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The Welney Website


Pates Farm Open Day, 11th June 2006


page created June 2006, amended/updated Saturday, 18 October 2014
horse plough


 

 Phew! "Farm Sunday" a Scorching Success!

350 farmers around the country took part in the LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) initiative and opened their gates to the public on 11th June "to show what they do to produce wholesome food with environmental care".

Here in Welney, at Pates Farm, Tipps End (or Tipsend if you prefer), it was the Goodger family - Ken & Debra, and their children Sean and Kimberley - who entertained us to a very enjoyable and interesting day at their family farm with the aid of various relatives, friends, neighbours, business partners - and the weather. Our grateful thanks to all concerned for a super day in the sun.

Attractions included:

Gun dog demonstration; Guided tour of the working distillery; Pony handling demonstration; sheep and lambs, with sample fleeces; nature walk (see below); static displays of modern and vintage farm tractors and equipment; fresh produce stall, 3-day old chicks and ducklings; essential oils and aromatherapy soaps. There is a picnic area by the pond, and first aid and information points.

The Goodger's were assisted by:

John and Sue Askew (NEOils); Joe Goodger; Katie and Sally Claxton (gun dog demos); Jim and Sue Fletcher (sheep and lambs); Steven Hartley (potato harvester); Patrick Clabon (Bateman sprayer and tractor and plough); Jimmy Bruce (250hp tractor operator); David and Ann Lunn (fresh produce); Cyril and Daphne Hodson (car park and general help); and Dannii Sweetman (horse handling).

There's more about Pates Farm, the open-day farm walk and farming in Welney generally - see inks at bottom of page. Here are photos taken at the open day by members of the Website team.

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A general view from the bank of the old Croft River looking over the lily pond towards the distillery building and static displays.
The yellow machine is a JCB Teleporter, the red machine to the left of the pole is a Bateman sprayer.
At middle left are three vintage tractors, a John Deere in the familiar green, a David Brown and an International (not a Massey Ferguson as I originally posted. My thanks to DL for the correction).
 
 
Two pieces of "Wesken Farming" machinery jointly owned by Ken Goodger and Wesley Poole of Christcurch.
The combine harvester in the background is shown in more detail below together with a photo of a helpful information card which many of the displays had.
I didn't see a card for the strange looking machine in the foreground, but I can tell you (after consulting my original photo and the internet) that it is a Väderstad Super XL Rapid 300 seed drill, with a 3m width. If you wish, read more at the makers site.
 

 

 
 

A massive Massey!
This Massey-Ferguson 6499 tractor was displayed by HG Bliss of Christchurch
 
 

 
 
Not everything was modern though.
David Stuart (not pictured) brought along three vintage tractors dating from the mid-60s/early 70s
A John Deere 1020 (green), an International (red), and a David Brown 880 (white), all with implements attached.
Another vintage piece on display was Derek Levesley.
 
 

 
  Jim & Sue Fletcher from Nordelph showed a few of their extensive flock of ewes and lambs, a popular attraction for many younger visitors.
Also on display was also a selection of some of Jim's shearing expertise, fleeces. The beautiful dark one is apparently unpopular with buyers and is virtually worthless.
I was surprised to see such young lambs in June. The Fletchers explained that they have two lambings a year, one very early, the other very late, to maximise their values.
 
 

 
  So many things on display were massive, so it was nice to see some smaller items like these miniature wheel barrows with their colourful contents.
But with a click of your mouse you can make them bigger!
And the 3-day old chicks and ducklings below were pretty and tiny too!
 
 
 
  Can I touch them?    Mother Hen, alias Rachel Brown, editor of Welney News, shows how.
 
 
Pates Farm is also HQ of Norfolk Essential Oils, a farmer's co-operative venture. Local growers bring their herbs here to be distilled, extracting their essential oils. (for more info, see Pates Farm main page, link below).
The special trailer below is used to harvest the herbs, towed here by a John deere tractor.

The crops are processed by steam distillation. Below are some general views of the distllery.
 
   
   
Acknowledgements.
Text & photos: Peter Cox
© 2006 Welney Website
Most photos here, as elsewhere on this website, are considerably reduced in definition (sharpness) to make them quicker to load, and also to take up less of the web space allocated to the site by our ISP (web host). Consequently, if you enlarge them you may find some details are fuzzy. If you would like a copy that would still be sharp at A4 or larger, please contact me.
 
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