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Winners in the Devon Tourism Awards!

Celebrating the Devon Tourism Awards 2019

Silver award logo, Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable, Devon Tourism Awards 2019

Yesterday the Devon Tourism Awards were announced. We’re delighted that Wheatland Farm has added to its trophy collection: the Silver in the Ethical Responsible and Sustainable Award (and commended in the Self Catering Category). It was the 10th Anniversary awards – and we were reminded that we were there at the beginning too, winning Silver back in 2009/10 (and some Golds in the intervening years). We’ve just checked, and in the past 10 years we’ve won over 10 awards for green holidays. So we’re thrilled to celebrate a whole decade at the top of genuinely sustainable tourism!

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10 Tips To Act on Climate Change

Shows the wind turbine at Wheatland Farm's Devon Eco Lodges

Winkleigh has joined many other Devon parishes in declaring a climate emergency. As a starting point, Winkleigh’s environmental action group has asked its members to list their top ten tips for taking action. So here’s Wheatland Farm’s suggestions.

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Afternoon tea for vegan guests staying at Wheatland Farm

Vegan chocolate cakes - an alternative to Devon scones at Wheatland Farm

Guests coming to Wheatland Farm this summer are asking where they can get a vegan cream tea. So we’ve started the search…

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Make a Splash at the North Devon Wake Park

Rain or shine (well, you’re going to get wet anyway…) the inflatables or wake boarding at the North Devon Wake Park are great fun for kids and adults.

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An Independent Trip Into Exeter

Sometimes not everyone on holiday wants to do the same thing. Sometimes kids are growing up and want a bit more space. So we thought we’d ask the boys to do a series of short videos about their independent Devon days out. Here, they go into Exeter to the cinema.

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Marbled White Butterfly

We spotted this stunning marbled white butterfly in front of Balebarn Lodge this morning. We think this is a male. We’d rather it was a female so we got some more butterflies… So here’s to hoping he finds a mate.

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Peacock butterfly caterpillars munching nettles

We promise this clip isn’t speeded up! The peacock butterfly caterpillars are munching their way through the nettles near the Wheatland Farm wildlife pond. Soon we’ll have fresh adults flying in the lodge field.

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Bumblebees Revelling In Poppy Pollen

Each sunny morning, more poppies flower by the Wheatland Farmhouse, and the bumblebees seem to be almost drunk with delight! The buzz in this video clip is the glorious sound of our Devon summer.

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#30DaysWild No. 30 Wild camping on Dartmoor

It was a last minute decision – a late afternoon walk on Dartmoor, an overnight bivvy, and back to Wheatland Farm in time for morning coffee.

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#30DaysWild No. 29 Caterpillars are out-pacing plant growth!

#30DaysWild No. 29. We might have been too successful in attracting wildlife to the lodges. We bought these little alder buckthorn plants because the larvae of brimstone butterflies eat them, and we wanted more butterflies at Wheatland Farm.

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#30DaysWild No. 28. More than just a puddle

This is one of the scrapes we dug last year. They’re still muddy, and it will be a while before they bursting their banks with tall reeds, but already they are attracting 6 species of dragon- and damselflies, as well as supporting baby frogs.

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#TheTimeIsNow and #30DaysWild No. 26

#30DaysWild No. 26. Today was #TheTimeIsNo mass lobby of MPs in Westminster. Organised by a coalition of major charities, including WWF, RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, Woodland Trust, several faith-based development charities etc etc, it called for strong action on the twin issues of climate change and nature recovery. We felt we had to be part of it.

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#30DaysWild No. 25 Learning from Devon farmers

#30DaysWild No. 25 Today’s action for nature is to learn from others – Ian is attending a workshop on managing soft rush at Rose Ash Farm, run by Cyril Cole.

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#30DaysWild No. 23 Waiting out the rain

#30DaysWild No. 23. Sometimes it rains. Well, it has to. Even in Devon. So we wait, like this bumblebee. At least the plants are getting watered and the ponds topped up.

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#30DaysWild No. 22 Summer is about butterflies

Another spectacular day – and another ‘new for the summer’ butterfly at Wheatland Farm. Small tortoiseshell are flying over Popehouse Moor.

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#30DaysWild. No. 21 Happy Summer Solstice!

#30DaysWild No. 21 and it’s the longest day. So at Wheatland Farm we’re celebrating the roses of the summer – the wild ones. Happy Solstice!

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#30DaysWild No. 20. Ten minutes of bumblebee watching

Today’s #30DaysWild random act of wildness was to spend 10 minutes looking for bumblebees on the marsh thistles around Wheatland Farm’s wildlife pond. We found garden, red tailed, tree, white/buff tailed bumblebees. But what is this?

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#30DaysWild No. 18 Visiting the Cows

#30DaysWild No. 18. Today’s wildness was to spend a few moments with the cows. Agricultural rather than wild, you might think, but they are doing a valuable conservation job for us at Wheatland Farm.

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