral church, (4 miles) arriving at 12 noon ish.

We’ve been invited to climb the tower to see their bells…..

Heading back via Horse Bridge ( to cross the Tamar) and pick up anyone that slipped away to the pub. .. we’ll follow the road back to Luckett BUT .. by the new defibrillator … (adding a couple miles) we’ll head off along the footpath to Broadgate Engine House… then drop down crossing the leat and follow the mine workings track to the road, taking the footbridge over the ford. Staying on the Apple Line under Deer Park, we will encounter their wonderful Highland Cattle, and back onto Luckett Hill and DOWN to our start/finish. 8.8 miles in total.

Great weather to start our walk, came in drizzly as we arrived at St Mary’s church and climbed the tower, wonderful views, and fun “ringing” the bells. Thank you to Mike for a great hour, before heading back via Sydenhal Dameral Mill and as soon as we crossed into Cornwall the weather cleared again.

South Hill Parish news


April 2024 South Hill Connection Newsletter.

In this edition:

  • Happy Easter enjoy the Egg Hunt, Trail & donkey
  • New council kerbside collection starts
  • Council Housing in the parish
  • Comedy Evening at The Parish Hall
  • St. Sampson’s Open Afternoon
  • Internet, which is the best provider?
  • Seasonal car parking ticket
  • All our local Advertisers here
April.News_Download

As well as the on line newsletter we also offer a print copy which can be delivered to you within the parish. We love your feedback and articles email to editor@south-hill  or call Ali on 07305 044049.

You can follow us on our South Hill Parish FACEBOOK Group  Where you can share posts of interest, lost cats and dogs, for sale or wanted items…

THANK YOU, AND ENJOY READING THE NEWSLETTER.

From The Connection Team

Archived newsletters (all of them!)
can be found in our public Google Drive folder – here…

Business advertisers can be found on our Local Business pageSave

Soil Samples for Mining Company


Deep Digital Cornwall and Cornwall Resources: Regional fieldwork supporting university research and data hub.
Over the next few months, you may meet field teams from Cornwall Resources (CRL) working in the local area. This work is being conducted as part of Deep Digital Cornwall, a £4.1m project comprising a consortium of regional companies and research bodies, led by the University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines (CSM), in which CRL and Cornish Lithium are delivery partners. The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the UK Government. The objective of this work is to generate an open-source sub-surface data set to use as demonstration data at a new ‘Digital Hub’ being built at the Camborne School of Mines (at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus). The resultant data will be of relevance to end-users including in the farming, environmental, and mineral exploration fields, as well as for scientific research and general interest. A brochure on the project is available at https://deepdigitalcornwall.org

CRL are helping to deliver work in the area to the west of Kelly Bray, including in the parish of South Hill and Callington and Kelly Bray. Work is small-scale and low impact and consists of soil sampling and analysis, and a gravity survey. The soil sampling involves collection of small (<500 g) soil samples with a hand-held powered auger, from depths of 40-80 cm below the surface. These samples are then analysed for over 50 elements. Gravity measurements are non-intrusive, and carried out using an instrument that measures the earth’s gravitational force at a given point with a high degree of precision. By combining this with accurate topographic data, variations in gravity can be modelled, allowing interpretation of sub-surface variations in geology, such as the presence of a granite, or the presence of underground voids.

Two teams are working outdoors, in all weather, to collect soil samples and gravity measurements. The teams are composed of three graduate geoscientists gaining vital early career work experience, and one local resident trying his hand at something new. Landowners will be contacted to request permission for land access, and to ensure that any impacts, for example on stock movements, are limited.

