We have seen challenging weather for farmers across the country – not just at Overbury. Following the exceptionally wet autumn and winter of 2024, spring and summer were very hot and dry, which resulted in significantly reduced grass and grain crops with yields being 20% less on average, with some crops down as much as 50%.
The warm and dry weather worked well for lambing, but with reduced grass growth we took the decision in mid-summer to bring the lambs inside to get them ready for market and to save the remaining forage for the ewes, helping them be in the best condition for when they were joined by the rams. We hope to have our next lamb boxes ready by the next Street Market in July – please contact the office if you would like a whole or half lamb box.
Ladybird populations also thrived with late summer seeing swarms of them around the fields, and in our homes. It’s always great to see natural pest control working so well.
The warm temperatures and more normal rainfall of Autumn 2025 has been very welcome: our later planted crops have grown well and are set up nicely for the winter. Storm Claudia in early November brought heavy rain and flooding to the Southwest of England and Wales, with the average monthly rainfall for November already reached within the first two weeks (60-100 mm). This just might help build our soil and spring reserves from the deficit of the year so far, but it has a long way to go, with November’s 117 mm, we are still only at 67% of the normal rainfall for the year. This is also important to us because everyone living in Overbury and Conderton uses water from the springs in the hill and without this being replenished over the winter it may impact availability next year.
We always like to experiment and push the boundaries of what we achieve at Overbury and this year has been no exception with various trials taking place in the fields. In March we launched a 5G virtual private network, in collaboration with Virgin Media O2 and the River Severn Partnership.
Unlike in using a public network, having a private connection provides a consistent, high functionality, and enables the tailoring of connectivity options to variable on-farm needs. This includes testing a variety of sensors collecting data, which can quickly and easily deploy warnings, and collate information with limitless possibilities for our sector.
Overbury is one of only two farms within the partnership focused on agri-tech, with existing infrastructure used to gain both 4G and 5G coverage across the farmyards and fields. We hosted a showcase demonstrating the uses of this technology in action, with applications including precision farming, and remote monitoring and automation. You can read more about these demonstrations in this article: Is Connectivity the Achilles Heel of Rural Innovation?
Other highlights included the establishment of our first agroforestry fields, planted in March and watered every two weeks between May and August! These two fields are northeast of Conderton and are easily seen from the public footpath.
Looking ahead to 2026: we will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Open Farm Sunday event on the 7th of June – this is a fun and educational day about farming, food and the environment. We’ll have crops to look at, tractor and trailer rides, some technology and livestock as well as lots of helping hands to answer your farming questions. You can find out more here: Open Farm Sunday.
Conservation
Paul Hopwood of the West Midlands Ringing Group has been ringing and recording our farmland birds and has had great success with Red Kites and Woodcock this year. In the picture is a cuckoo spotted earlier this year.
We will be taking part in the Big Farmland Bird Count between the 6th and 22nd February to count the numbers and species of birds that we have on the farm. If anyone wants to come along and join up with a member of the team you would be very welcome - there’s even a bacon roll as an incentive!
Our small walked up days on the shoot are proving very popular, these days have a total bag of around 25-45 birds and the teams enjoy walking our hedgerows and the wildlife habitat areas. They are providing a welcome addition to our sporting here at Overbury.
Property:
We were pleased to welcome some new tenants this year in Overbury and Conderton, including: Emily and James, Mark and Ness, Ben and Molly, Angus & Julie, and their daughter Lindsey in another property, Wendy and Gerard, Darryl and Celine, Carol,
Rev Dr Gerard has already become a well-known figure, having given a series of talks titled ‘A Tale of Two Cities & Several Ladies’ through October at St Faith’s Church.
Jack, a Grasshoppers parent, set up Molyneux Marine Ltd at 1-4 Stocktons Yard, Kispe Space Systems Ltd joined us in The Smithy, and Eden Property Management moved in the Old Village Shop. This means all our commercial spaces are now let, but we do still have the three meeting rooms at the Old Village Shop for hosting meetings, interviews, workshops and we have even had sample clothing sales there.
The newly formed Overbury and Conderton Foundation (OCF) took over the lease for the Village Hall in October from the incredibly hard-working former committee who had given many years to the running of the Hall. Our Build Team worked with the OCF to carry out some light refurbishment works including damp-proofing, improved drainage and improving the space in the disabled WC.
