The Dorset Dream - Summer 2016

THE LARK

THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST

MAGAZINE

Summer 2016 | ISSUE No. 57

The Dorset Dream A special edition

Plus: A watery tale in Herefordshire, Lapwings in Barton, and life at Frensham Brewery, Pierrepont.

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Twyford Farm

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Contents

Features

The Lark is published three times a year by the Countryside Restoration Trust.

The Countryside Restoration Trust is the UK’s leading charity promoting wildlifefriendly farming and campaigning for a living, working countryside.

We believe that wildlife is integral to good farming.

That philosophy is put into practice on over 1,500 acres of working farms, small-holdings and woodland across the country – where, alongside our tenants, we are demonstrating how farming and other sustainable land uses can co-exist with and benefit from a countryside rich in wildlife.

Our mission is to protect the farmed countryside, its wildlife, and the people with the knowledge and skills to look after it – and to communicate that together these represent a strategic resource vital for our future food security.

Patron: David Shepherd CBE, Wildlife Patron: David Bellamy Environment Patron: Jonathan Porritt Patron for Dorset: Brian Jackman Patron of the Gordon Beningfield Farm Appeal: Dame Judi Dench Trustees: Robin Page - Chairman Tilly Smith - Vice Chair Robin Maynard Annabelle Evans Chris Knights Nicholas Watts MBE Zac Goldsmith Photographs and drawings courtesy of Julian Eales, Geoff Harries, Annika Rees, Helen Jones, Viv Geen, Tim Scott, Vince Lea, Jackie Cooper.

Front cover image: ‘Dame Judi Dench visits Bere Marsh Farm’ courtesy of Julian Eales.

Editor of The Lark: Lois Dixon

The Dorset Dream Lapwings Breed in Barton A Watery Tale Brewing up a Storm Reindeer, Mountains & Life as a Trustee Poetry Corner

Regulars

6 8 10 12 14 22

Chairman’s Thoughts 4 Director’s Report 5 Volunteers 15 Fundraising 16 Dates for your Diary 17 Education 18 Farm Diaries 20 Merchandise 23

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Trust News

The Chairman’s Thoughts What a time – tears, laughter, goodbyes and welcomes; it is very hard to keep up with the pace – oh and then there is a “congratulations”.

With the death of dear John Rogers, and more recently Raven Williams have come valuable and much needed legacies. What a mixture of emotions – the loss of two well-loved CRT “Friends”, and out of that loss comes generosity to help us to continue going forward. It is very difficult mixture of emotions to come to terms with; it is also very humbling, and it carries with it a lot of responsibility. Then, out of more sadness comes more generosity and targeted gifts that have enabled us to buy unimproved pasture land in Dorset – too far off the beaten track to become the Gordon Beningfield Memorial Farm, but ideally suited to become a retreat for wildlife and CRT members – more about this remarkable place and the extraordinary gifts that have allowed it to happen in the next edition of The Lark.

Then, as you will see, almost immediately we think that we have found the ideal place for the Gordon Beningfield Memorial Farm – a place already visited by many people as it is well and truly “on” the beaten-track and in an ideal spot to remind people of the wonderful work and life of Gordon Beningfield, and to also show them the whole ethos of the CRT. We will be applying to the National Lottery Fund to help finance the purchase, but we will have to find match funding. It is going to be an exciting and inspiring challenge which we hope will be completed by the CRT’s Silver Jubilee in 2018. Let’s look forward and hope that we can have another memorable and exciting get-together at the Royal Geographical Society in London and let’s all hope that we can have some very good news at that event – the fact is simple – we won’t know until the autumn of 2018 at the earliest.

I do know that we have assembled a very good team to help us weave our way through the red-tape and regulations of the lottery fund and we have numerous friends who I hope will help us with our appeal to raise “match-funding”. We are faced with an exciting two years – another white-knuckle ride – I am sure that we can do it.

I have to say too that we are so lucky in having Dame Judi Dench as Patron of our Gordon Beningfield Memorial Farm Appeal. Judi is simply a delight – wise, witty and a lover of the work and life of Gordon Beningfield. When we visited the proposed farm the other afternoon it was so memorable – perfect – and a cuckoo, the first one I had heard on mainland Britain for several years, accompanied us for much of the afternoon.

It should be said at this point too, how lucky we are at the CRT to have Judi’s partner, David Mills as a “friend” of the CRT, and also as a personal friend of Lulu and me.

