DIARY – ALPACA EXPERIENCE AT BUTLERS FARM IN ESSEX
SUNDAY 29 JULY 2018
This is my walking companion, Lemon Puff (aka Puffy) |
Useful Links: Butlers Farm Alpacas’ website: http://www.butlersfarmalpacas.co.uk/ The Alpaca Shop: |
The Alpaca Experience at Butlers Farm in Essex
had been purchased by my work colleagues for my birthday. The guys had also done an alpaca adoption
for me; a dark brown female alpaca named Fab who I
would have the opportunity to meet during my visit. Many alpaca breeders use a naming ‘theme’ for their baby alpacas (crias) each year – during Fab’s
birthday year it was iced lollies, as the other two alpacas available to
adopt were fawn-coloured Solero and grey Tutti Frutti. Having been suffering from foot and pelvis issues
for a number of months, I delayed making the booking until early May; the
date I decided upon was Sunday 29 July, starting at 10:00. I wanted to miss
the sometimes unbearable temperatures of early to mid July, and also the
often fickle weather days of August.
Sunday was best, as racing stable yard visits always took place on a
Saturday morning and I didn’t want any outings to clash. And morning was preferred as the traffic on
the roads would be lighter, thus making it easier to arrive on time. As it turned out, late June and all bar the final
days of July in 2018 had been very hot and devoid of rainfall in my local
area. In fact the rainiest day of July
was ... 29 July!!! Storms had arrived
late on Friday 27 July, with strong winds and showers the following day. There were spots of rain on the windows as
Sunday dawned, but there was only light rain when I set off; this would get
decidedly heavier during the morning.
The outfit I chose to wear was a pair of
burgundy-coloured M & S jeggings, a grey with
blue horizontal stripes long-sleeved tunic, a navy blue fleece, a blue with
white butterfly print snood, a silver grey water-proof Cotton Traders jacket,
brown M & S Footglove ankle boots to drive in,
with black M & S snow-boots to wear whilst walking an alpaca. My
valuables were carried in a small pink rucksack, which I’d bought from Milletts around 15 years ago. Although my jacket did have a hood, I took my
brown bush-hat too. I wore a pair of
blue and silver butterfly-wing earrings.
Originally, I’d put on a navy blue fleece gillet
but, having ventured outside just before departure, I decided it was too
chilly to wear a sleeve-less fleece. I left home at 08:30 as, according to Google
Maps, it would take just under an hour to reach my destination. I travelled out via the Highfield
Park area, before heading to the London Colney
roundabout. Having reached the
roundabout, I was dismayed to see long lines of traffic cones, and the
traffic lights weren’t functioning either.
Thank goodness the traffic flow was light early on a Sunday morning. I subsequently headed down the dual carriageway
of the London Colney bypass to join the M25
clockwise carriageway at junction 22; I also mulled over my return route into
St Albans if I came back along the motorway and wished to avoid the London Colney roundabout altogether. Anyway, I headed along the M25 to junction 27,
passing through the Holmesdale tunnel close to Waltham Cross and a second
tunnel close to Epping Forest. Not
long after this second tunnel, I took the slip-road to join the northbound carriageway
of the M11. I subsequently left the
motorway at the junction 7, which was the first junction I encountered. I headed up the slip-road, navigated around a
large traffic island before heading east upon the A414. The first section of this road had been
resurfaced recently; signs warned about the absence of road markings. The road meandered through the Essex
countryside where, further along, I caught sight of a country house to the
left-hand side of the road. It was
named Blake Hall, and a billboard advertised the house as a wedding venue. A roundabout and residential surroundings
signified the market town of Chipping Ongar; Chipping means ‘a market/market-place’
and Ongar means ‘grass land’. I continued upon the A414 and was now
seeking my next landmark – the Norton Heath Service Station to the right-hand
side of the road. Shortly afterwards,
to the left was the lane which led into Norton Heath Village; I remained upon
the A-road. The next left-hand turn
was Bassett’s Lane, which was an option, but I had decided to take the
following lane to the left, which led to Radley
Green. Having driven past a number of residential
properties on the left, including a black-coloured barn conversion, I
continued to a row of cottages situated on my right. Opposite these was a lane, which I
followed; however, I was running a little bit early as it was only 09:20, so
I stopped just short of a T-junction where my chosen route joined the earlier
mentioned Bassett’s Lane. There was room for vehicles to pass by me, so I
switched off the engine, windscreen wipers and headlights. It had been
raining quite heavily for the latter part of my journey; my car windows also
began to steam up. Whilst I was
waiting, a cyclist passed by heading in the opposite direction, plus one
car. I reactivated the engine at
09:42, switched on the fan in order to clear the windscreen, and continued to
the T-junction at the end of the lane.
