The Welney Website
Pates Farm Open Day
Sunday, 10th June 2006
The hosts, the Goodger family - Ken and Debra, and their children Sean and Kimberley - were joined by several friends and neighbours who are all part of that rare breed - the family farm.
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 the farm and farm walk on the Pates Farm page. Below are photos taken at the open day by members of the Website team.
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.
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 D 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.
This Massey-Ferguson 6499 tractor was displayed by HG Bliss of Christchurch.
I was surprised to see such young lambs in June, but the Fletchers 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 the Welney News, shows how.