Photography course up at Poachers Hideaway

In May we are launching a beginners photography course. It will be an all day course of eight hours taking in lunch at the Bluebell in Belchford.
You will learn how to operate your digital camera and slip out of automatic mode...
The exposure triangle will be explained and practiced with a number of mentored tasks given throughout the day.
You can bring along any digital camera providing it has manual or semi manual settings.
We will cover landscape, portraits and wildlife in a packed fun day in a beautiful part of Lincolnshire.
Price is £80 including lunch at the Bluebell.
Please email at damian@poachershideaway.com or phone 07496 637619

Cadwell Park

 Cadwell Park is hotting up for a busy season!
Lots of track days this month, come and stay with us up here at Poachers Hideaway and try out one of the best racing circuits in Europe. Mention you read it here and get a 10% discount on all our cottages

April Trackdays

Offers...

We have a fantastic last minute offer on for the Easter holidays - 15% off use code PHEGG19 when booking. Offer ends 1st of May.

Come and have some family time up here in the beautiful Lincolnshire wolds...

We have over ten miles of footpaths here at Poachers Hideaway for our guests to enjoy and beyond that is the famous Viking way

From Juice Trump

The Cattle are here!

Lincoln Reds Grazing in their new home

 We had some four legged guests arrive this week for their summer grazing, its nice to see some cattle up here at Poachers hideaway again! We now have cows and horses, sheep are on the way!

The second load of cattle arriving...

Plenty of land to roam around.

A beautiful day for a bike ride.

Up here at Poachers Hideaway we get plenty of mountain bikers peddling by. The nice wide foot paths and bridleways are perfect for a ride out, not to mention the views! not sure about the hills though...

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

The Bluebells are emerging in the wood, pretty soon there will be a lovely carpet throughout, a great vision to experience, and photograph...

"Hyacinthoides non-scripta is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia"



While renewing a couple of our gates last week we came across a Geocache...

A Geocache

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and sometimes a pen or pencil. The geocacher signs the log with their established code name and dates it, in order to prove that they found the cache. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, such as toys or trinkets, usually of more sentimental worth than financial. Geocaching shares many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure hunting, letter boxing, way marking and Munzee.

www.geocaching.com

We are still wanting entries for our new sign... A great prize for the winner, a two night stay for two in one of our lovely cottages, get your easels up and your paint brushes out...

Our delightful little one bed cottage is still up for grabs for a long term tenant...

£500 per month call Andrew on  07836 746865 for further details

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