Estate Work carried out by Scouts.

Over the weekends of 26th - 28th November and 3rd-5th December we had Scout groups from 1st Buxton & Lammas and 1st Hainford & Frettenham staying at Whitwell. Both groups completed estate work whilst staying at Whitwell as part of their Global Conservation badge. Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and leaders where involved in tree planting, scrub clearence and tree felling throughout the estate.



Below are some pictures of the work that was undertaken!

New Hall Boiler

We have recently completed the installation of a new central heating boiler for the Hall. The boiler was funded using grant money received from DEC as part of the Reepham Carbon Reduction Scheme.

The existing boiler and been in situ for over 35 years and was in need of changing. The new boiler will work more efficiently and will therefore use less fuel. We now have the ability to heat the upstairs and downstairs areas separately and the boiler is a high/low boiler. This means the boiler can be set to work at 25% of it's potential, ideal during the spring and autumn months.

The boiler is also a multi-fuel boiler which will enable future use of Bio-diesel once the supply is readily available.

Squirrel Update!

Storm & Twizzle have had another litter of kittens - their second of 2010. The first young squirrel was spotted on 30th June making his first, less than confident, moves out of the drey. So far this is the only kitten that has ventured from the drey but we are hoping over the next couple of days we will be able to spot more intrepid explorers!

We have given this first Kitten a World Cup themed named....Xavi!

More pictures and information to follow (hopefully!)

Squirrel Update!

An update on the goings on in the Squirrel Enclosure!

The two young that were first spotted on Easter Sunday have transformed into three young! All three are healthy and lively and growing by the day. They are about to be moved to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve which is acting as a holding venue for the young born around Norfolk. Here they will be examined and micro chipped and then await their fate: either release into the wild or paired up and moved into one of the other Norfolk enclosures.

Moving the spring litter out of the enclosure should allow Twizzle and Storm to have a second litter of kittens this summer. Fingers Crossed!

Reepham Low Carbon Communities Challenge

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) awarded Reepham a large pot of money to spend around Reepham on projects that would reduce the carbon output of the town. Whitwell manged, with some good timing and a lot of hard work, to get a £20,000 grant from this pot.

The Projects that have been planned for this money are:

• A new hall boiler that can be adjusted too run on bio-fuel in the future.
• Solar Panels for the Kestrel/Yew Tree toilet block to heat hot water.
• New A-rated windows and doors in the Pigeon Loft (completed).
• New Boilers and Oil Tanks for both upstairs and downstairs in the Pigeon Loft.
• New Energy Efficient Dishwasher (installed).
• New A rated Washing Machine & Tumble Drier.

All of the materials for these jobs have been purchased and we are waiting for a suitable quiet period to install.

www.reephamchallenge.org

Frost & Megan on a Sheep Dog Demo

New look to the front of the Hall

The flower borders at the front of the hall have been replanted this spring with a mixture of low growing plants. The plants were chosen because of their colour and benefit to wildlife. This, along with the roses being pruined and trained, has tidied the front of the hall nicely.

Lamb Update

All of our pregnant sheep have had their lambs and the total for this year is 14!

With this years lambs, the adult ewes and the yearlings our flock size has grown to around the 40 mark. Frost is going to have to work hard on sheeg dog demonstrations this summer!

More new arrivals!

The Easter Weekend saw the emergence of some more new arrivals at Whitwell Hall. Our squirrel enclosure is now home to two new Red Squirrel Kittens! The youngsters were first spotted on Easter Sunday learning to climb around the enclosure for the first time.

We suspected that our female squirrel Twizzle was pregnant earlier in the year and her two new arrivals is really good news and continues our excellent record for young kittens in the enclosure.

More details, pictures and names will follow shortly!

Spring has sprung at Whitwell Hall

Spring has sprung into life at Whitwell. The snow drops and aconites have been out for a few weeks in the archery area and kestrel woods and the first daffodils are beginning to appear. We have also had two lambs born down on the meadow, one male and one female, and we expect a few more to come before too long!

Unveiling the New Office.

In a very low key event the new office at Whitwell Hall was unveiled! The new office is situated on the ground floor of the builidng over looking the car park. It is situated in the halls larder which had been used for many years as the camp pots and pans store.

This new location makes the office and Whitwell Hall staff alot more visual to visitors which was seen as a major advantage. The work on the new office has been ongoing for a while but now it is finished the results are good.

We would like to thank Shelley & Lizzy, two D of E students from Wymondham College who did alot of work painting the walls and ceiling during their stay at Whitwell last summer as part of their Gold Award.

Whitwell Hall's New Minibus

After many years of good service the old yellow Whitwell minibus has had to be retired. We are now the proud owner of a new minibus and here are some pictures to prove it!

The bus was kindly donated by Hevingham & Marsham Primary School Partnership.

The bus was sign written this week and is now on the road! If you see John driving around and about Reepham give him a wave!

Wanted!

Rainwater Harvesting System Installed

This week sore the installation of Whitwell Hall's rainwater harvesting tank completed. this system will collect rainwater that falls into the gutters of the hall and use this to flush the toilets throughout the building. A toilet uses around 6 litres of water every time it is flushed. this water have been treated to the same level as drinkable water. The result of using this system will be a significant reduction in the quantity of drinkable water used within the hall.

(Installation of the tank)

The tank was installed under the front lawn during the winter of 2008 and cause major devastation to the front lawn! The electronics that control the system were connected and commissioned this week and the system is now fully operational.


How the system works!


1. Rain falls onto roof and is collected in the gutters.
2. Water is piped from gutters into an underground collection tank under front lawn.
3. Water is pumped from this collection tank into a smaller tank in the attic called a header tank.
4. The water from this header tank is then used to flush all of the toilets in the hall.

This is just the first of many hall and campsite improvements that we hope to complete before Easter and our summer season starts again!

New Year Message!

The staff and everyone at Whitwell Hall Country Centre would like to wish all our friends, users and people associated with Whitwell a happy and prosperous new year.