BIG FARM
Click here to go to Wolfhampcote Stables
Limousin X cows and Simmental X Calves.
Braunston village in the background.
Click for a pic of "The Flying Cow"
Click here for "Alien Cow Abduction"
Big Farm is your way to Wolfhampcote Farms which is to be found on the borders of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire in the centre of England .
We're actually in Warwickshire which is the best county in England........but don't tell any one in Braunston that.
The precise location on your world map is :-
Latitude 52º16´North - Longitude 1º13´West
This link will take you to a map of the Midlands.
For a more detailed map go to the good people at Streetmap
a brief history of the area
Click here to visit Wolfhampcote, the hamlet and The Church of
Have a look, make a booking and prepare for the time of your life!
If you are looking for the best accommodation in the area look no further than The Manor in Braunston. Braunston Manor, the most imposing residence in the village, has magnificent views and sumptuous bedrooms.
Pubs?
There are 4 pubs in Braunston, all good in their own respects,
The Old Plough, where I've been known to take a jar or two of ale. Good food served at lunchtimes and evenings. 4 real ales and a skittles table, there's always a friendly atmosphere and a warm fire in winter Plus all the Rugby matches!
The Wheatsheaf, the local venue for rock music on a Saturday night and a good cellar with interesting guest ales.
The Admiral Nelson, a canal-side inn serving good food and real ales, it's where Horatio used to moor up with HMS Victory after a hard campaign.
The Millhouse, a large canal-side pub catering for family food etc.
Latest News
Dateline................26th March 2007
No time to update at moment, the old PC blew a gasket a couple of weeks ago. The motherboard's gone home to roost, I'd backed up all important files and documents on an external hard-disk but my copy of Front page went up in smoke and I'm just getting used to another. This is a test! Well whoopy-do! it works. Bye-bye sooty.
It's WET! and that's official. Since
October the rain has seemingly been relentless, not only wet but stormy as well.
The new year began with gales and there have been very few still days so far
this year. Jack Russell Maggie has made full recovery from her spinal injury
after being kicked while herding the cows but we're keeping an eye on her and
her work days are over.
Here's a photo of Maggie and May shrew hunting in the woods. Don't know if I fall foul of the new hunting laws by letting them forage like this but to put your minds a ease, NO small animals were harmed in the taking of this picture!
After the heat of the summer and the wet of the autumn I was expecting a good year for fungi and we got it. There were bags of mushrooms in the fields and a careful look around turned up many other delicious "bush tucker" delicacies like this puff-ball lurking by Maggie. Sliced up and fried with a bit of butter and black pepper it's a welcomed addition to a traditional fried breakfast. [That's the puff-ball, not Maggie!]
Other foraging trips to Badby Woods were worthwhile and I brought home loads of Boleti and other edible fungi.
The cattle have done very well this year considering the extremes of weather we have experienced, my father used to say, "All they need is clean water and a long view", meaning , I think, animals do OK if they've got enough to drink and plenty of space to forage. The rains came and the grass grew and I didn't need to start winter feeding until the middle of October, consequently there's no chance of running out as I nearly did last year
"Wot, no hay?"
There was no need to feed when this photo
was taken. It was mid June, the weather was
sunny and hot, England had just beaten
Paraguay in a not very exciting world cup
game, and I'd done some gardening!
The Christmas festivities have come and gone, The Annual Christmas Concert at St. Peter's was very well attended as usual and my hearty thanks goes out to all who performed and to everybody who braved the track and made it such an occasion. We raised over £280 for the upkeep of the old church and a further sum [over £150 I think] was raised for MacMillan Nurses at The Plough afterwards through sales of mulled wine and mince pies. Many thanks to Avril and Maureen for donating the candles for the gig and also hosting the Xmas Fare binge!
Music
Wolfhampcote now has it's very own in house [well in my house] recording musician! Ted Nilsson the up and coming Swedish DJ has just released his latest double sided 12" titled "Just Brilliant House Music", much of which was recorded here in The Hall. Perhaps it'll be a new genre of music........Hall Music! Hahahah, sorry couldn't resist it.
Get some samples of this brilliant dj's work at..
I haven't been to a so many gigs this year, but what I've seen has been excellent.
In January I saw Richard Thompson [no relation!]
The musician's musician as some call him was performing an acoustic set with many new [to me] numbers and some of the old favourites.
Also in January I went to see
The Waterboys,
loved their music for years and it was great to see and hear Mike Scott who's [I think] the only original member.
Best gig of the year so far was in February, this was the amazing performance at Warwick Arts Centre of African Soul Rebels. A conglomeration of some of the best sounds coming out of Africa.
First on was Souad Massi, a very talented Algerian lady who sang beautiful acoustic folk, sometimes solo, some with her band.
Next was Emmanuel Jal, a Sudanese ex boy soldier, he rapped/hip-hopped, quite poignantly about being kidnapped as a very young boy and trained as a AK47 toting fighter.
Best was saved til last, this was the legendary Amadou and Mariam.
The blind husband and wife team from Mali have been rocking for about 20 years and are now being recognised in Europe. Give their 2005 release "Dimanche A Bamako" a listen.
A couple of weeks ago I went to see a band called
Lo'Jo.
A French band from the Loire Valley, they had very strong North African
influences both in their music and their instruments. Highly recommended if you
get the chance to see them.
Last years gigs were:
Van [the man] Morrison, Irish chappy, no description needed
DJ Format, English hip-hop scratch meister with 2 Canadian MCs Abdominal and Deecisiv
Gervase Finn, ex school inspector and now author recounting his extremely funny anecdotes.
Nitin Sawhney, English/Asian musician with his full band. Simply wonderful! One of the best gigs I've ever been to and the most eclectic mix of musical styles you will ever hear.
John Martyn, English guy who's been around for about 300 years, been every where, done every thing, smoked everything, lost half his leg last year but still sounds brilliant.
Royksopp, Norwegian duo performing in Camden prior to Glastonbury. Electronic/Dance/Laid back music, I've worn out their first cd [Melody A.M.] .
All that plus Tuesday nights in a Rugby pub called The Merchant's where there's very often good Jazz bands and Saturday nights in The Wheatsheaf in Braunston where local rock bands play, I don't think I can fit anymore music into my life!
Bye for now peeps!
A photo of our old mare Catherine taken a couple of years ago in early spring, the old girl had been having a roll!
Here are a couple of pictures of the farm taken by my friend and neighbour Brian Sanderson from his microlight. Top, The Hall and farm yards; bottom photo, looking north, Great Central railway going from bottom left to top middle, farm buildings centre right.
Cheerio for now,
Jimbo.
Questions?????
If you have questions or suggestions please e-mail me at