Lambing season in swing at farm in Coombes but no visitors this year
Families usually flock to the farm every Spring as lambing gets underway for a day out in the countryside.
Farmer Jenny Passmore said lambing was ‘going well’ so far but said: “Unfortunately we can’t open this year. It would have been our 42nd year of opening.
“But it’s not possible, we lamb inside.”
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Hide AdShe said they were looking forward to welcoming visitors again next year, and are hoping to hold some kind of additional event in the summer.
“We might try to do something later on this year, we’re trying to think of something we can do so that people can come out and enjoy the countryside,” she said.
The farm was expecting ‘well over 1,000 lambs’ this year, she said.
January saw 150 lambs born, and there are still almost 800 ewes to lamb.
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Hide AdLockdown has seen an explosion in residents making the most of the local countryside and spending time outdoors, but Mrs Passmore issued a plea for walkers to stick to the paths.
“We are getting a nightmare of people all over the place,” she said.
“Which is good, it’s good people are out in the countryside and I have no problem at all with people sticking to the paths.
“But they’re coming off them and I don’t think they realise the damage that could do.”
It can, for example, lead to mismothering, where a lamb gets separated from its mother and might not find her again, she said.
Follow the latest updates from the farm on Facebook at @Coombesfarm