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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 we have lined up for you in the next few months.........click here to go to our Events Page
Stay and Play
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Manor Farm is a super venue for a Stay and Play event for nurseries and Children's Centres alike. In March East Leake Day Nursery made full use of the facilities for theirs, combining crafts in the Red Room in front of the log fire, making owl masks and pictures, holding an owl and learning all about them on the patio outside, and then having some wonderful owl stories in the teepee in Goose Woods - bit of an owl theme going here!
If you would like to hold your Stay and Play here too, give us a ring.
For more photos from the day, go to our News Page >>> |
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Fabulous half term fun - pancakes in the woods, making bird feeders, and some great owl crafts!
Spooky Halloween Party & BBQ
Our first ever Halloween Party & BBQ was a howling sucess! Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, and there was a good mix of humour and scare......and very reasonably priced good BBQ food, of course - that always helps!
There were lots of games and activities for the whole family, too, including a "Guess the Number of Pumpkin Seeds in the Bottle" competition. The correct answer was 829.....and yes, I know because I counted them all out by hand! The prize was meant to be a gigantic tube of sweets but unfortunately someone found them and ate them.....oh well.
The highlight of the night was the scary tractor ride through the fields.....in the dark........with plenty of scares along the way. I could tell you more but that would spoil it for next year.
And the evening finished off with a story about the witch who stole the children's sweets and led on to a walk through the haunted woods to find her campfire to get the sweets back.
All in all, a brilliant night. If you are fan of ours on facebook...and if not, why not???...then please post a comment on our wall.
We would love to know what you thought of it, and how we could make it better next year.
Thanks
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2 witches hold owls
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A particularly scary witch! |
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The spider put together by visitors to the Centre on a recent Willow Weaving day makes a guest appearnce in the haunted woods |
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The scary story....and the scarier story teller (even without his make-up)
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Get ready for the tractor ride! |
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What better place to put a zombie than in a coffin?
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The 2009 Show Season draws to a close with the Inland Waterways National Festival & Boat Show at Ratcliffe on Soar and the Stapleford Show, both in September.
They were great fun, and we met lots of new and old friends. The real stars of the show, of course, were Ash, the Anglo Nubian goat, being as cheeky as ever, and Tilly the Tortoise, doing what tortoises do - which may not seem much but he is a real attraction! |
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Geraldine shows Alexia Tilly the tortoise
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Ash is determined to share
Sharon and Geraldine's lunch! |
Philip gets the children making felt
from the wool from Manor Farm sheep
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New Kids on the Block!
We are delighted to welcome 2 new Anglo-Nubian goat kids to Manor Farm.
They are Pepper, a sweetheart at just 4 months old, and Reuben, just as lovable at 6 months.
They are so friendly, so make a point of popping in to say hello! |
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Pepper Reuben
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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
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Jo & Barney get to know each other
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George, the manager of Hoots Hollows,
brings over Samson the Makinders Owl for a closer look
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Hannah and some of the children
from East Leake Day Nursery get a close up view
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Jo in the brand new Arena
with Dinky, the tiny Burrowing Owl...
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...who she shows to Shadow & Terry
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The smallest......and the biggest!
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Rita & Glennis, the owners of Manor Farm,
show Jo around the Nursery Garden
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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! |
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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! |
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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 |
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Zac, our Jersey Bullock, is intrigued
as to what is going on
(he is not the only one.....) |
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Can you see what it is yet? |
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What a Wonderful Easter Parade! |
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The children join in and pick their favourite
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4 year old Annellyse goes for Sky... |
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...whilst Emily (5) and Owen (3)
clearly prefer Bluey as a daffodil |
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Holly (10) and Olivia (6) say hi to Sky |
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4 year old Keira can't make up her mind between Jim Lad and the goats, they all look so good!
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Bertie & Harlech and Bambi & Reo lead the Egg Hunt
   
   
and the lucky children claim their prizes!
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Hannah, 4, and Imogen, 6 |
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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 |
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Sooty performs her party piece Magic Tricks for her adoring public |
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Sooty & Jane make their entrance
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She rolls out the red carpet
for her special guests
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Sooty plays a tune on the horn
to get everyon'e attention
no problem there!
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and the old favourite,
pulling silk scarves out of her sleeve
...well, Jane's sleeve really -
donkeys don't have sleeves, of course
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Does Sooty like living at Manor Farm?
"Of course!" she answers
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Not so sure about whether
she likes chocolate, though
(Jane does!)
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Brand new for this year -
Sooty opens the bin for her treats
(she can't yet shut it, but give her time) |
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Jane and Sooty take
a well-deserved bow
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To finish off a fabulous day, what else but the grande finale....Animal Bedtime! |
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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.
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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. |
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4 year old Claudia, from Quorn,
holds Bernie the Barn Owl for a fuss |
 Dinky, the tiny burrowing owl |
Dobbie, the magnificent Snowy Owl
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Danny Boy makes his debut at the Palm Sunday Parade at West Leake |
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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!
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Sharon gets Danny Boy ready for his big day
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Geraldine leads Danny in to the church...
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....to meet the Reverend Glynnis Hetherington of St Helena's...
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.....and some of the children of the congregation.
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We play the goat for Comic Relief! |
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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! |
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“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
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