The farm

Orchard Farm is situated in some of the most fertile and productive land in England and the area was traditionally one of the most important dairy regions of the country. Much of the milk was processed into cheeses, mainly the world-famous cheddar.

Orchard Farm has been farmed by the Boyer family since 1928. Percy and Rose Boyer farmed the land until 1960, when their son and daughter-in-law, Ray and Olive, took over. They ran a dairy herd until 1982, then converted to beef and vegetable farming until 1998. Since then, much of the land has been rented out to neighbouring farmers. In 2004 Ray and Olive retired to Castle Cary and their elder son and daughter-in-law, Dave and Helen, returned to the farm after almost 3 decades overseas.

Nowadays Orchard Farm is mainly used for raising young dairy and beef cattle, but many horses and sheep also graze in the fields around the cottages. The farm is small by present day standards, being little more than 170 acres. With the decline of agriculture in the region much of the land is less intensively farmed and wildlife, including roe deer, badgers, foxes and many species of wild birds, is increasing. As one of the few farms in the region accredited to the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, we take pride in farming to high environmental standards.

As part of this scheme we have a 10-year programme of restoring hedgerows throughout the farm and have recently dug the first of several ponds we are planning, replacing those that were lost during the last 60 years of intensive farming. Later in the year we will start an ambitious project constructing reedbeds, ponds and scrapes in one of our marshier fields to provide a wetland habitat for wildlife.

Many footpaths and drove roads cross the farm and provide ideal opportunities for short walks through the beautiful Somerset countryside. If you walk quietly you may see foxes or roe deer. Badger setts are common, and although you are very unlikely to see one during the day, you may be lucky enough to see a badger on a quiet road at night.

Since moving to the farm in March 2004 we have been recording the birds we have seen on the farm. No doubt there are still many more that have so far eluded us, but to date the count stands at 68 species. With the new habitats that we are restoring to the farm, this list will continue to grow.

Birds recorded at Orchard Farm updated May 2005
Little Egret	Great spotted woodpecker	Great tit
Grey Heron	Swift	Coal tit
Mute swan	Swallow	Treecreeper
Mallard	House martin	Jay
Buzzard	Meadow pipit	Magpie
Sparrowhawk	Grey wagtail	Jackdaw
Kestrel	Pied wagtail	Rook
Merlin	Wren	Carrion crow
Hobby	Dunnock	Raven
Pheasant	Robin	Starling
Moorhen	Stonechat	House sparrow
Lapwing	Blackbird	Tree sparrow
Snipe	Redwing	Chaffinch
Green sandpiper	Fieldfare	Bullfinch
Lesser black-backed gull	Song thrush	Goldfinch
Herring gull	Mistle thrush	Greenfinch
Collarded dove	Sedge warbler	Linnet
Cuckoo	Blackcap	Redpoll
Woodpigeon	Chiffchaff	Reed bunting
Barn owl	Willow warbler	Yellow hammer
Little owl	Goldcrest
Tawny owl	Spotted flycatcher
Kingfisher	Long-tailed tit
Green woodpecker	Blue tit

Dave & Helen Boyer, Orchard Farm Cottages, Coopers' Ash Lane, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7NY, UK