Fullbrook Farm Campsite
Lichfield, Staffordshire

Fullbrook Farm dates back to the early 19th Century, and has been owned and farmed by members of the Baskerville family for over a century. The farm is named after the stream which runs through its land - "Full Brook".

Today the farm is a thriving and varied environment, undertaking a careful blend of traditional farming pursuits with the diversification that 20th century farming requires. Below we introduce some of the Fullbrook residents and describe the things you are likely to see during your stay, and also give an insight into the work we do.

Firstly the farm is home to a breed of livestock which includes a number of Belted Galloways. "Belties" as they are known, are a hardy breed that originated on the exposed uplands of Galloway, in the south west of Scotland. The Fullbrook belties are black with the characteristic white belt which completely encircles the body. They have a double coat of long hair, to shed the rain, and soft undercoat, for warmth. Our belties are all registered with the Belted Galloway Cattle Society, though we must admit that the Baskerville humour crept in when naming them on their passports. Our beltie breed includes the individuals Fullbrook Fiona, Fullbrook Florence and Fullbrook Fanny! Fullbrook Florence is the calf shown on the right. She was born at Fullbrook in the spring of 2006.

On the farm you are also likely to see our flock of sheep. Visitors to our campsite in March and April usually witness one of the most exciting and happiest times of year - lambing season. Around a hundred lambs are born at Fullbrook each spring, with the lambs and their mothers brought indoors for a few weeks after the birth before being released back to the main flock out in the fields. The lambs are great fun to watch as they skip around and play together. Unfortunately there are always one or two lambs who are born slightly worse off than their counterparts - those which, for one reason or another, become orphaned. Here at Fullbrook these "cade" lambs, as they are known, never suffer. Pictured here (twice - she's so photogenic!) is Matilda, or Tillie as she's known, a 2007 cade who very quickly became the star of the farm. Because of bottle feeding Tillie is very tame, and the people holding the bottle usually become equally fond of their little charges. Tillie was joined a few weeks later by Millicent, or Millie, and together they have befriended many campers and other farm visitors. They are pictured at age three months at the top of the pages on our website, above the links, with their firm friend Nellie - our border collie sheep dog.

There are two dogs resident on the farm. Nellie, the collie, is a rescue dog originally found roaming the streets of Rhyl. She is extremely playful but knows very little about rounding up sheep. She is quite partial to bananas and slices of toast, though she's never tried them together. Then there's Nellie's sidekick, Jim. Jim has a little goaty beard and does a great impersonation of a patterdale terrier even though he's not one. He likes toast too (Campers beware!).

There are a wide variety of horses and ponies kept at the farm, in their stables and out in the fields. Fullbrook is home to two Highland ponies, mother and son, Bonnie and Bob. Bob is shown at the top right corner of our website pages. Here is Sheila Baskerville driving Bob's mother, Bonnie (and giving Jim a ride too). We must stress that whilst horses are kept at Fullbrook Farm, we are not a riding school or trekking centre. Riding facilities are available nearby though - see our Attractions Page for further details and web links.

Fullbrook is home to many other species. We have chickens, geese, two cats, wildlife, and two tractors and a landrover. The local wildlife are too numerous to mention, but as members of the DEFRA's Countryside Stewardship Scheme we actively encourage wildlife to inhabit the farm by installing nesting boxes in suitable places and undertaking tasks such as hedge laying.