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In the Office: Shany Habber joined as Marketing and Admin Assistant in the summer. Alongside preparing properties for new tenants, the Build Team has been kept busy completing a program of extensive works to the Attwoods Barns in Conderton, including fitting new windows and doors made in-house by our Joinery Team. There has also been a change at Manor Farmhouse which is now being let as a full-time family home after recent years as a luxury holiday let.
The good weather throughout the Summer and Autumn meant that we were able to catch up with last year’s external decoration program and complete the planned properties for this year as well. Now that the weather is turning wetter and colder, the team are looking forward to completing a property renovation in the dry.
Gardens
As with the Farm, this year has been meteorologically challenging for many gardeners, with many plants wilting and all the un-watered lawns of the parish turning brown. Fortunately, plants are forgiving things and with the autumn rain, the gardens have burst back into life with a great display in the early autumn.
In April, Overbury Court had its most successful National Garden Scheme (NGS) Open Day, with record numbers and £3,605 being raised for the NGS (entry fees), and £2,415 for the OCF (teas and coffees sold). We were also visited by the Hereford and Worcester Gardens Trust in early April and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves – we look forward to welcoming guests again next year!
Overbury First School have been more involved in the Kitchen Garden this year, with regular visits from the gardening club, as well as some further visits linking horticulture to the science curriculum.
In June we had a successful, if hot, Village Open Gardens with a huge effort being put in by residents and our garden team alike. It was great to hear that this raised £2,890 and all involved had an enjoyable day.
The Grasshoppers have continued their weekly visits to the Kitchen Garden and have been building a whole range of horticultural knowledge from sowing seeds all the way through to harvesting.
Despite the dry conditions, we have had a bumper year for fruit. Maybe it was due to the committed Wassailing put on by the Conderton and Overbury Community Orchard (COCO) earlier in year – join them to bring in another bounty on the 23rd of January 2026!
The team spent early November planting bulbs for a spring display with the help of some wonderful volunteers from the Work and Retrain as a Gardener Scheme (WRAGS), with additional planting around the village to continue enhancing the spring displays.
What have the residents been up to?
It has also been a busy year for residents in the parish with lots of events, including some well attended street food pop ups. At our final event, we hosted the famous Beefy Boys, with celebratory drinks from Backyard Mobile Bars to end the season together.
We were also treated to a classical music recital from Shuwei Zuo and Jiayi Chen, who had performed in the 2025 Elgar Festival, in the beautiful backdrop of St Faith’s Church.
COCO had a great juicing day which was greatly enjoyed, with Overbury resident Stu, of Cotswold Smoke Pit, offering delicious pork baps to go with the freshly pressed apple juice.
We were also excited to see the return of the OCF Big Fat Quiz in November which was a blast as always and raised over £6,600. They are working hard to put on a range of other events including the 2-day Christmas Market which we hope many residents will enjoy attending.
Ros is continuing to manage bookings – and with more events there are plenty of opportunities to get involved. Get in touch by emailing info.ocfoundation@gmail.com
The OCF have also introduced the Red & Black Club lottery, with the first draw on the 5th of December at the Village Hall – more info here.
We are so lucky to have such a vibrant and active community, providing wonderful opportunities for all tenants to get involved with.
Grasshoppers Nursery
This year Grasshoppers had their Ofsted inspection being awarded a ‘Good’ rating. Laura joined the nursery in September as the new Manager and we have also strengthened and restructured the team, employing qualified teachers as well as experienced bank staff.
We have introduced extra activities including Rugby Tykes and Boogie Beats to give the children a variety of different experiences and they have worked with both Harry the Head Gardener and Farmer Jake, on a project called Bake Your Lawn – a part of the Real Bread Campaign. The children have sowed winter wheat and we will be watching it grow over the next few months before it will be harvested, milled and baked into bread.
We are always looking for ways that the children can engage with the wider community and we are excited about the Christmas activities that are planned, including the return of the Grasshoppers nativity in St Faith’s Church. Many new siblings have been born to children in the nursery this year so we look forward to welcoming them to the Grasshoppers family in the New Year.
With warm season's greetings,
The Overbury Enterprises Team