GETTING GREENER -- solar power

Soulton now has solar power, and is able to generate at least as much electricity in a year as it uses. 

This is a big step in improving our sustainability and reducing the impact of our operations the environment. 

More on sustainability here: http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/soulton/sustainability_soulton.pdf

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UPDATE  

We have been selected as a case study by SOLAR POWER PORTAL; you can find the article at this here.

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Rescue dog here one year

Max, our rescue dog, has now been here a year. He has setteled in well and is a great character.

Pets are welcome here; more details about this here.

Another new painting of Soulton Hall

Sue Horder has also painted a watercolour of Soulton Hall, see image below.

The painting is from a window in Soulton Court, looking across the White Garden to Soulton Hall. 

New Painting of Soulton Hall

New painting of Soulton: we were thrilled to recieve a new painting this morning from Sue Horder.

Inspired by the 'dot painting' associated with the Australian Aboriginal people, and in particular the Papunya Tula collective, the canvas imagines a birds eye view of Soutlon Hall, and the farm.

Sue has also painted a watercolour of Soulton Hall from the White Garden.

VIDEO: Soulton Autumn & Winter: Winter Breaks Starting Soon

Soulton Autumn & Winter Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0BW0wmjGW_Q

Winter breaks start from the end of this month, details here:
http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/contact/special_occasions_and_offers.html

Farm and Garden: Provenance: Video

A new, short video look at the farm and gardens and the food they produce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brj4oIzyyYU

More info here http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/dining/provenance.html

BBC Show featuring Jules Hudson and John Craven: Filming at Soulton

Filming for an upcomming show with Jules Hudson and John Craven took place on the farm earlier today.

It should be going out on the BBC early in 2012, the show's name is not confirmed for sure yet, but the working tilte is "Country Crafts at Risk".

Welcome, Stewardship, Farming, History, Food: Word Cloud insight into some Soulton Ideas

A third party scan of our website reveals the most frequently used words on our website:

Miss World Fashion Shoot Video

Miss World Sponsors, Sandstorm Boutique, brought Jamie Lee Williams, Miss Galaxy International 2011, to Soulton for a fashion shoot in the grounds and gardens recently.


They have produced a video of the shoot here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci4sT3SOMaw

Samuel Pepys Connection: Radio Four Serialisation

This week sees a radio serialisation of some of Samuel Pepys's Diary : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015bt12  . 

Thomas Hill (who lived at Soulton in the mid/late 1600s) was a great friend of Pepys.  There are 58 references to him in the diary: http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/7165.php#references

Restoration reveals 200+ year old wall paper: match available?

200+ year old wall paper uncovered in recent restoration work.

We have approached Farrow and Ball to see if we could use the same/similar pattern in future re-decoration.

Community Fun Ride Hosted by Farm

Drag hunting this morning.

NSH meet at this farm this morning for a drag hunt. They chased an artificial scent laid over a terrain earlier.

This traditional activity has evolved to exclude the controversial involvement of wild animals.

Secret Painting: exposed by decorators

Decorators applying wood preservative to a 300 year old door in the Tallet have exposed an old impression of a running fox on the door, which had previously been invisible! 

It’s these sorts of things that make restoration work here such fun.

More on this history of Soulton at http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/soulton/history.html 

Educational Acess Visits.

For many years now, we have been welcoming school kids and service users to the farm here for educational visits.

These are a free service, part of our commitment to environmental stewardship, along with the permisive footpaths etc we have created.

Info on participating farms all over the country at www.growingschools.org.uk

Miss World photo shoot in grounds.

Sponsors of this year's Miss World – Sandstorm – brought Jamie Lee, raining Miss Wales to Soulton last weekend. They are taking publicity stills here for the event in October.

Community Fundraisers: diary dates

In November and December Soulton will be supporting two community fundraisers, details in the posters below. 

The musical evening in particular is close to Soulton, as the organ has historic associations with this household: it was an Ashton gift in 1910 and Weston Church has assosiations with Soulton back at least as far as 1556.

BBC Radio 4: "Saving Species" covers water vole project including Soulton land

BBC Radio 4's "Saving Species" cover water vole conservation in a project including our own Soulton Brook and River Roden (it's about 18 mins in):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b014fd21

Harvest Home

Harvest Home.


Soulton Hall's own private farm's harvest is now home. Work planting next year's crops is now well in hand.

Work begins on Smartphone website

Now we have a QR code, work is underway to set up a streamlined wedbsite for smart phones and mobile devices, staring with this landing page: http://kimtag.com/soultonhall

Shooter's Lodge Refurbishment Nears Completion

Decorators will finish work on Shooter's Lodge later this week.  Earlier in the year, the house was re-roofed (along with two other cottages) and three new en suite bathrooms were added. 

New carpets across the whole house will be complemented by fresh furnature.

A new kitchen will also be added.