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How would I know when I first visited the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey (near the CRT’s Twyford Farm), that I would strike-up an important friendship with the owner - yes, David Mills - and that through David, Lulu and I would get to know Dame Judi and become extremely fond of her.

David’s background is fascinating, for the British Wildlife Centre was once David’s dairy farm – but he became hooked on wildlife and he gradually turned his farm into a specialist breeding centre for British wildlife – open at weekends and school holidays. It is especially famous for its ‘walk-through’ red squirrel enclosure and they were David’s red squirrels that the CRT helped to get onto Tresco Island on the Isles of Scilly. Now, David has just been awarded the MBE in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours List (about time) – well done David – there will be an article about David and the British Wildlife Centre in a future edition of The Lark.

Now some very important and exciting news that you can read more about in an article by Dr Vince Lea, our wildlife monitoring officer at Lark Rise Farm. We have had lapwings breed within about twenty yards of one of Lark Rise’s fields – very exciting and unexpected. I hope the four chicks survive – so far so good.

There have been various comings and goings in the Office.

Our Director for the last six years, Martin Carter, has decided to retire so that he can spend more time listening to ‘Show of Hands’ and adjusting the awning on his caravan, with his wife Margaret. During Martin’s stay the CRT has made huge progress due to his organisational skills and we are very grateful to him. He will be a very hard act to follow and we must make sure that our current momentum is maintained. We hope he will remain in touch and that he will meet many of you again at our 2018 event.

Caroline, who too has retired, was responsible for all new memberships, renewals, orders and the post in general.

Happy retirement Martin and Caroline – I’m afraid retirement is not in my vocabulary so you are all still lumbered with me for the time being.

See you at the Lark Rise Festival of Farming, Food and Wildlife in September (25th).

With best wishes,

Robin Page

Director’s Report Who knows where the time goes...?

One of my favourite songs is “Who knows where the time goes?” by the late Sandy Denny, former lead singer with Folk Rock Band Fairport Convention. As I write my final Director’s Report the lyrics from that song certainly ring true. Where does the time go? The past six and a half years have simply flown by.

Yes, the time has come for me to be put out to pasture and retire, and as I write this my final report I am reflecting on the many highlights during my tenure as Director.

Memories of the 20th Anniversary celebrations in 2013 spring to mind and will stay with me forever. How can I ever forget watching the Chairman bop to The Wurzels at the event we held at Comberton Village College, a sight to behold !! Then there was the big Anniversary Event we held at the Royal Geographic Society in London with over 700 people present. What a day that was as we listened to a plethora of first class speakers followed by a concert by Show of Hands.

During my first year, the building of the new ‘state of the art’ dairy, including the installation of robotic milkingmachines was completed at Pierrepont. This was opened by one of our Trustees, Zac Goldsmith MP, with many members and guests in attendance. Leaving aside the well documented struggles with the dairy industry Pierrepont is thriving. We now have Annika Rees as the Education Officer, and a well resourced Education Room used regularly by visiting children and other groups. We have also installed a pond dipping platform for use as one of the educational activities. The renovation of the old redundant dairy buildings is well under way and already we have a micro-brewery, florist and chair maker operating out of one of the buildings. By the time the project is completed in 2 to 3 years, it will truly be a living working countryside with around 15 or more spaces available to rent by small ‘craft-type’ businesses.

A lot has also happened at Turnastone with the arrival of new Tenant Farmers, Gareth & Madeleine Boaz, and the decision to sell off the large old farmhouse on the opposite side of the road to the farm. It would have been far too costly to renovate the old farm house, so the sale brought in much needed revenue which enabled us to start work on the other redundant farm buildings. Hopefully by the end of the year the new Education Centre will be completed which will provide the resources needed by our Herefordshire Education Officer, Helen Jones.

Mayfields has developed beyond recognition since I arrived. The red squirrel enclosures were built and opened in January 2012 which enabled the successful red squirrel breeding programme to commence under the guidance of the late David Stapleford. The new Education Centre was built and opened in May 2015 by Susie Fowler-Watt from BBC Look East. We now have Teresa Linford in post as the Education Officer and 2 pond dipping platforms have been built along with a board walk through the clay

pits. Finally, within the last few weeks a bird hide has been built which will be another valuable resource for visiting school children etc.

Margaret Wood has also seen the addition of a pond, thanks to the hard work of the volunteers. A pond dipping platform has also been installed, which once again is proving to be a useful resource for visiting groups.

