Nearly twenty years ago, and even earlier...

Nearly twenty years ago work started to transform our derelict farm buildings into the fantastic cottages that stand proudly here at Flintwood Farm and known as Poachers Hideaway. Click on the above to see a before and after...

Above are the steps rising out of our courtyard here at Poachers Hideaway, our cottages open out onto the courtyard which makes a wonderful communal feel if needed for large gatherings or intimate parties alike, see our website...

www.poachershideaway.com 

We have an offer on! Free fishing for all residents that place a booking for a cottage in the months of January and February. We have very well stocked coarse fishing lakes with copious amounts of carp in them.

Leah's first fish!

Over the years lots of flint arrowheads and remnants of the making of them have been found around the farm. Archaeologists typically call what we normally call arrowheads, "projectile points," not because it sounds more academic, but because the shape of a pointy stone does not necessarily categorise it as something that was used at the end of an arrow shaft. "Projectile" is more inclusive than "arrow." Also, in our long human history, we have used a wide variety of materials to put sharp points on the ends of projectiles, including stone, wood, bone, antler, copper, plant parts, and other raw material types : Sometimes we just sharpened the end of a stick.

Projectile Points and remnants of, found around Poachers Hideaway over the years.

The purposes of projectile points have always been for hunting and warfare, but the technology has varied a great deal over the years. The technology that made the first stone points possible was invented by our distant ancestor Homo Erectus in Africa during the later   Acheulean period, circa 400,000–200,000 years ago. This technology involved knocking bits of stone off a hunk of rock/flint to create a sharp point. Archaeologists call this early version of stone-making the Levallois technique or Levalloisian flaking industry.

A walk amongst the Bullfinches in one of Poachers Hideaways many planted woodlands.

The Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, is a striking bird found across the UK throughout the year. The adult male has bright pink underparts and a black head and face. Although seen in gardens it is more commonly associated with scrub and woodland, we have a population of around 190000 in this country. Seeing these reminded us of the Big Garden Birdwatch taking place in a couple of weeks, click on the RSPB site below for all the info on this worthy survey...

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

"Get ready for 26-28 Jan. Sign-up today to request a FREE postal pack, or take part online and get access to Big Garden Extra. Here you can access exclusive articles, downloads and celebrity interviews. Once you've signed up, you'll also benefit from 20% off in our shop and FREE delivery* "

Another dash of colour on the walk around our area of outstanding beauty are these purple catkins.

Debating the catkins at Poaches Hideaway

We have surmised these are Alder catkins, Alnus glutinosa.

The word catkin comes from the old Dutch word katakana, meaning kitten because of the resemblance to a kittens tale. Catkins are also known as "ament", this is latin for amentum meaning thong...

A helpful resource  is the Countryfile website below to help identify catkins...

https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/trees-plants/how-to-identify-catkins/