My sister sent me this photograph of the field in front of the Barn. The long grass has just been cut for hay. Here is the photo:
Field cut for hay
News
Field cut for hay Maintenance, August 2023
We have carried out some necessary maintenance and repair work on Rhydd Barn:
- Re-pointing work on the lower part of the south exterior wall and converted pigsty.
- The inside of the south entrance door has been treated to prevent water entering.
- Wood surfaces at the end of the converted stable block have been painted.
- The metal gate to the grassy area behind the barn has been painted.
- The wooden entrance gate to Rhydd Barn has been treated to prevent algae and coated with a preservative.
- Fridge doorknob tightened—which was a much trickier job than it appeared to be!
Main entrance door treated against damp 
Converted pigsty repointing 
Metal gate painted 
Fridge doorknob tightened up Four star gold award for 2023
We are very pleased to announce that Rhyyd Barn has, yet again, been awarded a 4-Star Gold Award rating by VisitEngland. The inspection was carried out on 14 March 2023. The Gold Award is an additional accolade for those ‘offering exceptional quality within their star rating’.
We are so grateful to our maintenance team at Rhydd Barn: Sharon our cleaner, Max our gardener/’handyman’, Tom our builder and Andrea, Rosemary’s sister, for all their hard work. Here is the summary from the official report which we received a couple of days ago:
Rhydd Barn continues to offer comfortable very well well maintained accommodation for its market.
Mrs Boaz, the Proprietor and her team clearly take great pride in the barn, this being very much
reflected in the high standards achieved and maintained and for which all are to be congratulated. A
real credit to you all. Well done!
It is therefore a pleasure to once again reconfirm the Four Star Self catering rating along with Gold
Award for another year reflecting this, and fully deserving. Congratulations to you all!!
It is also understood that the Proprietors feel the current rating and award meets well with the market
expectations and business levels catered for and we wish them all the very best for a successful
coming season.
Wishing all, all the very best for the future and stay safe and well.
Walkers Accreditation also confirmed for another year.Conifer tree reduced
The large conifer tree at the entrance to the driveway to Rhydd Barn was becoming too tall. So, reluctantly, we decided it needed to be reduced in height along with a general pruning. Our gardener did a neat job and you can see the difference between the before and after photos below.
Conifer tree – before 
Conifer tree – after New security lights
New outside lights have been installed. We have replaced a failing security light opposite the garage and a third new security lantern light has been added on the pigsty wall. The new light attached to the pigsty can be left on to light up the patio area in the evening. The overall result is much better lighting now all round the Barn. The new lantern-style light on the pigsty wall is shown below:
New outdoor light -01 
New outdoor light -02 New balcony doors
The wood in the original balcony doors was going rotten at the bottom. We have now replaced these wooden doors with two new double-glazed plastic French doors. They are rosewood (a dark brown) on the outside to match the rest of Barn windows and white inside to match the internal decoration and new handles. See photos below.
New balcony doors – outside 01 
New balcony doors – outside 02 
New balcony doors – inside Improvements
A broken gutter downpipe at the end stable has been removed and replaced so rainwater once again flows into the water butt there. By our other water butt beside the converted pigsty we reseeded a bare patch with grass seed. See photos below.
New water butt by end stable 
Before grass seed – sept 2022 
After grass seed – jan 2023 Autumn flower planting
The flower pots, tubs and baskets at Rhydd Barn have been attractively replanted for the autumn and winter. Our gardener took some photos:
Ditch clearing
Worcester County Council Highways insisted that I had to clear the ditch along Hanley Swan Lane by the side of my field. Apparently I was the ‘Riparian owner’ of the ditch under the Land Drainage Act 1991. I was told that flooding issues were apparent though no flooding could be seen. I managed to get the ditch cleared by my cousin’s son, Richard, who rents our fields. He used a hedge cutter and digger with a shovel putting the excess soil into a trailer for removal. As the before and after pictures below, the ditch is now beautifully clear! My field is to the right of the hedge.
Ditch – May 2022 – before clearing 
Ditch – October 2022 – after clearing Repairs to stile and gate
The stile across the fence to access the field by the barn has been replaced and all the timbers treated with wood preservative. Also, ‘godfathers’ have been added to the gate posts of the gate into the field to strengthen them and the gate latch adjusted. See photos below.
New stile 
‘Godfather’ to strengthen gatepost -01 
‘Godfather’ to strengthen gatepost -02