Mornacott played host to 20 young people at the weekend as part of their final preparations for travelling to Lesotho in southern Africa to assist in various projects working with the young people of that country.

In July this year the 20 Army Cadets and their staff will set off for three weeks of project work with Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale. Dividing into groups they will work with children in an AIDS orphanage, and schools for blind and physically handicapped children.
Much of the work that they will be doing will involve manual skills and as opposed to the usual planks, barrels and rope type exercises that many were more used to the Cadets were taught new skills based around building stone walls and a small footbridge across the river.
At the end of Saturday the manual tasks had been completed and everyone showed great pride in their wall and bridge building achievements, many “war stories” being embellished over a supper of spit roast lamb with all the trimmings.
The Sunday activities comprised a Country brief and hygiene and medical lectures from staff and the expedition Medical Officer.
We wish them luck in their endeavours and have no doubt that their experiences in the impoverished country of Lesotho will be quite life changing. 

Our first holiday cottage ‘Barn Cottage’ is now ready to receive guests. We have spent the last few weeks putting together the ‘finishing touches’ which we believe make Barn Cottage an inviting holiday spot. Now planning permission has been agreed we are looking forward to adding to our accommodation and receiving more guests at Mornacott. 

A red letter day with the bulk of the major refurbishment works at Little North Hayne completed.

This characterful cottage on the other side of the valley from Mornacott has been the subject of extensive rebuilding and refurbishment works requiring new windows and doors, major repairs to the roof and some internal remodelling.
The major structural work is now completed and all that remains to be done is a spot of decoration, the plumbing of a new kitchen and bathroom and the replacement of the staircase.
We’re well on schedule to complete within the next two months, subject always to weather and the availability of tradesmen. 

After a few false starts we now have planning permission to convert two of the near derelict barns to holiday cottages/shoot lodges.
The innovative, yet very traditional, internal design of these two buildings will allow for six double bedrooms, three in each building, each with its own ensuite bathroom.
Given their previous uses and locations these new buildings will be known as “Orchard Cottage” and “The Old Stables” respectively and, together with the already converted Barn Cottage will allow for flexible accommodation to suit both holiday makers and shoot guests depending on requirements and the time of year.
We’re delighted too that the works to Orchard Cottage will include the replanting and rejuvenation of the traditional orchard of which so few tees remain today. The planting scheme, which will follow the classic English Orchard style and layout, will include Apple, Pear, Plum, Damson, Cherry and Quince trees.  

No jelly and ice cream for this lot! Instead we had 20 hugely energetic young boys undertaking a round robin of activities from “command tasks” to air rifle shooting and archery. The command tasks were particularly interesting proving that too many chiefs and not enough Indians isn’t exactly the best recipe for success.
After a frantic Easter egg hunt it was in for tea and medals and then away allowing the supervising staff a well earned rest! 

Today saw an exciting event here are Mornacott, the start of calving season was kicked off with the birth of a Devon heifer calf this afternoon. Both mother and baby are doing well and we are excited to be adding to our Ruby herd. As many calves as possible will have their future on the farm, the heifers to replace and expand our existing breeding herd and the bull calves going on to produce our ‘home grown’ beef boxes.