Monthly Update - December 2023
Graham, one of our teachers at Rushall Farm, had told me that the tyre on the people trailer looked a bit rough a few weeks ago. I wish I had listened to him rather than getting the phone call that 31 year 11 children and 4 teachers were stranded at Bucklebury with a flat tyre. What a day!
It began with 13 tonnes of thatching straw being delivered from Devon for the Black Barn. The scaffolders were already there in preparation for the work on the roof. Jason Morley, who thatched the barn 25 years ago, is doing the work. His son, just born when the first thatch went on, now works with dad, having served in the Royal Navy.
We are experiencing another open autumn season. The leaves turn so slowly before they fall, lengthening the colour and experience of what is now a
gradual change to winter. So school visits go on well into November. Today a group from Castle Special School went to meet Heather and her horses and ponies for the first time as an exciting new venture. Another group were learning to use compasses and to work together with one another to design a marble run in the woods, which had to work. They found a dead chaffinch on their travels and decided to give it a decent burial. Finding a scrape made by a squirrel they placed it there on a soft bed of autumn leaves by the pond. It was just right for the day because one girl had lost her pet the previous night so there was some closure and understanding for her and her fellow pupils.
Fortunately, we had a second trailer to rescue those pupils from Bucklebury, so it was back to school on time. They had been doing their field work for Geography GCSE with waders, ranging poles, tape measures and stop watches and the all-important oranges to float down the river. Jim from Staysure Tyres picked me up and took me to the tractor and trailer. He is in his late sixties and not very big, but I was privileged to watch a master class in how to change a huge tyre. I know he had all the gear, but with his life time of experience what else should I expect?
John Bishop