Ilderton Dod Barns

12/01/2025

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "This week me, Drew, Mummy and Daddy went on tour to Cumbria, where it was even colder than at home. We did lots of fun stuff, but also went to Penrith mart during the cull ewe sale. It's a bit of a family tradition visiting marts to see the variation of breeds, different selling styles, and the prices this week were unbelievably high.
On the way home we made it to the new play barn at Brockbushes Farm Shop which Drew had been to before without me. There's a huge soft play, outdoor park (closed this week due to the weather) and a few rooms with dressing up clothes. We loved it, and the oldies enjoyed their lunch, and the farm shop. It's an hour from home, but a great stopover on the way back.
Back at home, Granda, Emily and Stephen spent a lot of the week defrosting water troughs, feeding hay to sheep and just trying to get to The Dod. I think we're all glad it's warming up now!" We Accept Pets Northumberland National Park Visit Northumberland Independent Hostel Guide

05/01/2025

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "For once, we actually observed a bank holiday, mainly because the weather was so cold and wet! But the rest of the week has been full on - weighing, shedding and giving mineral medicine to our fattening lambs, more work on our sheep pens, and a ridiculous amount of time electric fencing a field of radishes that we're renting to put some lambs on for a month or so!
We had just enough snow this morning to get our sledges out, but mainly it's just been cold and icy. This made us stay local this week - Mummy was lucky to get takeaway from Milan Restaurant in Wooler on Hogmanay, then ate in there last night. Perhaps she felt guilty, because she then took us all to Doddington Dairy Milk Bar for lunch today!
Hardly a tourist attraction, but yesterday me, Mummy and Drew experienced the sights of Wooler on the Hoppa bus around town! It's designed to help people get up to the shops in the High Street, post parcels at the Haugh Head, get to work on the industrial estate etc, but it was a very interesting 45 minutes and we even found a few corners of the town we'd never been to before, all for £1! We Accept Pets Northumberland National Park Visit Northumberland Independent Hostel Guide

30/12/2024

We're always grateful for Biddy and the team's 'open all hours' attitude so hopefully we'll continue our tradition of making it our first cafe trip of the year, after checking sheep of course!

With only 2 weeks to go until Christmas Day, we are feeling pretty festive in the cafe! We’ll take a well earned break over the Christmas holiday but will be open as normal, from 10-4, every other day including New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Wishing everyone a lovely festive season 🎄🎅🏼❄️

29/12/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "Mummy obviously couldn't think of anything else to do on Christmas Eve but go through the last group of cattle. She checked all the heifers to sell to make sure they aren't going to have calves, and decided which old cows we're going to sell. There were 5 to cut horns off which I've never seen before - ours are all born without horns but these ones were bought in last summer.
We've had a few days off this week but one of our biggest adventures recently was to Beamish Museum just south of Newcastle. It's over an hour away but we were so excited, it flew by. There are lots of old fashioned villages with shops, houses, a station, a cinema, a farm, a church and, best of all....a fairground! We went on a tram in between the villages - our first time ever. There's so much to see that Mummy says we can use our ticket again to go back, this time on a warmer day!
We hope you all had a great Christmas. Happy New Year and hopefully you can all come and visit The Dod this year." We Accept Pets Northumberland National Park Independent Hostel Guide Visit Northumberland

22/12/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "We had another day of cattle work this week - Mummy stuck her hand in the cows' bottoms to see if they are going to have a calf soon, Emily gave them a vaccination and they got a big mineral pill again. Rosco, our bull, has worked well but I don't think he's very happy having to live with all the girls that are already pregnant for the next few months! Daddy finished putting up our new cameras so we're ready to watch the cows on TV at calving time!
Our shepherding skills were needed yesterday for the Wooler Walking Nativity Play, along with Granny B. Luckily I've been practicing my Christmas songs at school so I could tell Drew the words. It was very cold so I was glad when we went into the church afterwards to see the 30 Christmas trees decorated by people and businesses around Wooler, and to eat all the biscuits and mince pies on offer! Today was a quieter day - a visit to a Christmas market at Beadnell then to The courtyard coffee shop for lunch (unfortunately we were too full for cake this time), then we discovered a new park!" Visit Northumberland We Accept Pets Independent Hostel Guide Northumberland National Park

17/12/2024

17/12/2024

Ingram Cafe, a vital supporter of the Cheviot Goat Ultra, was deeply affected by the race's cancellation due to Storm Darragh. Prepared to cater for over 300 people, they suffered a significant loss when the event was called off. This incident echoes the aftermath of the 2021 cancellation due to Storm Arwen which saw the cafe suffer similar losses.

https://buymeacoffee.com/ingramcafe

As the race's finish line, Biddy and her team at Ingram Cafe dedicate their weekend to serving runners and support crew. The cafe also doubles as a field hospital, reviving many weary participants. It's hard to envision the race without their invaluable support.

To express our gratitude and assist Ingram Cafe in recovering from this unexpected setback, we've created a "Buy me a coffee" page. Any contribution you are able to make will directly support this wonderful local business.

Thank you.

