Why not become a member of Bath City Farm?

If you would like to receive a copy of our all singing, all dancing newsletter, in glorious colour and with pictures, please consider becoming a member of Bath City Farm. Membership only costs £10 a year (concessions available). Your membership fee helps to support our running costs, e.g. salaries, site work, newsletter and of course our animals.

Goodbye from Steff

By the time you read this I will probably have started my maternity leave, but I just wanted to say bye.

I'm looking forward to visiting again soon and introducing "bump" to all the animals. I am hoping to be back in post next April. Please come down and meet Abby, who will be covering my post while I'm away. I know she will be a great asset to the farm so over to her......

Hello from Abby

I'm Abby Bouttell, and I will be filling in for Steff as Community and Education manager while she's off having a baby. I'll be joining the team soon while Steff's still about, so she can show me the ropes.

My usual job is at St. Werburgh's City farm as an animal carer. I've also got an arty and ecological background, which i'm looking forward to using as much as possible. Cooking is a favourite thing of mine too, so I'll squeeze this in whenever it suits!

Well, I can't wait to meet you all. A big "Cheers!" to Steff and everyone else for welcoming me to the Farm. See you soon!

Big Farm Fundraiser

This years Big Farm fundraiser was a great success. We raised £652 through a raffle, BBQ, refreshments, car boot sale and fairground stalls.

Although the numbers were down and the weather was not as good as last year the day was still thoroughly enjoyed by all. Bart and Lisa, the lambs, were firm favourites as they were walked around on leads, as were Ashley and Honey the Goats.

Raffle prizes included a free hot air balloon flight from BIBS, tickets to Bath City Football Club and ½ a lamb from the Farm. Jim Hardman was the lucky winner of the balloon flight.

The car boot sale went down well and we plan to hold four boot sales a year starting next June.

We would like to thank ASDA and Twerton Bakery for donations of food for the BBQ, and all those who donated raffle prizes.

All money raised will go towards the upkeep of the animals. We also hope to build a new goat pen complete with obstacle course so that we can introduce pygmy goats and breed from them.

Al Fresco Learning

Students from the Link school, Odd Down, are making good use of the Farms facilities by visiting the site each Friday for their lessons. Working with their teachers, we hope to give them a broader picture of different farming methods and animal welfare as part of their citizenship education. We will also use facilities and resources on site to compliment the National Curriculum including creative writing, communication skills, maths and sciences. We look forward to learning with them through the seasons.

Our teachers CD has now been sent out to schools across the Bath area. If you think your local school could benefit from a visit to the Farm or an assembly visit, please ask them to ring either Steff or Abby, who will be happy to help.

Family days

This summer we worked in partnership with Southside Family Project and First Steps Family Service to hold family fun days on site on Wednesdays.

The weather wasn't as kind to us this year, but lots of families supported the days and feedback was excellent. One parent commented, "We love the freedom to be able to wander around the animals. Fantastic location, excellent to be in the fresh air."

As a result of these successful days we are now able to offer a group exclusively for the under 5's and their parents and carers. We start at 10am by meeting the animals followed by a drink then some light gardening. The group finishes at 12pm, but you can stay till 1pm for your lunch. There is no fee to join the group, just a small charge for tea and coffee (25p).

Please ring Abby or Helen for further info.

Up coming events

Half term at the Farm

Please do join us for our apple day celebration on October 22nd. 2-4pm. You can join in with apple bobbing, the longest peel competition, have a go at pressing your own apple juice and watch cookery demonstrations of apple fritters and toffee apples. The apples are to be kindly donated by Broadlands Farm, Bathampton.

There will also be a range of activities going on during the week, for example, making wild bird feeders and seed gathering. Please ring Shiva or Abby at the Farm for more details or call Wandsdyke Play Association on 01761 420660.

Bath International Evening

Every year Bath International Evening celebrates different cultures with food and music from across the world. This year they will be making a donation to Bath City Farm. The evening will take place on Saturday 11th November 7.30pm at St. Marks Community Hall, Widcombe, Bath. Click here to visit the Bath International Evening website.

Christmas party

Wednesday 20th December. 3-5pm. Hot jacket potatoes, party bags, music and games!!. Only £2 per child. (maximum 50, under 8's must be accompanied by an adult). Please look out for posters for more details.