I took a right, and headed down to the next junction; the gateway to
Butlers Farm was here on the right. The farm is run by Liz and Ian Giblin, and Liz was on the doorstep of the farmhouse,
putting on her jacket and boots; I waved in greeting as I drove by. There was a parking bay for three cars
adjacent to the gravel drive and I parked in the final spot available. Later
arrivals parked on the adjacent lawn, or elsewhere on the driveway. There were a number of ducks waddling
around the area; there was a small pond just inside the gate. Having changed into my snow-boots and put on my
Cotton Traders waterproof jacket, I headed across to a group of people who
had congregated in a car-shelter area, adjacent to the shop, and Liz ticked
my name off her attendees list. She
explained that Fab had been sold since I booked my
walk, but there were still plenty of alpacas in need of a human walking
companion. Never mind, it does happen;
Abbots View Farm had recently sold three of their sponsored alpacas, as a
group. We headed into the farm shop, where Liz gave a
brief talk about the alpacas whilst we waited for ‘stragglers’ to arrive.
There were all manner of items to purchase, for every size of
purse. My main interest was finding
one or maybe two depending on the colour available, alpaca scarf pins – these
are made in Peru from bull’s horn and measure 3.5” x 3.5”. I found them and would make a purchase
following the walk. We headed outside once everyone had arrived, but
not before I’d spent a penny … I loved their alpaca-themed loo seat … I want
one! We had been asked to step into a
boot-sized container of disinfectant before venturing into the paddocks; so I
complied with this request at this point.
The first paddock we entered was full of male
alpacas; ranging in age from one to five.
Our host was hoping that one or two would become stud males in due
course. It was feeding time and the
boys made their way across to the trough.
I particularly liked a grey one named Earl Grey; he was actually very
dark grey and white, having four white stockings. Also in the paddock was Tatty, a three-legged
alpaca. He’d lost his left-hind
following an encounter with a Rottweiler, before he’d come to live at Butlers
Farm. He could stand on three legs,
but had difficulty in walking, preferring to use his stump and hock. However, Liz said he was still the leader
of this particular group despite his disability, and his health continued to
be good. There was an alpaca named Icy, because of his
blue eyes; he’s an albino alpaca and, as such, is deaf. Next, we entered the paddock where the baby
alpacas (known as crias) lived with their mums; one
was only a few days old. There was a
lovely black one, with white patches (officially a grey?), who was very
inquisitive and came across to see us.
Liz explained that alpacas can breed at any time of the year and the
gestation period can vary wildly; the guideline being 11 months. These camelids
can even delay the birth until the next day, having gone into labour, if they
don’t feel the time is right. Alpacas
are usually born in the morning, which is the most suitable time with regard
to avoiding natural predators. Many of
the Butlers Farm females were currently taking time out from motherhood. Having spent time watching the mums with their crias, we headed down to a shed where the ‘walking companion’ females were being housed. Butlers Farm used their females as walking
companions, whereas Abbots View Farm used their males. Solero and Tutti Fruiti were caught and
the head-collars handed over to their respective adopters. My alpaca was a fawn-coloured one named
Lemon Puff (Puffy for short). Those
alpacas without a companion were then allowed to go out into an adjacent
paddock. It was now time for us to begin our walk. Some alpacas are leaders, others are
followers; so, having led our respective alpacas out of the shelter, we
sorted ourselves into an order which best suited their individual
natures. I was fourth in line as we
headed back up the field to where the mothers and babies were settled. In the far corner of the field there was a
narrow gateway which led onto a footpath. We headed out through the gate, turning left to
continue along a narrow track beside a further paddock; there were more
alpacas in there. Rather than walk
beside our alpaca, we each endeavoured to walk slightly ahead of them, to
avoid one or both slipping into the ditch to our right! Further on we turned a corner, still
following the line of the paddock fence.
At the far end was a wooden bridge over a ditch. However, we were able to step into said
ditch and out the other side again, there having been little rain until
today; besides, the bridge surface was a little slippery. We exited into a wheat field and waited for
everyone in the group to catch up. The
alpacas were allowed to graze on their surroundings if they wished; Liz said
they knew what they should eat and what they shouldn’t eat! We then headed down the side of the field,
to our left. At the bottom we stopped
for a while, in order to take photographs with our alpaca companions. Liz had also brought a bag of food with
her, so she gave each of us two handfuls thereof so that we could feed our
own alpaca. She had earlier told me
that it didn’t take long to halter train the animals, although they all
varied in this respect. We didn’t venture any further, instead we turned
around and headed back up the field once more; our return journey had
commenced. There was a wooden jump in
our path, which we’d gone around on the way down; this time we were given the
option of asking our alpaca to jump it.
A number went around the jump, a number jumped it and a couple which
were asked to jump it, refused … including Lemon Puff! Anyway, having returned to the gap in the hedge
where the wooden bridge was sited, we headed into the ditch and out again,
before following the footpath beside the paddock rails, all the way back to
the narrow gate into the mums and babies paddock. Having entered this area we returned down
the hill to the shelter once more; a number of the alpacas stopped off for a
comfort break part way down the field, including Puffy! We led our alpacas into the shelter and removed
their head-collars. Once all of the
alpacas were loose, Liz let them join the females in the adjacent paddock;
the one for non-pregnant alpacas. She
also pointed out a dark brown alpaca which was penned up in a ‘hospital’ area. She’d recently undergone a caesarean
operation, but had lost her cria. Liz said she was making good progress and
eating well despite this setback. Walk completed, we headed back through the boys’
paddock and out into the driveway area.
