Here is where you can find out about what has been happening on the Farm, see how your favourite animal is getting on and see what attractions are coming up in the next few months See what 2009 has to offer.....click here for our Events Page

TV Presenter Jo Healey cuts the ribbon to declare Hoots Hollows fully open for visitors.
See owls from around the world
Click here to go to our Hoots Hollows Page for more photos of the wonderful owls on display

Jo with Barney the Barn Owl, the Rushcliffe BC mascot,
and children from the East Leake Day Nursery, cut the ribbon

An even bigger and better Easter this year! 2009 was an even bigger and better Easter weekend than ever before, with Craft Activities for the whole family on Good Friday, Willow Weaving on the Saturday, and 2 days of games, shows and activities for all over Sunday & Monday. check out some of the photos.......and make sure you join in next year!

Willow Weaves its Magic! Wicked Whomping Willow Day on Saturday 11th April was a brand new family event for us, but, judging by the comments from our many visitors on the day, was a huge success - for children and grown ups!

	Evie & Megan, both 4 years old, proudly show off the headbands they made.	Anthony casts a watchful eye, ready to lend a hand	Philip gets to grips with making a planter...	...while Alan is a little more creative

	Zac, our Jersey Bullock, is intrigued as to what is going on (he is not the only one.....)		Can you see what it is yet?

What a Wonderful Easter Parade!

The children join in and pick their favourite

	4 year old Annellyse goes for Sky...		...whilst Emily (5) and Owen (3) clearly prefer Bluey as a daffodil		Holly (10) and  Olivia (6) say hi to Sky

4 year old Keira can't make up her mind between Jim Lad and the goats, they all look so good!

Bertie & Harlech and Bambi & Reo lead the Egg Hunt           and the lucky children claim their prizes!    Hannah, 4, and Imogen, 6   Jessica, 9, gets 5 bags from Harlech! She must have worked really hard.   Sam (5), Maddie (5) and Izzy (11)                               make it a family effort to find the goodies

 

Sooty performs her party piece Magic Tricks for her adoring public

Sooty & Jane make their entrance	She rolls out the red carpet for her special guests		Sooty plays a tune on the horn to get everyon'e attention no problem there!		and the old favourite, pulling silk scarves out of her sleeve ...well, Jane's sleeve really - donkeys don't have sleeves, of course
	Does Sooty like living at Manor Farm? "Of course!"  she answers		Not so sure about whether she likes chocolate, though (Jane does!)		Brand new for this year - Sooty opens the bin for her treats (she can't yet shut it, but give her time)
			Jane and Sooty take a well-deserved bow

	To finish off a fabulous day, what else but the grande finale....Animal Bedtime!
	The animals speed off to their beds for supper........well, maybe Normal doesn't speed exactly!            Animal Bedtime wouldn't be complete without the children feeding the llamas their carrots. As an extra bonus, Afra and Kerry perform their own party pieces for Diane.

Hoots Hollows opens its gates for the Easter Holidays! Hoots Hollows, our brand new Owl Centre displaying owls from around the world, has been extensively redesigned and refurbished and is now open to the public in time for the Easter Holidays. The last few weeks and months have seen a huge amount of work by all of us, especially George & Diane, the managers of Hoots Hollows, to get the Centre ready for the public. On show will be many, many owls, some you probably have not seen or heard of before! There will be the much-loved Barn owls, Tawnys and Snowys, but also unusual and less common ones like Sam, the Makinders owl, Dinky, the tiny burrowing owl, and the delightful Basil, an Indian Scops owl. We have also been very busy finishing off our huge display and flying enclosure where you can get close enough to stroke the birds, even hold one and have your photo taken!  This is proving a real favourite with the children. Make sure you leave enough time for Hoots Hollows on your next visit to Manor Farm - or better still, make a special trip to see them - you will not be disappointed! For more photos, see our Birds of Prey page - click here to go there now.

4 year old Claudia, from Quorn, holds Bernie the Barn Owl for a fuss

Dinky, the tiny burrowing owl

Dobbie, the magnificent Snowy Owl

Danny Boy makes his debut at the Palm Sunday Parade at West Leake

Each year one of the donkeys from Manor Farm joins the Palm Sunday parade at one of the local churches. This year Danny Boy made his debut at St Helena’s, West Leake.  He donned a special bridle and socks for the occasion – and very smart he looked too! The vicar, Reverend Glynnis Hetherington, met Danny at the church gates and introduced him to the congregation, which had gathered to see his arrival.  After mingling a while and posing for photos, Danny led the congregation into the church.   He stood aside for everyone to enter, preferring to wait outside in the glorious sunshine and admire the beautiful display of wild primroses. After the service Danny again greeted everyone and posed happily for more photo opportunities.  He politely accepted the tea and cakes when offered and particularly enjoyed a fairy cake with an East Egg on top! After that it was time to say goodbye and go back to Manor Farm for tea – if he had any room left after the cake!   Sharon gets Danny Boy ready for his big day   Geraldine leads Danny in to the church...   ....to meet the Reverend Glynnis Hetherington of St Helena's...   .....and some of the children of the congregation.

We play the goat for Comic Relief!

 

Sainsbury's of Loughborough invited us to join them to help raise some cash for Comic Relief on Red Nose Day - 13 March 2009. We were delighted to help and turned up in our new Events Bus (see below) with Bambi & Reo, 2 of our anglo-nubian goats who are always happy to meet their public. Annette Radley, Team Leader at Sainsbury's, set the day up wonderfully for us, and many thanks go to all the staff who helped - and all of the public who came over to say hello to us, of course!

