Let There Be Light!
The rustic pole barn on the central courtyard that is home to the gypsy caravan can now lit up at night for evening weddings and events. Our caravan is Reading “van” (named after the town in which the style was first built) made by Stubbs of Barrowden in Huntingdonshire and masterfully restored by Peter Ingram, […]
Refresh!
Sheepdrove will be even brighter and more beautiful the next time you visit thanks to a nice new lick of paint for the green building that is home to our sustainable wedding and events venue! Many thanks to local Swindon based business Coveys Painting & Decorating who oiled the wooden cladding and painted the tower […]
Owl Babies
A feast of fluffiness courtesy of accredited BTO bird ringer and owl man Captain Jerry Woodham ably assisted by Sheepdrove’s Mike Barker. Apparently a breeding pair of barn owls needs around 1.5 ha of rough grass. Why? Long rough grass provides year round shelter for insects in the base of tussocks, hollow stems and seed […]
BBC Radio 4 Food Programme comes to the Fermentation Day at Sheepdrove!
It was an honour and a pleasure to host American food legend and fermentation pioneer Sandor Katz for a fabulous festival of talks, workshops and Q&As all accompanied by live jazz, plant based delights, a Japanese 3 course menu, free ferments and goodie bags galore. There was quite a line up Sandor was joined by a […]
A New Wildway
We were absolutely delighted that Tom Fortune of Fortune and Son Hedgelaying found time in his busy schedule to squeeze in laying an overgrown beech hedge in our overflow car park. The “hedge” had grown up into a series of small and rather leggy trees. Laying will regenerate the hedgerow by encouraging new thicker and denser growth […]
Newbury Spring Festival
We were so lucky with the weather on Sunday for the Newbury Spring Festival’s Sound Beginnings! After the family-friendly performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a storyteller and music from Weber and Mendelssohn specially arranged for two pianists plus entrancing images of fairyland illustrated by the inimitable Arthur Rackham, not forgetting the ever popular […]
Wildflower Margins
Wondrous wildflower strip of cornfield annuals – poppies, corn marigold, cornflowers plus phacelia which is highly favoured by bees and other pollinators. Most crops rely on insect pollination by species including bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Flower-rich habitats across the farm such as wildflower strips along field margins, clover and herbal leys for grazing livestock, species-rich chalk […]
Newsletter Update
Come and join us at Sheepdrove for a fabulous foodie day out and about in the countryside on our organic farm! Learn about fermentation, create your own ferment with food legend Sandor Katz, feast on organic food & drinks and loads of fantastic ferments (of course) as well as some splendid live jazz. The event […]
Wedding Open Day
Spring is in the air! Birds are singing, buds bursting and the tipis will be up very soon for our Open Day on Sunday April 3rd 12 midday-3pm. Up at the Tipi Meadow, you’ll be able to get a real feeling of how the tipis could look and feel on your wedding day! and meet […]
Winter Garden Magic
Sheepdrove’s herb garden seen from the sky in winter. With the plants still deep in wintry sleep, the landscaping is clearly visible with the flint amphitheatre, central thyme clock, water lily fountain and meandering paths through the scented and aromatic herbs. If you follow the winding gravel paths through the gateway under the trees, across […]