15/12/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "This week, we eventually got round to sorting through the calves, and some yearlings. Daddy gave them a haircut to make them look pretty, and stop them getting sweaty, we gave them pour-on wormer, and Mummy did a new test on blood from their nose to check we didn't need to treat them for liver fluke. They were moved up to Granny B's house so there was space to bring all the cows from The Dod shed to our house. In between, work has carried on with the new sheep pens.
Today we made the most of the warm, dry weather and headed to the seaside - lunch, walk, park...you know our routine, but only I was brave enough to paddle! That tied in perfectly with seeing the Christmas tractor run leaving Berwick Rugby Club - probably more tractors than we've ever seen in 1 place before, and definitely more with sparkly lights and noisy horns than Drew could even dream of!" We Accept Pets Independent Hostel Guide Visit Northumberland Northumberland National Park

08/12/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "What a week - some lovely, sunny weather so Mummy, Emily and my apprentice, Drew, could worm more lambs plus the lambs we'll keep to be mummy sheep, followed by disgusting wet and windy weather making us want to stay inside. Fortunately there are always some indoor jobs to do; Mummy redecorated the kitchen of Cuckoo Cottage, Daddy had to replace the TV there, then there's the ongoing sheep pen building project.
A tummy bug during the week, plus the weather stopped some of our adventures this weekend but thanks to Laughing Ducks Soft Play we still got a trip out for lunch, soft play, play park plus the lights of Coldstream, including the fantastic Rickerby Ltd tractor on the way home - it made Drew's day!" We Accept Pets Northumberland National Park Independent Hostel Guide Visit Northumberland

07/12/2024

Are you looking to find a wintry walk for the snowy season? Check out this map of guided walks that are taking place all across the National Park over the next couple of weeks. Each walk will show you a different and unique area of the park, from the rolling hills of The Cheviots in the north to archaeological sites along Hadrian's Wall in the south.

To book onto these guided walks, visit the 'What's On' page on our website.

01/12/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "Daddy has now started constructing our new sheep pens at home, which Mummy and Emily are very excited about having spent so much time recently in the current, well-used set up we have! Daddy loves building things with metal and on Monday, we all went to help put up the Christmas tree he made years ago, in Wooler marketplace. We've walked past it almost every day since in the dark, and this afternoon it took centre stage when Santa came to Wooler! I think he came because he'd heard it was Wooler Christmas shopping day with lots of the shops opening on Sunday, plus a Christmas fair in the Cheviot Centre. We managed to fit in a fantastic lunch at The Terrace Cafe - Wooler in between all this.
Next weekend, our social life will centre around Ingram Cafe when it opens overnight to provide food for runners and supporters on the Montane Cheviot Goat Ultra - a 50 mile race through the hills surrounding The Dod - sounds like fun, but Mummy says my legs are still too short to get through the bogs!" Northumberland National Park Independent Hostel Guide Visit Northumberland We Accept Pets

28/11/2024

28/11/2024

❄️𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐔𝐬❄️
For us to be in with a chance to receive up to £1000 funding towards our annual 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲!
We are kindly asking you to nominate the 𝐆𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 for the 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝟏𝟐 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐰! It costs £33,000 to stage the CCD each year and we are very grateful for any additional funding/donations towards the running costs of the event.
It only takes a minute to nominate us and it could make a huge difference! To enable us to continue running this interactive and educational event, supporting children across the Northeast!
Please click on the link below to show your support and nominate
Thank You!
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24/11/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "From picnicking in the sun last week to clearing snow this week, it's been quite a change! Mummy and Emily went through about 500 lambs vaccinating them against pneumonia and treating lame ones, probably too late before the weather turned and made both these problems worse. There were a lot of logs chopped this week and gates painted to get more sheds ready for cattle to move down from the shed at The Dod, to Wooler.
Last night, Mummy, Daddy and their friends were very grateful for a yummy and warming meal at The Oaks Hotel Alnwick - we missed out on that one, but they did at least take us out for lunch today at The Morpeth Larder! Our huge bowl of tomato soup fuelled us around the Christmas trail, looking for stamps in the windows of 26 shops. We couldn't resist the play park, but we cut that visit short to pick up our free hot chocolate at The Pavillion where we posted our entry to the trail competition, along with our letter to Santa. Then, we couldn't resist another walk around the bright lights of the town!" Visit Northumberland Northumberland National Park Independent Hostel Guide We Accept Pets

17/11/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "Back to non-stop sheep work this week; all 800 sheep at The Dod were through the pens for clipping bums and mineral pills, then again a few days later for the dipping men. They all got a bath to kill ticks, lice and mites before the tups go out. Mummy and Drew helped with this, most days after fighting with the electric fence on the kale field at home which the lambs kept getting through!
We've had our own adventures this week, but we've not visited as many castles as Mummy has; the Christmas Extravaganza at Bamburgh Castle at a Visit Northumberland networking event on Wednesday, then a ghost tour at Chillingham Castle on Thursday. Me and Drew have been to Chillingham Castle before, but I'm not sure I'd like to go in the dark!" We Accept Pets Northumberland National Park Independent Hostel Guide

10/11/2024

Ella's Adventures in Northumberland - "After weeks of sheep work, this week we added in some cattle work too - bringing home the 18 month old cattle from the hills at The Dod to the sheds at Wooler, to feed them up before we sell them over the winter. The mummies and young calves are still outside for now and they're enjoying the sunny, warm autumn so far.
Mummy and Daddy also did a carbon audit this week - I'm not sure what that means, but they say all businesses will have to do one eventually. I just know it involved Daddy's least favourite job - paperwork!
We had a day out with Granny G and Grandpa today, but Mummy and Daddy managed to break off from work to have a nice breakfast at The Running Fox - maybe they'll remember to take us next time!" Visit Northumberland We Accept Pets Northumberland National Park Independent Hostel Guide