“Show & Tell” Events Bus We now have a fantastic new facility for school and group visits - a "Show & Tell" Events bus!   An ambulance has been very kindly donated by George Brown of Ambulance Aid and we are kitting it out and having new sign-writing for us to use to take small animals to shows and schools.  The refurbishment has been helped enormously by a very generous donation from Mr Spencer, of Bulwell, Nottingham, in memory of his late wife Kathleen.  So many thanks go to him.   So we can now visit schools to talk to children about our animals and the work we do, and in the past have taken Albert, our mottled Belgian cockerel, along.  He loves his fusses from the children and usually falls asleep.   Last year we took Bambi & Reo, 2 of our Anglo Nubian goat kids, to outside events like Lark in the Park in West Bridgford and the Keyworth Show.  They were very popular with the public, young and old - some of them thought they were donkeys – or reindeer!  Please note, however, that for animal safety and comfort we cannot take donkeys on the Bus, sorry.   So if you would like a visit to your school, please let us know.  Phone Philip on 07788 721655, or email headoffice@manorfarm.info

Santa scores a big hit at the Manor Farm Nativity Play! The Nativity Plays at Manor Farm are much-loved and ever popular as they feature the traditional Christmas story with real animals. Joseph and Mary ride into Bethlehem on a donkey, the shepherds visit the baby Jesus (with real sheep, of course!) and the Kings arrive with their llamas - ok, thats the nearest we could get to real camels! This year we had a very special woodland wonderland, with Santa seeing his visitors in a genuine lapland tipi.  There were lots of activities for the children and their families, and as an extra treat they could warm themselves around an open fire in the woods and get a cup of hot chocolate and something warm to eat. If you missed it this year, then make sure you visit us next Christmas - it really is fabulous.

Visit by Kenneth Clarke, MP for Rushcliffe On Monday 1 December, Kenneth Clarke MP visited Manor Farm.  He has long been a friend and supporter of us and our work here, and commented on how much work had been done, and the improvements made since his last visit.

Ken with Rita Thurman & Glennis Robinson, co-owners of Manor Farm, and Lyn Boyle, Nursery Manager, and Philip Titterton from the Education Team

Ken sees our new Lapland Tipi in the woods - all ready for Santa's visit this Christmas

Lyn shows Ken what work has been done this year in the Nursery Children's Garden

  

Donkey & Llama Fun Day a roaring success! 27th July 2008

It was a brilliant day in brilliant weather when the donkeys and llamas got together at Manor Farm for their annual fun day.  Melvyn Osborne, one of the staff at Manor Farm, organised the event and was joined by Vivien Ives from the British Llama Society and many friends from all over the country. Their llamas took part in parades, competitions and displays so families could enjoy the spectacle of seeing all of these magnificent beasts - many for the first time! Here is a flavour of the day's events, but you really had to be there to appreciate it. Llamas doing what they do best - looking very grand!

			Daniel, 9, and Jennifer, 6, came all the way over from Calabria in Italy visiting family and called in to join in the donkey egg & spoon race.
			Jessica, 8, and Megan, 5 are more local - in East Leake itself!
	Jessica and Megan with their winner's rosettes How did 5 month old sister Katie get in on the act?		Now it is Abi May & Ben Turner's chance to compete		Time for the llamas to do the obstacle course.
	and show off their rosettes.
					And the donkeys are never very far away at Manor Farm
	Who could possibly choose the best looking donkey or llama? They are all so gorgeous
	Melvyn and Jacqui, the organisers of the Llama Fun Day
	Always time for a fuss		Sooty takes centre stage for her magic tricks. Playing the horn.....		.....and answering questions.  Who's a clever girl, then?

	1st Barrow upon Soar Rainbows hold a sponsored silence to raise money for Dusky On Friday 30th May girls from the 1st Barrow upon Soar Rainbow Group came with Linda & Helen, 2 of the Rainbow leaders, to present a cheque for £450 to Glennis Robinson, one of the owners of Manor Farm, to help pay for Dusky's treatment.  The money was raised through a sponsored silence held by the girls earlier this month - see below. As Linda Vesty said afterwards, "One of Baden-Powell's first Scout laws in 1908 was 'A Scout is a friend to animals' and although Rainbows are really too young to start worrying about 'smiling and whistling under all circumstances' or being 'courteous' and 'thrifty' it is never too early to start encouraging them to help others."  Wonderful sentiments indeed, and one we could all benefit from taking into our own lives.   Linda Vesty, Rainbow guider, with the Rainbow Group     It follows a trip during their Easter holidays to East Leake Manor Farm Animal Centre & Donkey Sanctuary.  The girls form the Rainbows decided that they would like to raise money to help pay for specialist veterinarian treatment needed by one of the donkeys. So on Tuesday 13th May, during their regular weekly meeting, a sponsored silence was held and all the Rainbows, with a little encouragement from their leaders, managed to stay silent for a whole 30 minutes - no mean feat for a 6yr old girl - and they are now expecting to raise over an amazing £425. Ron Maslin, Adoptions Coordinator at Manor Farm, came along to the meeting to thank the girls personally and to give each Rainbow a special 'We raised money for Dusky' badge. Two leaders and three of the Rainbows are hoping to go along to the Farm, during the next half term holiday, to present the cheque to them.
	Glennis Robinson and Ron Maslin, Adoptions Co-ordinator, accept the cheque Dusky was the mother of Tammy, our baby donkey.  Dusky came to us in a really sorry state, having been very badly neglected.  She had sarcoids - equine growths - on her face and in her ears.  We could not treat her immediately as we had to wait for Tammy to be born and weaned.  When that happened we sent Dusky away for specialist, intensive treatment in the hope that her condition will improve. Sadly Dusky did not respond fully and was in much discomfort from her treatment.  It was with enormous regret that the decision was made early in 2009 to have Dusky put painlessly to sleep to end her suffering.