Mudchute Farm, London

Mudchute Park and Farm is a large urban park and farm on the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, just south of Canary Wharf. It is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. It is a community-based charity that engages with its users and responds to the needs of its local community. Entry is free.

As I walked through the park towards the farm, several squirrels ran up to me hoping for food, but I had nothing for them. 

The first of the farm animals that I saw were sheep grazing in a field. To see the built up Canary Wharf behind was a strange site -

Inside the farm I spotted the llamas so went over to see them -

Visitors can buy food for the farm animals, but of course are not allowed to feed them anything else. The squirrels knew some visitors have food and I soon had one climbing my leg!

There are lots of birds, such as ducks and geese. These ones were all puffed up in the cold -

Aylesbury ducks

I particularly like pigs so was disappointed that they weren't around. So a couple of weeks I went back, this time taking peanuts for the squirrels. And to my delight, the pigs were there. I smelt them before I saw them! They are middle white pigs, an English breed, now classed as endangered on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's Watchlist as only 100-200 registered breeding females are left.

Then I went to see the llamas again. Llamas are bigger than alpacas. Alpaca farming and tourism is getting quite popular now in England. There are 2 alpacas at Horniman's in London.

Llamas have longer ears and longer snouts than alpacas. This is Eva the alpaca at Horniman's -

As I left I fed the squirrels and soon had quite a lot around me. Again one or two climbed my leg and one even tried to get into my pocket, intending to help itself to nuts.

looking in my pocket

See Mudchute webpage.
 

Horniman's alpacas 2024

 My last blog on the alpacas at Horniman's in London was in May 2020. Then sadly the older of the two, Peep, died in Feb 2021. She was the mother of the brown alpaca Poppy. Poppy, who was born in Hornimans in 2014, was then moved in with the sheep. 

In July 2021 Eva, aged 7, arrived to join Poppy. Eva is a Huacaya alpaca. There are two breeds of alpaca, the Suri and the Huacaya.

Eva July 2021 -

Eva and Poppy Oct 2022 -

UPDATE

Jan 16 2025 Poppy appeared in The Metro newspaper -

Dogsledding in Arctic Norway

 In Feb 2017 I went dog sledding in Arctic Finland and really loved the experience. So when I was in Arctic Norway in Dec 2024 I booked to go again.

I was on a cruise that stopped at Alta, which is above the Arctic Circle. I booked the tour independently and I was pleased to find I was the only person on the trip from Gargia lodge, which meant I would be driving the sled the whole time, rather than being a passenger for half the time. 

Firstly I had to get dressed, it was -18° C. I was kitted out in a thick Norwegian jumper, huge oversuit, thick socks and boots, a balaclava and thick mittens, all on top of my ordinary clothes minus jacket. I found if I dropped anything it was difficult to bend down with so many bulky layers.

Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs and a musher drives the dogsled. I had 4 dogs, Linda the guide had 6 as 2 were elderly and due to retire. I had a lesson on driving the sled, then we were able to start. The only disadvantage of driving the whole time was I couldn't take photos on the move as I needed to hang on to the sled! Getting ready -

I found it quite easy to drive, though the corners are sometimes a bit scary, thinking I would tip. Luckily Linda was able to take some photos of me -

I remember from Finland 2017 that my glasses steamed up and eyes and nose were running, so this time tried to keep my mouth and nose uncovered, despite the cold. We initially went through forest and it was all so beautiful. Then came to open land, and had a break there. The moon was amazing and the light so nice. The sun doesn't rise at all in Dec, resulting in Polar nights, and it was only due to the full moon reflecting on the snow that is seemed so bright - it was around midday.

The snow was fresh and new. During the break the dogs were still eager to be off -

We carried on and it got windy for a while in the open area, with wind blowing the snow and there was a lot of fresh snow that slowed down the sleds. 

The last part was back through the forest. Approaching the kennels -

Once the sleds were secured, I helped give the dogs meat water, which is just meat flavoured water, for the dogs to rehydrate.

I was then shown how massage my dogs. They seemed to appreciate it. After I could go and see all the other dogs and the 3 puppies. They were all quiet and behaved, unlike the ones I had seen in Finland in 2016 (see note at end). There are about 28 dogs here. 

Then back to the lodge for hot chocolate .

In July 2016 I was in Finland in July for the midnight sun and went to a husky farm for huskyhiking. There were 93 dogs at this farm and the noise was incredible - see and listen to this video.

Northern Lights Aurora Borealis, Norway

 In Dec 2024 I did a Northern Lights cruise to Norway, hoping to see the aurora. The Aurora Borealis has been particularly good this year throughout autumn and winter, and were even seen as far south as the south coast of England. They had also been seen in SE London.

So I had high hopes we would see them on the cruise. Our Fred Olsen ship was named Borealis, which means “northern”. We left on Dec 7 during Storm Darragh and then had cloudy skies and rough seas for the next few days. It was only on 13th Dec that we had our first sighting of the northern lights. We were at Tromso, which is above the Arctic Circle. The lights weren't very strong and almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but are visible through a camera lens. These photos were all taken with my phone. The sky looks brighter than it actually was and stars are visible on the photos. I haven't bothered to "photoshop" the photos.

Part of the plough constellation -

On the 14th evening we had another weak display, we were at Alta.

The 3rd and last time we saw them was on the 16th, after leaving Sortland, which is at 68° N. This time the display was visible to the naked eye (but still not the all singing all dancing display you see in magazines and documentaries!). The lights were visible for a few hours. The sea was rough and we were expecting 5.5 m waves so it was hard to keep the camera still. That night we had to go at full speed to get ahead of the low pressure = bad weather. 

The lights had a jagged tooth effect -

The circumpolar moon with clouds -

See my blogs on :

Circumpolar moon

Polar stratospheric clouds

Finland Northern Lights 2017