Welcome to the Boswell Farm Journal
adventures, daily life, thoughts and reflections from the beautiful Sweetcombe Valley

Rafiki and Cordelia in the wheatfield

Walking the dogs has been such a pleasure recently, as the farmer has been cutting the long stalk wheat. I do love to see it stacked in the traditional stoop way, drying in the warm summer air.

Boswell Farm, of course, is steeped in tradition, and many years ago, all this wheat would have been brought into our threshing barn for the very energetic (and somewhat dangerous) activity of  threshing. The men would swing huge threshing flails and strike the wheat on the threshing floor to loosen the edible grain from the chaff that surrounds it, before winnowing and sending to the mill – also here at Boswell Farm.

The threshing barn at Boswell Farm has been here since 1760  and is a grade two listed building. It is also a bank barn – accessible on two separate levels, and built into the side of a hill. It is reputed to be the only Bank Threshing Barn still standing on its original stone monastic pillars.

This whole area of course is important for agricultural history – not too many miles east is the village of Tolpuddle, famous for the Tolpuddle Martyrs,  and with a most fascinating museum – perfect for rainy days, or day trips to Dorset.

Meanwhile, in less turbulent times, my dogs, my grand-daughter and I, and all our guests at Boswell Farm,  can just delight in the glorious summer weather, with some of those traditional skills still on view, as we go walking on a balmy august evening …

Underhooken, taken from near the top

Well, we’re back home now in Wales, and it’s raining outside, so I thought I’d write a bit for the Boswell Farm blog – sorry journal!

We had a fantastic week at Boswell Farm in the middle of May – our second stay there. Luckily the weather was very kind – my sister even braved the sea, but one of the high points for me was a walk through the Underhooken – an atmospheric and very beautiful section of the East Devon Coast Path.

The area was created by a massive landslip in the 1700s, and is now a lush canyon between the main cliff and the remains of the old cliff. We actually walked there twice  – it was so good, walking along the beach from Branscombe and then up the very dramatic path to the top of the cliff.

Wilsons - lurking in the trees!

The views are spectacular and there are plenty of stopping off places to sit for a rest. I was so spellbound the first time that I didn’t notice the climb, and it was only when the bracing clifftop wind hit me that I realised we were near the top.

Once on the clifftop we turned left and headed back westwards toward Branscombe for a drink and a meal, but you can go the other way down to Beer.

I think if you’re at Boswell Farm you won’t be short of things to do, but if you’re looking for a simply stunning local walk that’s not too strenuous, I would wholeheartedly recommend this one! It’s just a couple of miles from the cottages too.