All data collected under the Deep Digital Cornwall project will be made open-source, available to anyone interested, including farmers, other land users and local residents.
Further information on the above can also be found on the Cornwall Resources website: https://www.cornwallresources.com/deep-digital-cornwall

Cornwall Resources remains focussed on Redmoor, near Kelly Bray, where it has been working since 2017, and where it has met with considerable success – defining a world-class underground tungstentin-copper resource. However, the company is pleased to be able to facilitate the Deep Digital Cornwall work, which will put their already-discovered deposit into regional context, and show that Cornwall is at the cutting edge of earth data collection and interpretation.
If you see our teams at work in the field, feel free to say hello. If you would like more information, or would like to be informed when the data is released, please do not hesitate to contact Jeff Harrison by email jharrison@strategicminerals.net or on 07403 568770.
Jeff Harrison
Non-Executive Director Strategic Minerals Ltd.
July 26th 202

Big Farmland Bird Count


Last year saw a record-breaking count, 140 species of farmland birds over 1 million acres. But there are still many farmers and land managers who have yet to get involved.

3 reasons to make 2020 the year of your first Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC):

1. You might learn something about your farm You know your farm better than anyone. You know your crop rotations, your livestock movements, your wet and dry fields. But what do you know about the wildlife on your farm? If you have never set time aside to consider this, the BFBC is the perfect opportunity. 30 minutes to look at your farm from a different perspective might help you to appreciate both the pleasure of being a custodian of our countryside, and the business opportunities of paid-for environmental management.

2. Results us to champion the great work farmers do in caring for the environment CFE partners such as the NFU and GWCT use data on the great work you do to promote farmers’ interests with government and the public. The more data we have to make the case for support for farmers, the stronger this case will be. The information gathered by the BFBC is a unique snapshot of bird populations on farmland which adds another tool to the toolbox for championing the farmed environment and you, the farmers who care for it.

3. You might enjoy it! The mental-health benefits of taking time out to appreciate the natural world are well documented. Add to this the sense of pride you can take in creating and caring for farmland bird habitat and those 30 minutes in a busy week will be time invested, not time wasted. You are your farm’s most valuable asset; think of the BFBC as a ‘maintenance period’ for yourself.

Don’t be put off by the thought that you might not recognise some bird species. You probably know more than you think (robin, starling, goldfinch…) and GWCT have a handy guide for some of the trickier ones. If in doubt, take a camera with you. Take a snap of any you’re not sure of and look them up. The RSPB ‘identify a bird’ tool will whittle down the options by size, colour, beak etc.

You can register, download your guide and count sheet and send in your sightings at www.bfbc.org.uk. There are even some prizes up for grabs, so don’t forget to submit your results.

Tregaver One Year On


It’s been a year since I moved to Golberdon, and I can honestly say I’ve loved my time here so far! 

The village is so friendly and helpful, my neighbours are always wonderful. I’ve had a bank card drop back into me that my boiler engineer dropped on the street…. I’ve had Dick helping to try and jump start my truck when it wouldn’t start… I’ve traded eggs for a bag of kindling, rhubarb for recycling bins and another neighbour “stealth dropped” some wonderful tomatoes on my doorstep! 

I’ve not had to take anything I no longer need to the tip – I’ve rehomed a table, a mirror, shelving units and numerous other bits and bobs by dropping them to the free corner, and also acquired some gems too – a great little shelf unit, a fabulous casserole dish to name just a few! 

Business and farming wise, it’s been an amazing year too. I lambed for the first time ever this year, by myself (remember the freeze in April? I camped at the field and my tent was like an igloo one morning when I woke up with ice burns on my eye lids!). 

I only have 2 ewes and borrowed a tup back in November. He did a proper job, and we were rewarded with 4 marvellous lambs (Branok, Bryan, Brea, and Beryan) to add to our fibre production crew at Tregaver – 3 boys, now castrated, and a ewe lamb which will be bred when she’s of age. 

I also bought 2 valais x lleyn lambs (Byghan and Ballow) a few months ago – their fibre is superb, perfect little locks which are much softer than pure valais black nose! 

And one of the most exciting things… We finally have goats at Tregaver, making it a genuine “place of the goats”. We welcomed 5 gorgeous angoras from Devon. So we’ve now got a Boudicca, Barvus, Bolitho, Barthek and Baya.

As you can see, all of our livestock have Cornish or Celtic names – Bolitho is my family name back to 1611!

So here’s to another year in Golberdon, and here’s hoping our fibre business continues to grow! 

Caroline Rimmer     https://etsy.me/2nC60Vk                

https://etsy.me/2nC60Vk