As we wrap up another wonderfully busy year, we wanted to share a special moment of celebration with all of you. Our Christmas video was made with good cheer, plenty of laughs, and deep appreciation for everyone that makes Alscot the special and unique place it is.
We wish you all a bright and joyful Christmas and a happy and successful new year.
Thanks for being part of our journey!
We’re now in our second year of regenerative farming, and it’s been fantastic to see real progress taking shape.
As part of our commitment to sustainable land management, we’re grazing our SFI land with organic sheep – working in partnership with Daylesford Organic and other local farmers. Daylesford has provided 700 organic Lleyn sheep to graze between October and December across 650 acres of overseeded Alscot land, laid with herbal leys.
This approach not only supports soil health and biodiversity, but also contributes to the wider goal of sustainable and organic food production, which we believe is essential for healthy living.
We won Best Green Business in the Stratford Herald Business & Tourism Awards!! 🏆
Winning Best Green Business means the world to us because it recognises our vision for the future and the heart of everything we do — our commitment to sustainability, innovation, and creating a positive impact on our community and the planet. It’s a reflection of the hard work, vision, passion, and purpose that drive our team every day. This award reaffirms that doing business responsibly and protecting the environment can go hand in hand with success.
As part of our sustainable land management practices, we conduct baseline surveys and carefully monitor improvements in soil health, plant life, and wildlife diversity. Surveys across grasslands, woodlands, water bodies, and arable land are now well underway, helping us build a valuable dataset for the future.
A recent bird survey, carried out on the 5th and 6th of March, yielded encouraging results. A diverse selection of waterfowl was recorded, including teal, gadwall, mallard, snipe, moorhen, and little grebe. In the woodlands, red kites were observed nesting, while fieldfare and redwing thrushes—winter visitors to the UK—were noted both in the woods and on some grasslands. These birds were busily feeding, storing energy for their migration back to mainland Europe.
A timely and perfect way to celebrate #worldwildlifeday
In an attempt to combat climate chaos, The Woodland Trust are encouraging everyone in the UK to plant a new tree, by donating hundreds of thousands of saplings to schools and communities.
Year after year, we continue to plant new trees, our attempt to enhance the countryside and positively encourage biodiversity; the web of life.
Thankfully, we are now all more aware, than ever before, of the devastating impact of plastic on our oceans and the need for more trees to filter air pollution and help eliminate carbon & other greenhouse gases, in order to reduce the ozone levels that have a damaging effect on the climate.
The shop, run by Ben and Hana, offers locally sourced quality meats, eggs and organic milk in reusable bottles, fresh baked bread and veg boxes to order, frozen vegan, vegetarian and meat pies. The aim is to cut down on plastics and so Ben and Hana weigh out some staples such as rice, nuts seeds and legumes.
https://us6.campaign-archive.com/?e=&u=7596635191e0729b545b6e419&id=63a2b09455
June 2019
On a warm sunny evening, with spectators watching on, the captains of the Alscot X1 and Yelo X1 strode out to the excellent looking wicket at Alscot Park. On winning the toss , Alscot skipper, James Holman-West, nominated to bat. On went the bails and off went the team into the T20 friendly match.
June 2018
The 10 year project that has seen the 18th century Ha-Ha completely rebuilt is finally finished! Admittedly, it shouldn’t have taken 10 years but there is the small matter of an Estate to run that comprises another 200 properties to look after.
A Ha-Ha is an ingenious piece of engineering that gives the viewer of the garden the illusion of an unbroken, continuous rolling lawn, whilst providing boundaries for grazing livestock.
To our visitors delight, whether a botanist, horticulturist or those that simply have a genuine interest in beautiful gardens, the newly established Ziggy garden and recently planted parkland, both featured this year in our popular annual event; Alscot's Alternative to Chelsea.
Held over two days on 12th & 13th June, it was damp but the grounds and gardens looked stunning and were very well received by the 180 visitors.
In February 2019 feature writer and editor Gill Sutherland met with Emma, at Alscot Park, to discuss the Parkland Restoration Project and to see the progress of the planting for herself. The interview formed a feature that appears in the March 2019 edition of the Stratford Herald Focus Magazine.
Front cover features Emma with two of her three children, James and Isla Holman-West.
Following an Environment Agency Survey and a Heritage Statement that was passed by SDC works took place in December to repair the weir and create an eel pass. Some 70 sheets of tracking was laid in order to protect the parkland from heavy plant machinery. Luckily water levels remained low the works went ahead as scheduled. An eel pass provides assistance to migrating eels travelling up stream where they would normally encounter obstructions such as the weir.
Photo; circa 1800
