About Us
Ash Woods Retreat is located on a working farm near Dartmouth in the heart of the beautiful South Devon CountrysideA Brief History
My name is Carmen Wallis and, along with my husband Chris, we run Ash Woods Retreat .
Ash Woods Retreat is located in woodland belonging to Lower Ash Farm. We are a small family-run dairy farm not far from the picturesque town of Dartmouth and a stones throw away from Blackpool Sands on the beautiful South Devon coast.
We have three children - Jim (5th generation) works and lives on the farm whilst our girls have moved on to other careers.
Chris is the fourth generation of the Wallis family to farm here and we are proud to have founded our Ladehay pedigree herd of Holstein Friesians. We currently have 180 milking cows. The farm is 150 acres of mixed arable, pasture and woodland plus we also rent further acres from neighbouring farms.
Traditionally, the farm would have been a mixed farm of sheep, pigs, cows and cattle with its own orchard, but as time and events passed, the farm has evolved with it. Most of the changes happened after the second world war.
During the war, nearby Slapton Sands was used as a training ground for the D-Day landings with the whole area, including Lower Ash Farm being evacuated so American soldiers could stay in the barns with the more senior ranks occupying the farmhouse.
General Eisenhower himself stayed in Ash.
During this time the Wallis family were temporarily displaced to a farm further inland.
The Farming Day
Our dairy farm daily routine starts early, 4.15 am in the cow shed.
The health of the cows is checked, their udders are cleaned and they are milked ready for the tanker who arrives around 8.00 am to collect the milk.
The cows feed ration is mixed up and distributed for the cows to tuck in. The cow yards are scraped clean with the tractor and the cubicles are re-bedded ready for the cows to sit back down and make some more glorious milk.
After milking, the calves are fed warm milk and they are given some dry concentrate and hay or straw to nibble on. A visual health check and a clean bed makes them quiet and content for the day.
In the summer months the cows will graze in the fields in the daytime which makes time for working in the fields cultivating, planting and harvesting the crops ready to feed in the winter.
The heifers are fed a nutritional silage ration and are bedded up in their sheds in the winter months. In the grazing season they are seen on a daily basis to identify any health problems.
The next few hours are taken up with different tasks each day. This could be anything from paperwork, the vet coming on a routine health visit for the cows, fencing and general maintenance, before evening milking starts again.
Everyday brings something different, challenging but very rewarding!