Competition time...

Relax this isn't now, we need a new sign!

Ok its competition time and we have a great prize!
We would like you to paint or draw a new picture for our sign.
A picture that best describes Poachers Hideaway.
Winners will get a two night stay for two in one of our award winning cottages here at Poachers Hideaway.

Please contact us on flintwood@poachershideaway.com for further details...

You are more than welcome to come up to us by prior arrangement with an easel and paints etc and produce your masterpiece, you may even get a cuppa!

Long term Let

We still have available a lovely little one bedroom cottage for rent on a long term lease if anyone is interested in living in an idilic part of the Lincolnshire Wolds.
Please phone 07836 746865 for further details.

Siam Orchid

Yes our wonderful cottages are self catering... but everyone likes to go out for dinner once in a while! Siam Orchid on Mercer Row Louth produce wonderful Thai food! Jon and Jansee with help from their very efficient waitresses make you feel very welcome!
A definite Poachers recommendation, mention you are staying with us and you may get a little extra...

The Snug

Please remember also FREE FISHING for all Snug residents! Book soon...

We also have some fantastic midweek offers on all cottages, always worth a quick email or phone call to us before you book to see what we can offer...

Spring Has Arrived!

Lots of Hares around.

Spring has arrived and lots of wildlife has come out to play this week and the trees are budding away...

A rather bedraggled Pheasant wondering around Poachers Hideaway

Blackthorn Blossom

Another tell tale sign spring is here, the Blackthorn is starting to blossom, we have lots up here at Poachers Hideaway! 

Hawthorn and Blackthorn can look very similar, both are popular hedging species in the UK, and are often found along the edges of farmland and old boundaries.
Both species produce beautiful blossom in spring, and there’s a lot of lore associated with both species due to their dominant presence in our landscape. The saying “Ne'er cast a clout till May is out” is thought to refer to Hawthorn blossom rather than the month of May, as the species was known as May. The saying is good advice, and means that summer isn’t really here until Hawthorn has flowered.

Identifying top tips 

Blackthorn

• Blackthorn usually flowers first, in March - April.
• Blackthorn blossoms before its leaves have emerged.
• The name “blackthorn” refers to the dark colour of the bark.
• The blossom can be confused with the cherry plum, but blackthorn has thorns.
• They’re hard and sharp and not easy to miss.
• The flowers themselves are a creamy colour and have five distinct petals.
• Blackthorn leaves are oval with a serrated edge.

Hawthorn

• Hawthorn flowers in April - May.
• The name hawthorn refers to over 200 species, but in the UK we usually mean the common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna.
• The flowers are white, and come out after the leaves have emerged.
• Like the blackthorn there are five petals, but hawthorn petals are rounded and “fuller” than those of the blackthorn.
• The thorns are short, and the branches are often dense and tangled.
• Hawthorn leaves are lobed with jagged edges.

Common Field-speedwell - Veronica persica

Wandering around the ponds there is glimmer of blue on the paths, this is Common field-speedwell, a pretty little weed...

Low to short, generally sprawling, hairy plant. Stems branched. Leaves short stalked, oval-triangular and coarsely toothed, alternate except for the lowermost. Flowers bright blue, 8 to 12 mm the lowermost petal often white. Solitary on slender stalks at the base of the upper leaves. Capsule 2 lobed, borne on recurved stalk the lobes diverging.

Common field-speedwell is a decumbent annual weed recorded on cultivated land throughout the UK. Introduced and first recorded in 1825 it was probably dispersed with clover and other crop seeds. By 1870 it was described as pretty frequent in England. Within 50 years it became not only the commonest speedwell but also one of the commonest annual weeds. A frequent colonist in cereals and in sugar beet, common field-speedwell is found on all types of cultivated soils. It prefers nutrient-rich loams of pH 6.0 to 8.0. It is not recorded above 1,000 ft in Britain.

Oh our little red tractor went to a new home this week! but will be back with its new owners on the 12th May for the Lions club annual tractor run, talked about in last weeks blog, come along...


Another great event coming up near us is The Revesby Races, a point to point horse race meeting... https://www.midlandspointing.com/fixtures/south-wold/

Spring cleaning up here at Poachers Hideaway

Spring cleaning!

Its been a busy week spring cleaning, Destiny a Poachers Hideaway resident offered a hand to scrub the moss off the sign. We also sadly picked up much litter from a few feet around our entrance!

Litter :(

 In cleaning the sign we noticed a bit of wear and tear so we had an idea...

Competition Time!

We would like you to design the image for a new sign, an image that best depicts Poachers Hideaway.
Full details of the competition will be detailed on Facebook and in next weeks diary. The prize will be a two night stay for two in one of our beautiful cottages! And of course having your amazing artwork on permanent display on the main Horncastle to Louth road... get yer thinking caps on!


Many people have often remarked on how they would so much like to live in our part of the world, the tranquility the walks the views, fishing and an excellent pub, the Bluebell, just a walk away.
Well now is your chance! We have a delightful one bedroom cottage available on a long term let...
Please contact us for further information if you are interested. www.poachershideaway.com / damian@poachershideaway.com

To Let

 The Lions Club have arranged a tractor run on the 12th May this year, there will be many tractors up here at Poachers Hideaway, as they will be stopping off here for their lunch. These runs are great to see and are for very worthy causes, why not join in! not got a tractor? well we have one for sale...

