Well here we are gain blog number two.

Flooding seems to have been the word of the week, and there was nothing different here at Marsh Hill Farm. We have spent the past few days dodging rain clouds and praying for better weather. We are desperate for the sun to shine as we need to get on with making hay, this is normally done about the 18th June, but as yet there seems to be no let up in the rain. Looking on the bright side, every thing is looking very green, as you will see from the picture taken from my office window this morning, and we have plenty of grass for the cattle and sheep to eat. Unlike last year, when every thing was brown and we had very little grass.

On the training side, we have been able to run all our courses, although the tree climbers did get very wet last Friday, but this didn't dampen their spirits as they all passed their NPTC climbing and areal rescue assessments. Well done all of you. We have also had tractor driving, sheep foot care and IT courses going on at the centre in the last week, as well as using a chainsaw from a rope and harness, and forklift training away from the centre.

We have also spent the last few weeks getting the programme of training ready for next year, and having meetings with SEEDA regarding future funding for the rural community. Watch this space. The programme will be available for the Bucks County show on August 30th. If you have any suggestions for a competition we could run there I would be very grateful, and we hope you will visit us, for a drink and a chat. Click this link for more information about the show. http://www.buckscountyshow.co.uk/

We plan to close in August this year, so that we can have a well earned rest. With so many changes having taken place in the last year, as well as running over 420 training days, with over 1000 trainees attending, we all feel the need for some R & R.

Posted by Kate Mason 26th June 2007

The First Rural Rambling.

This is our first blog posting and as such, will be a brief background in to Vale Training Services, who we are and what we stand for.

I have been running Vale Training Services and previously Group for 21 year. It has always been our remit to provide cost effective training to Raul Businesses, weather land based, or just located in the countryside. We pride our selves on our ethics, and always try to give the best service we can to our clients. Honesty is the watch word in our company, and we will endeavor to give true information, even if we made the mistake.

We are based on a farm in Buckinghamshire, and have a purpose built training centre with three training rooms. The centre was created from a redundant dairy unit, with the aid of a grant from the England Rural Development Fund, something for which I will always be grateful.

There are currently three members of staff, Myself Kate Mason, Melanie Whyte who works 3-4 days per week and Chris Jackman who does the accounts on a Friday. My husband Tim helps with instructing when he is not busy working on the farm.

The Farm is an important part of our business, allowing us the opportunity to deliver training to people in an environment they immediately feel settled in. We encourage our clients out of the class room, and into the farm yard, where they can relax and unwind.

In future blogs we will give you a broader picture of what we are doing both in the training room and out on the farm. We will also look forward to receiving your feed back.

Happy bloging

Kate Mason