For the last twenty years boarding pupils have been able to bring a pet to school. They have to care for their pet themselves, feeding and cleaning out etc., In the past the only facility we provided for pets was to house them in an old redundant greenhouse. Clearly this was not the best accommodation for pets, being cold in winter and hot in the summer due to all the glass. Part of the Governments drive to get more young people employable is to introduce a whole range of vocational courses at Schools and Colleges of Further education up and down the country. A popular vocational course in country based Educational Establishments is "Animal Care".

We realised we were half way there with all our horses and pets. One of our planning applications is for a proper pet and animal care area. Our new area will not be large, single storey and contain a classroom for teaching Animal Care as a vocational qualification. It will also contain small areas for pets and other animals. We believe this new area will be very popular with children. Our new Animal Care facility will teach children how to properly care for animals, how to cope with unwell animals, feeding, diet and exercise. As part of our Estate we have an area which is mainly wooded and about 8 acres in size. This is walled on three sides with a wall shortly to be lowered to be no more than 2m high. When we first bought the Estate this area had deer in it but regrettably local poachers eventually finished all of them off. We intend to re-introduce deer into this area and create a deer proof fence across the fourth side. The care of deer and raising of same will be part of our Animal Care course. As you can therefore see, what with normal horses, shire horses, a variety of rabbits and other animals indigenous to the countryside plus deer, our College is working hard to ensure the next generation has a proper understanding of life in the countryside.

When we host visiting groups we see children who come from inner cities who have never been up close to a horse, never seen a real live chicken, never held a rabbit. As for sheep, cattle and fields full of arable crops - you may think it amusing but some of them really do not understand where their food comes from. In our small way we are able to educate these children to realise that the countryside is indeed a vital part of life. There is often a very wide gap between "city folk" and "country folk". It is a long held belief of those of us who live in the countryside that people who live in big towns and cities do not realise the importance of the countryside and thus they and central government see no need to invest in the resources, facilities and infrastructure that means the countryside can properly exist and survive.