Your articles

Don't forget that your articles are always welcome for the newsletter. If your piece is published you will receive 6 fresh eggs courtesy of the Farms hens.

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Animal update

Over the summer we have seen our chicken flock increase considerably. Many thanks to member Bill Brown who has bought us 7 lovely rare and traditional breed hens, including a lovely Buff Orpington and a Gold Appenzeller (a.k.a. the punk rocker due to her wonderful mohican of feathers).

We have also had some very young chicks dumped at the farm. They were found outside the poultry enclosure in a very sorry state. They obviously had not been fed for a while. Unfortunately one of them died but luckily the staff and volunteers were able to nurse the others back to full health.

They are now exploring their new home and look very healthy. Visitors to the Big Farm Fundraiser entered a competition to name the chicks. Winning names included Toffee and Flora.

Now's the time of year when the hard work of rearing the lambs pays off. Part of the purpose of the farm is to teach people where their food comes from. We are not just here to look after animals but to farm them and the end result is in the lovely fresh locally reared meat we sell. This year we had 30 lambs for sale. 8 have gone to new homes to keep the breed going and the rest will go for meat.

Some of our old favourites such as Marge, Homer and Belinda have also gone to new homes for their retirement . We were sad to see them go, but at least we know they will be looked after.

Poor Maggie, the Tamworth pig has been in a spot of bother. She has hurt her back leg or hip quite badly, it is hard for the vet to tell with such a big animal. We are not sure how it happened, she could have had a fall or the other pig was a bit to playful. We have had to separate her from her sister Molly until she gets better.

We also have to physically lift her up every day to ensure she doesn't get sores from lying in the same place for too long. It will take her a while to heal but hopefully with time and patience she will make a full recovery.

Play Rangers Summer 2006

The weather has been glorious this year and has made working at the farm a joyful, if sticky, experience. The hot weather meant that we had lots of water play including the children's favourite, Drip, Drip, Drop and the water slide.

We enjoyed a barbeque with BAPP, and filled the days modeling with plasticene, painting, making papier mache insects, bug hunting, picking blackberries, cleaning and feeding the animals, fossil hunting, face painting, playing ball games like rounders, tennis and badminton and trying out campfire cooking, and other nature activities.

We have been running Football and sports sessions in Rosewarn Park on Wednesdays throughout the summer and the children have visited the Sports Village at Bath University where they took part in football, basketball and swam in the Olympic size pool.

We also ran a trip for 10 children to a riding stable in Holt, which apart from the pouring rain was a very enjoyable and exciting day out. The children learnt to groom the horses and even trotted. Many of the children had never had this opportunity before and they all want to do this again as soon as possible.

On the last Thursday of the summer holidays we went to Weymouth and had a fantastic day playing in the sea and building sand castles. We had fish and chips and ice cream and all left very content and covered in sand!!

Sadly we said goodbye to James this summer, we all wish him well in his new job. Our new play ranger Adam has joined Shiva and they will be running after school sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays, 3.30pm - 6.30pm. For further information ring Shiva on 07813 156001. The Play Rangers are managed by Wansdyke Play Association, tel: 01761 420660.

Volunteer update

Volunteers have been getting green fingered at the Farm over the past few months. Trying to keep up with the weeds in the herb and sensory garden has been a constant job throughout the summer. Volunteers have also been working on creating a new raised flowerbed thanks to funding secured through volunteer Molly Ricketts.

The raised bed is to be finished by around mid October and will be the focal point of the picnic area. A local Cub Scout group are earning their environment group award at the farm during September by planting a soft fruit bed in front of the building. They will plant Gooseberries, Black, White and Red Currants and lot's of strawberries.

Avon Probation Services have also been doing a great job at the farm. They come weekly to tackle big jobs we may not be able to do ourselves, such as clearing the car park of weeds and nettle bashing. They also created the beds the Cub Scouts will use to plant the fruit bushes.

Over the next few months volunteering days will be jam packed with a variety of tasks. We will be building new compost bays, hedge laying along Kelston View, planting a new hedgerow and building a new pig pen ready for the new piglets in the Spring, as well as the weekly task of cleaning out the animals. We are always looking for new volunteers so if you are interested please give Helen a ring on 01225 481269.

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