Due to staff shortages in our catering team (congratulations to our Head Chef who has just gone on paternity leave), over the weekends of the 11th/12th and 18th/19th May we will be serving BBQ food only from outside our Stables Restaurant, as well as cakes, sandwiches and ice cream in our cafe. A limited menu will also be available from Monday to Friday over the next two weeks. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Some good news from the gardens: our gardeners Ben and Claire have been noticing that there are many more goldfinches at Hestercombe than usual. And rather incredibly for this people-shy species, one is even nesting in a standard rose on the Victorian Terrace! If you have a keen eye for bird spotting, then you may be able to just catch a glimpse on your next visit.
Claire says, “the reason for the increase is the lack of gardening and tidying. With a massive decrease in garden staff some areas have been let go, and this means more seed which is the goldfinch’s favourite food. We’ve particularly noticed them on the hemlock waterdroplet which would normally have been strimmed – it turns out that it’s a favourite food source of goldfinches. The effects of lockdown on nature are making us have a little rethink of how we manage areas in the future to help support more diverse species.”