Farm Saftey – Briefing
FARM SAFETY — READ NOW
Your responsibilities from the moment you arrive
Croeso — welcome to Gwarmacwydd, a real working farm. That is why you came, and it is why there are rules. We set them, and they define the edges of the working farm; keeping to them — and looking after yourselves and your children — is your responsibility. They apply from the moment you arrive, even if we have not met you yet.
1. Parents supervise their children at all times — garden, play area, trampoline, and everywhere on the farm. Especially at the river. This is your responsibility throughout your stay: we do not supervise children.
2. No entry to the farmyard, or to any building other than your own cottage — of any description, at any time. Several buildings are under renovation; the working buildings hold machinery with sharp edges. If you would like to see the working farm, ask: one of the family or a member of staff will accompany you, and you will need to follow their instructions while you are there.
3. Never enter a field with animals or machinery in it — cattle or sheep; tractor, telehandler or farm machinery of any kind, moving or parked. Our herd includes a bull.
4. Don’t set off exploring until you have talked with us — we will tell you where the animals are and the safest walks for the day. Easiest place to find us: morning animal feeding, 8:30, every day.
5. Gates: if a gate is open, leave it open. If it is closed, close it behind you — even if you are coming back the same way.
6. Don’t climb on stacks of bales — tempting, but your weight can make the stack shift, and a moving bale can trap or crush you.
If you ever find yourself in a field with cattle
Walk. Don’t ever run. Cattle are inquisitive — they may follow, get excited, even jump about. Do not panic. Talk to them: a calm voice settles them. Walk back to the gate you came in by. Cows with calves are mothers protecting their babies — to them, you are the danger, so give every cow and calf a wide berth. If you have a dog and cattle crowd you, let go of the lead — cattle chase the dog, not you, and the dog can look after itself.
Dogs
On a lead everywhere until we have agreed where yours can run free. Never in a field with cattle or sheep — cows do not like dogs. Not in the children’s play area. Please pick up — there are labelled green bins for dog waste.
The river
Children at the water’s edge need an adult right beside them — not watching from the bank. In normal flows the Tâf is gentle and an adult can wade it almost anywhere. In flood it is a different animal: if the river is brown and fast, keep everyone well away until it settles.
Boots and hands
Stout shoes with ankle support beyond the garden — rabbits, badgers and foxes dig fresh holes overnight. Wash hands with soap and warm water after touching any animal and before eating; hand gel alone is not enough on a farm. If you are pregnant, enjoy the animals without handling them, especially at lambing and calving.
Country sense
Stay out of the woods in high winds — branches and trees fall without warning — and never sit under a dead tree or dead limb. Never climb a stock fence — the top strand is barbed wire; there is always a gate. The ground is uneven and slippery after rain, and West Wales weather turns fast: dress for the weather the day may bring.
In an emergency
One of the family lives in the farmhouse and is on the farm day and night, every day of the year. Mobile signal is patchy: there is wifi in The Old Coach House, The Butlers and the garden, and 4G in the front garden — face west, beside the gate into the field.
Late at night, don’t phone — knock. Come to the farmhouse front door on the north side — the brown arched door with the brass knocker — and knock hard. Someone will come, at any hour.
- Farmhouse (rings in the house): 01437 563839
- Farm Office: 01437 563260, Monday–Friday 8:30–16:30
- Further numbers are on the safety sheet in your cottage.
For an ambulance or the fire service, call 999 first, then alert us — we are at the end of a long private drive and the crew will need guiding in. Give the operator:
- Address: Gwarmacwydd, Llanfallteg, Whitland, SA34 0BN — this postcode brings vehicles right to the farmhouse
- what3words: forklift.sending.races
- Lat/Long: 51.85613, −4.67246
A fire blanket and an extinguisher are in every cottage kitchen, and a first-aid kit is in the kitchen cabinets. If a fire takes hold: everyone out first, call 999, then come and alert us at the farmhouse.
Those are the serious boundaries. Everything else — the woodland, the riverbank, the walks, feeding the animals at 8:30 — is yours to enjoy. We are privileged to share Gwarmacwydd with you.
David & Angela