North Hayne Farm Holiday Cottages
News
News from North Hayne Farm
Last updated 3rd March 2010
Welcome to our news page. We are keen to make our site useful/informative and easy to use; thank you to all of you that have given feedback so far; it's been very positive. If you feel the site could be improved then just email your ideas to us.
Featured in the Winter Edition
North Hayne Farm is awarded runner-up in the North Devon's Tourist Awards 2008/2009
This award has particular significance to us as we bought North Hayne Farm just four years ago without any experience of running a holiday cottage complex or looking after animals and just to make our life even harder, North Hayne Farm was a tired and neglected business.
These four years have seen a significant amount of hard work and money go back in to the business in order to make North Hayne Farm a destination we can be proud of and one which families keep returning to year after year.
Huge thanks must extend to our whole family, staff, friends and guests for their wonderful support, encouragement and ideas to help make everyone's stay with us really special.
We have been very fortunate over these last four years to have met many wonderful guests and even made some lasting friendships, above all we have some marvelous memories and are still enjoying every minute.
Here's to the next award :-)
As many of our recent visitors will know, we started the building project for our new games room back in November.
As projects go this has definitely required a lot of determination. Various obstacles needed to be overcome, the first was access. Locating the new games room to the side of the play barn made sense as this meant families would be able to keep an eye on their children whilst also enjoying the facilities of the games room. Unfortunately the location resulted in a difficult excavation due to limited access. Still, if something worth doing then problems can be overcome.....
The next problem. Whilst digging it became clear that we would almost certainly undermine the anchor wire supporting a mains pole. A quick call to Western Power, a trio of strong and well placed ropes later and problem sorted. Any loosening of the support wire wouldn't affect the pole.
Problem number three was a wet one. Having found a spring which looked more like a waterfall some ingenuity was required. A couple of lengths of rain water down pipe and a somewhat Heath Robinson looking device for catching the water and finally.... problem solved.
Finally things started to shape up. Phew!
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More pictures soon.
One more new face has joined us here at the farm. A Call Duck by the name of Daisy was brought to us having recovered from a broken leg. Unable to gain access to a pond and living with chickens she was brought to us in the hope that mixing with our many ducks and having daily access to our pond would help her leg develop more strength and give her more appropriate company.
Great New Woodland Walk and Lawned Area
For some time now we have been wondering what to do with about a acre of land which had been covered in brambles since we arrived back in 2004. Last May we started work on bringing it under control and turning it in to a usable and interesting space to use. We are in the process of developing a woodland walk with lots of things to explore and discover. For the more adventurous, there will also be a path that leads down to a further wooded area and stream.
The rest of the ground has been extensively landscaped in to two tiers to create large flat lawned areas to play on. This May also sees the new lawned area get used for a wedding marquee. If the event goes well we may well continue to offer the space as a regular wedding reception venue.
Childrens information and activity packs get the thumbs up 
Following an initial trial period of our information and activity packs last year, we have decided that as they proved really popular we have updated them ready for the year ahead. Our packs help to encourage children to learn about our animals and the farm as well as earning special certificates of achievement.
Farmbox - Fresh local produce to your door 
We have for some time now been keen to help our guests get the best local produce Devon can provide, be that local farm meats or fresh/frozen gourmet meals. Missing from our food selection has been fresh fruit and vegetables.... until now! Farmbox is a New North Devon business that has been setup to supply fresh fruit and vega tables (sourced from local North Devon producers) to your door. Orders are made and paid for using the internet and delivered to your door (normally the next day if ordered in time).
For more details please go to Pre-ordering food services
We have already started taking bookings for Christmas and the New Year so for those who are interested please don't leave it too late to speak to us about your requirements.
2010 bookings are well underway
Don't leave it too late to speak to us about your holiday requirements.
Only a few summer weeks remaining and one school summer holiday week (14th August in Jemima Puddleduck). Please call if you are interested in booking a cottage.
Please contact us for current details.
Winter Breaks
For those of you who love a real fire through the colder months, why not try our Samuel Whiskers cottage which has it's own fabulous wood burner.
Come and escape for a Winter break (20% discount given on full week stays in Samuel Whiskers) and experience North Devon and Exmoor for yourselves. Take in some of the many wonderful walks and sample the areas fine ales and delicious food before returning to your cottage for a cozy night in.
With pancake day coinciding with the February half term we couldn't let such a rare opportunity pass us by without having a little North Hayne Farm fun. With invitations sent to all guests, the challenge was to compete in fun tasks including, most perfect pancake, most flipped and highest flip.
Certificates and prizes were awarded to the winner of each category.
Most perfect pancake |
Most flipped |
Highest flip |
Well done to everyone, the standard was extremely high and not a burnt pancake in sight.
We thank you all
We continue as ever to maintain our cottages to a high standard and to give you a memorable and enjoyable time here at North Hayne Farm. We thank you for all your complimentary comments and positive feedback. We look forward to seeing many of you again this year and also to meeting our new guests who have already booked with us.
Our regular photo gallery of helpers... Sorry if we've missed anyone off; please let us know if we have!
To ensure you get to see your photo on the gallery we keep three months worth of photos on the site. Click on the month that relates to your stay.
November 2009 Photo Gallery
December 2009 Photo Gallery
February 2010 Photo Gallery
We aim to keep our web site up to date, so until next time... Bye for now!