The rain had continued for much of the visit, to a greater or lesser
extent, but it had not spoiled the enjoyment; to moan about the rain after
such a long dry spell of hot weather would have seemed ungrateful! The majority of the group headed back into the
shop, taking time out to either sanitise our hands or wash them in the basin
within the loo. I did the former, as I
got fed up with waiting in a queue! Liz gave a brief talk about the shop products,
which can also be purchased online. She
said they will knit items to order these days, rather than knit them hoping
for a buyer. Many of the products are
produced from alpacas whose life has naturally ended, rather than animals
being killed to produce items. I rummaged through the bowl containing the scarf
pins and couldn’t make up my mind as to my favourite coloured ones … so I
bought three! I also bought two pens,
each with a mini alpaca at the top, along with a very small fawn-coloured
alpaca ‘toy’ which I’ve named Lemon
Puff of course! Having also enjoyed a welcomed cup of tea, I left
at around 12:45, and headed back to the main road via my inbound route. Another of the visitors took the same route
just ahead of me but, whereas I turned right having reached the A414, they
turned left to head in the direction of Chelmsford. I continued on the route through Chipping Ongar
and onwards to Junction 7 of the M11; I’d decided to follow the A414 all the
way back to Hatfield, but I did notice that speeds upon the motorway were
reduced to 40mph. My route took me north into Harlow. I was progressing well until I encountered
road-works on the final section of my northbound route. It was stop start stop start to the roundabout
prior to the beginning of Edinburgh Way and part way along the latter too. It soon became apparent that the entire hold-up
had been caused by temporary traffic lights at the entrance to Tesco’s! And the annoying thing was, that for part
of the time that the lights were showing green for the retail store traffic,
there were no vehicles using the roadway to exit onto Edinburgh Way; in other
words, the time phasing was completely wrong.
This had delayed my home journey by 20 minutes. It’s a shame I didn’t know the area,
otherwise I’m sure I could have easily found a way to bypass the traffic
jam. Having finally cleared these traffic lights, I
had a clear run to the far end of Edinburgh Way, before turning right into
Fifth Avenue. I had soon crossed over
a railway line, plus two separate branches of the River Stort
before arriving at another large roundabout; I turned left to continue upon
the A414 Eastwick Road dual carriageway. I passed over the River Lee before arriving
at a further roundabout. As I was following the A414 signage, I was
subsequently directed down a short section of dual carriageway in order to
join the northbound carriageway of the A10.
I left the A10 dual carriageway at the next junction to continue upon
the A414 into Hertford. I was now on
fairly familiar territory, having visited Hertford to undertake a variety of
rambling routes from Hertfordshire’s County Town back in the day. The A414 is a dual carriageway which skirts the
centre of Hertford, subsequently narrowing to head under a grey brick railway
bridge; there was a stationary train on the bridge – evidently the sidings
straddle the road at this point. The
A-road becomes a dual carriageway again shortly afterwards and continues,
through a series of roundabouts to Hatfield.
I headed under the A1000 and around a long-about before arriving at the
large roundabout outside Tesco’s at Oldings
Corner. There were three lanes on the
approach to the roundabout; a white car was stranded in the middle lane at
this point. However, this didn’t affect me, as I had decided
to turn right at this roundabout, leaving the A414, in order to head down the
A6129 towards Stanborough Lakes. I turned left at
the bottom of the hill, to travel under the A1(M)
bridge to a further roundabout. I then
continued straight ahead in order to enter Coopers Green Lane. I traversed a roundabout at the top of the
hill, continuing along the route as it passed the entrance to Astwick Manor. A little further along I
encountered road-works, just before Woodcock Hill, with temporary traffic
signals controlling the movement of vehicles; workmen were in action upon the
other carriageway, despite this being a Sunday. Having been held briefly, I was soon on my
way once more. At the far end is a
roundabout where Coopers Green Lane joins Oaklands
Lane to the left and Sandpit Lane to the right; I turned right to head up
Sandpit Lane. I crossed a further
roundabout, at the entrance to House Lane, in order to continue in the
direction of the City Centre. I was surprised to see that construction work on
a new housing estate planned within the grounds of the local agricultural
college had already commenced; as if we don’t have enough people causing
pressure on public amenities in my home city, not to mention additional
traffic on the already over-burdened roads during the rush hour. Nimby!!! Anyway, I continued on my journey and reached home at 14:10. All in all, I had a very enjoyable Alpaca
Experience at Butlers Farm ... and I didn’t even mind the fact that it was
raining! I would thoroughly recommend
a visit if you wish to find out more about these fascinating creatures. |
PHOTOS – Visit to Butlers Farm in Essex (walking an alpaca) |