A David Brown 25 D, ripe for restoration but runs well, a lovely piece of history which one can have hours of fun with. Great for a tractor run with the aid of a duel seat to share the experience with a loved one, or other... drop us a line if interested 07836 746865

For Sale David Brown 25D bought from a farm sale at the Rectory South Ormsby, belonged to the Vicar. 

Another big development coming this year are activity holidays up here at Poachers Hideaway.
More details to follow over the next few weeks starting with a photographic course, watch this space!

Photographic holidays coming soon at Poachers Hideaway.

A diamond offer

School House Coffee Bar Horncastle

Big technical problems this week! The Poacher laptop went down, but thanks to Ivan Reed from Reedtek IT Support & Consultancy all is fixed, a big shout out goes to Sean Cutting our website guy from Mevell Web Design also, for helping me get the emails all up and running...

In order to retrieve the laptop back, I had to pick it up from Ivans wifes cafe in Horncastle, School House cafe on Church lane...

Poachers Hideaway resident Leah enjoying a banana milkshake at School house cafe

 Another treat for Leah this week was her official enrolment into 1265 Sqn ATC. This was part of a very enjoyable awards evening in the main church in Horncastle, St Mary's. Leah also won the award for best attendance!  This is a fast growing Squadron with over twenty members now! they are very much in the public eye and are keen fund raisers, from bag packing in Tescos to stalls on local events...

Mick & Pauline

Someone else enjoying a treat this week are our weekend guests Mick and Pauline, they are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary and Micks birthday! They are awaiting a card from Her Majesty the Queen... not for Micks birthday! for their anniversary.

Offer............


Come and stay at our cute little cottage The Snug! There is free fishing attached to this cottage and we have an additional offer of stay for three nights and pay for two over easter weekend, book up early as this is the only cottage we have left over that period... www.poachershideaway.com

Easter offer!

Viking Cottage

We have an offer on... Come and stay in Viking over easter weekend, pay for two nights and get the third free! Book this lovely little one bedroom cottage with amazing views through our website www.poachershideaway.com

Around this time last year

Well what glorious weather we have been having this week, very unlike this time last year when the Beast from the East hit us! we were snowed in for a couple of days, only 4x4s could get us out for supplies, and to take photographs!

Lots of ground work being done up here at Poachers Hideaway this week from new fencing to disabled access to our heavily stocked ponds. We are constructing easy access fishing jetties and re-landscaping some of the pond areas.

Easy access to Willow Lake

Foundations for one of the jetties

Driving fence posts in up high at Poachers Hideaway

A few geese passed us by earlier in the week.

Poachers at Poachers

Ready to be ridden...

This, very wet, Saturday bought the Poachers Pre 65 Classic Trials Club to Poachers Hideaway... where it all started over thirty years ago!

"In 1988 six members of the Lincoln Section of the AJS Matchless Owners Club with a passion for all things British and a keen interest in Classic Trials Bikes from the 50's and 60's staged it's first observed trial on the hillside above the Wolds villages of Scamblesby, enjoyment and friendly competition were the order of the day with some of the sections being 16ft wide! and not quite as technical as todays hazards. 

Over the next couple of years the clubs popularity grew, with an increase in rider numbers the club hosted six trials per year."

http://www.poacherspre65trials.co.uk

The "Sign up" van under cover in the big barn.

Despite the weather it was a very good turnout, the tractor had to come out and tow a couple of the competitors support vehicles out of the usual grass carpark because of the soft wet ground! But
a new parking area was found on hard standing and pretty soon the familiar sound of vintage motorcycles revving up filled the complex...

Briefing.

On the off!

To the course.

A number of courses were set out in various areas of Poachers Hideaway and all the off roaders were eager to get started despite the rain, a great social feel to the whole event!

Studying the course.

A Great day had by all.

Nomads to Snowdrops

Braving the blizzard

Its been a cold week up here at Poachers Hideaway! We got some snow, but luckily not much... yet! Our Pheasants who have sought refuge here were out in force last Friday to mark the end of the shooting season, I watched them stumbling through the short lived blizzard like Nomads in a sand storm.

One of the resident barn owls has also been silently flying around the hills looking for prey.

The owl knew I was snapping away and kept looking my way to see how close I was getting... he kept his distance!

Well aware of me!

The ponds fully froze over a few days ago.

A wonderfully crisp morning.

We have another offer on here at Poachers Hideaway! book for six nights and stay for a week, yes the seventh night is free! Please email us at enquiries@poachershideaway.com to secure your booking.

All this cold weather is making us think of spring, not long now! well ok maybe a couple of months...

In April I will be running beginners photographic courses making full use of our beautiful surroundings and nature, oh and lunch at the Bluebell, watch this space for more details or feel free to contact me on damian@poachershideaway.com and I can put you on the mailing list for this and other courses/events happening here at Poachers Hideaway.

For more info on me and my work www.damianfurlong.com

This weekend there is a unique experience taking place at South Ormsby Estate, a country estate near us... A snowdrop walk with the owner of the estate, this is an exclusive event for Friends of South Ormsby Estate, a chance to see beautiful privately owned grounds. You can become a friend  by visiting their website www.southormsbyestate.co.uk or call Leanne on 01507 311446

Snowdrops (Galanthus)