Award Winning Self Catering Holidays In the Derbyshire Peak District
Browse through our blog posts to find out what life is like at Hoe Grange Holidays along with some great ideas for days out in the Peak District.
Trit trot, trit trot... look who’s arrived at Hoe Grange Holidays! Joining chief guest entertainment officer Fudge the Jack Russel, we would like to introduce you to Luna and Dora the Pygmy goats. These two lovely ladies are definitely not “gruff” goats, but extremely friendly.
High on a Peak District hill stood a lonely goatherd...Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo!
These miniature goats previously lived in Ashbourne with our niece and nephew, who are now grown up and out to work all day. As goats are such social creatures Suzie and Sam decided it was unfair to leave the goats home alone, so we are delighted to have inherited them.
They will certainly have lots of company here on the farm - the goat pen with their little shelter is next to the horse paddock, where the chickens also scrat about and the dogs Twix, Crunchie and Fudge often pop round to say hello.
Pygmy goats are the diminutive cousin of the standard domestic goat. They are “fun, friendly and easy to keep”, so Suzie and Sam tell us – we will see!
Unlike domestic goats, which are usually kept as utility animals for their milk or their meat, you will be pleased to hear that the Pygmy goat is mainly kept for amusement – we have already had considerable fun – Dora is definitely an explorer and very nimble. She has already escaped by jumping straight over the stable door in one giant leap! We now have a strategically placed hay rack as an obstacle to prevent further break outs. They may be small but they can certainly jump!
As these two adorable, adventurous goats were kept in town rather than on a farm they are trained to walk on the lead and love nothing more than a trek up fields.
They are natural climbers and love roaming and leaping about on the rocky outcrops, surveying the Derbyshire hills. Hoe Grange is going to be an ideal home for them.
Dora the explorer checking out her new surroundings
These two nanny goats have taken our eco ethos to heart and already joined the Hoe Grange Holidays Green Team - they are very keen on recycling and have completely stripped the Christmas tree bare - not a pine needle in sight. One down four more to go! 
It's true they eat anything, but Christmas trees are a real goat's treat!
As you can see from our goat video our Labrador Twix isn't yet entirely sure what to make of them!
Here's an interesting goat fact - The Italian word for goat is capra; as proved by our little video goats are prone to change direction and have a short attention span, so you can see where the word capriccio, which means whimsy, developed. It is from this word that the English language borrowed capricious, meaning apt to change direction on a whim. Dora and Luna have certainly got everyone running round in circles!
You can meet this entertaining pair in person when you stay in one of cosy log cabins or gorgeous glamping pods.
Felicity
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Stayed last week, from 6th to 13th September in the log cabin called Hipley. This was amazing, it was our first visit but certainly not our last. Gold standard disability... read more
