Feeding the Birds

In different areas of Crag House Farm, bird feeding stations have been installed to enable us to feed the birds regularly. This task becomes especially important as the weather worsens and the hours of daylight shorten. 

We are thrilled to have sizeable colonies of tree sparrows here at Crag House Farm, the home of Caring For Life. Tree sparrows are still on the Red List for Birds of Conservation Concern and we are encouraged by how well they are flourishing in the environment here, due to nesting sites, nest boxes and habitat creation, as well as regular feeding of a suitable birdseed. 

The feeding stations are frequented by lots of other birds as well, and seeing birds feeding quietly is something that visitors to the site can enjoy, as well as those on therapeutic projects at Caring For Life, who help to top up the feeders.

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Playing A Crucial Part

Corporate volunteers from HSBC came along to Caring For Life this week to play a crucial part in the preparations for Christmas. Sorting countless tins of food might not sound or look very Christmassy, but this is one step in the process of giving over 100 people an incredibly special Christmas.

Kind churches, schools, individuals, Scout groups, children’s nurseries and other organisations which donate food at harvest time, make all this possible. Staff and volunteers undertake the initial, mammoth task of sorting food.

Our kind HSBC volunteers sorted tins this week, ready for Christmas hamper packing. Soon, other corporate volunteers will be making up the actual Christmas food hampers. Then our Being There housing support team swing into action and deliver hampers and gifts. 

Only those who deliver the hampers see the reaction on people’s faces as they receive this lovely gift, but many people have played an absolutely crucial part in enabling this to happen.

To everyone, we say a very big, special thank you!!

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Unearthing the Past

One of the young men who attends the Agriculture Project here at Crag House Farm got quite a surprise a couple of months ago, when helping to shift rubble to clear a small area of land. Something which he spotted in with mounds of earth and stones, turned out to be something really special; an almost entire clay pipe. Pipe bowls or stems have sometimes been discovered on the Farm, particularly when ploughing land or repairing drystone walls, but never one in as good a condition as this.

Old clay pipe found by our Agriculture Team.

Having sought advice on cleaning the pipe, (being grateful to have a trustee who was formerly a museum curator), the pipe was carefully handed over to our very own “Repair Shop”, otherwise known as the Art Shop Project here at Caring For Life. They did a wonderful, delicate job of restoring it and the clay pipe now looks magnificent, showing something of the markings of use around the bowl, and clearly showing the spur underneath.

Although we cannot be clear as to the exact age of the clay pipe, it is thrilling to be able to see something which was once used by someone working here at Crag House Farm. It appears to have been a good quality pipe, and someone must have been sorry to realise they had lost it! 

With all the history attached to Crag House Farm, it is unsurprising that we find objects such as this beautiful pipe, occasionally coins, old field drains and even a quern-stone. 

Farming activities have taken place here for centuries, and it is rather wonderful to see how a little piece of history was unearthed by a young man now working on the Agriculture Project here at Caring For Life. Crag House Farm is providing a safe haven and a sense of belonging for so many people, and we thank God for this.

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