Fencing

Our friend and local ‘land fix man’ Rupert started working on fencing the field soon after completion in May 2023. He spent about 5 months working solidly, gradually bringing our rather rough sketch of the new paddocks and corridors into reality.Our brief to him was – the minimum of straight lines, but as long as you stick to our basic outline there is flexibility. Interestingly fencers love straight lines, just as farmers like large square fields which are easier to manage with tractors, so we were pushing Rupert’s boundaries a little. He also had to contend with Cotswold brash, where after a few inches of soil he hit bedrock. He broke several bits of kit trying to ram the posts in, and we are immensely grateful to him for his incredible determination and his refusal to compromise on his very high standards of work. The fencing should never need replacing in our lifetime.

Whilst Rupert was starting the perimeter fencing, I began marking out the Google earth layout onto the field using old fence posts laid in the grass. This got a little tricky because as the grass grew longer, the fence posts got buried. It was also really hard to get the aerial perspective of the layout from the ground. There was also some pressure because I was imminently heading to New Zealand to be with Ellie for the birth of my new grandchild, and needed to get the plan mapped out. Clive helped by mowing paths along the new fence lines with his tractor mower (any excuse to use the tractor of course!)After fencing a good deal of the perimeter Rupert made a start on creating our first paddocks so that we had a place for the horses when they moved in early June. From then on he was always slightly under pressure to create the next paddock ready for when we needed to move the horses.

Removing old barbed wire fencing, this got loaded into the old caravan chassis and recycled by our local scrap merchant.
Miraculously Rupert found an old wheel that fitted the caravan chassis , and the tow hitch somehow got brought back into use for this one last journey

The first paddocks and corridors emerging

June – buttercup time, more paddocks and corridors

The field was full of tractors and other kit for months

The field will look over dominated by fences for a couple of years, but once the corridors are planted with their trees and hedging plants the fences should become almost invisible.

The corridor between Orchard and Winterwood paddocks

Clive’s 94 year old mother inspecting the work

March 2024. The corridor between Winterwood and Orchard paddocks, now planted with whips.

The last part of the fencing job was around the new entrance and yard. This really brought the whole plan to life as we achieved that separation of the horse and car park areas. The yard became useable for the horses in November, just in time for when we needed to bring them in overnight with the winter coming on.