The portfolio of properties has grown with the addition of Twyford Farm which was kindly gifted by the late Alison Mountain in 2013. Following renovations, Bob Felton and Liz Wallace are now running the farm and many of you will have seen it when it was recently featured on Countryfile. It really is an idyllic spot on the edge of the Ashdown Forest and if you fancy a few days break, Bob & Liz are running a B&B in the farmhouse and the cottage will shortly be available for holiday lets.

Lark Rise continues to be our flagship property, with our tenant farmer Tim Scott once again picking up awards for his conservation work. We are seeing an increasing number of schools wanting to visit the farm and it will be good to establish a purpose built education centre on the farm over the next few years. A house adjoining some of the land at Lark Rise has recently been purchased by the Trust, with a view to converting it into a new office. Next to the house is an old barn that will hopefully be converted into the visitor/education centre. Once completed, it will give the Trust purpose-built facilities for use as the HQ, to take it forward into its next period of growth.

Another of the ‘highs’ for me has been the success of the Farming, Food & Wildlife Festivals at each of the farms.

We are now getting attendances in excess of 1200 people at Lark Rise and 2000 at Pierrepont with both Mayfields and Twyford attracting over 500 people and still growing.

These events provide the perfect platform to demonstrate that wildlife friendly farming works.

The formation of a Tenant Farmers Group has been another success. Since its inception a couple of years ago the Tenant Farmers now meet 3 times a year taking it in turn to host the meeting and show the others their farm.

It’s been a delight to see friendships grow and witness this group bonding.

I know that Robin is already looking ahead to the 25th anniversary in two years time, culminating in hopefully the purchase of the much talked about farm in Dorset in memory of Gordon Beningfield. The farm has finally been identified so the hard work starts now in raising the funds required to buy it.

These are just a few highlights of my time with the CRT. TOGETHER we have achieved a lot. None of the above could have been achieved without your help and support, so thank you. It’s been a pleasure working with you and I wish you all well for the future.

Martin Carter

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Feature

Hambledon Hill overlooking Bere Marsh Farm

The Dorset Dream Bere Marsh Farm, Shillingstone

By Robin Page

We walked along a river bank, the water full of swirls and eddies – there are otters here and the shells of freshwater mussels. Where bluebells and early purple orchids bloomed the cuckoo called even louder amid a canopy of many new and vibrant greens. At the nearby farmyard, swallows flew in and out of an old cart shed as if in an earlier age – Dame Judi Dench smiled even more broadly and simply said:”Robin what a wonderful afternoon”.

It was. It was, we hope, the first stage of a Dorset Dream becoming a reality.

The dream started in 1998 with the tragic death of watercolour artist and conservationist Gordon Beningfield; a man bound up with the start of the Countryside Restoration Trust. A man who loved Dorset, its history, its culture and its wildlife. He became a self-taught expert on Thomas Hardy. A man suffering from chronic dyslexia becoming an expert on the life of an important figure in English literature, in itself says much about Gordon’s spirit, his tenacity and vision. During his stays in Hardy Country he was often accompanied by Dorset’s own Brian Jackman – an outstanding writer who is also the CRT’s Dorset Patron.

Gordon Beningfield is the reason why Dame Judi Dench coloured the afternoon with laughter, memories and quotes from another notable literary rustic – Shakespeare.

Judi is the Patron of the CRT’s Gordon Beningfield Dorset Farm Appeal. We have now found the farm – after a long and arduous search. Now we would like to buy it – we hope by the CRT’s Silver Jubilee in 2018.

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Photography © Julian Eales

I will remember the other afternoon for as long as I draw breath. It was like walking through a dream, a Dorset Dream. We were strolling through a field of luxuriant grass – organic grass. My companion paused to pick a dandelion seed head – to blow a dandelion clock – she was a smiling lady, full of wit, wisdom and wonder. Then, we both stopped in wonder – we could hear a cuckoo in full song.

Not one short burst but an afternoon symphony of cuckoo proclamation. I had not heard a cuckoo for so long and so clear on mainland Britain for years.

Robin and Dame Judi Dench basking in the splendour of Bere Marsh Farm

So what is special about the ninety acres of Bere Marsh Farm, at Shillingstone? It is beautiful, alongside a 2000 yard stretch of the meandering River Stour. It is within a stone’s throw of Hambledon Hill, a place that Gordon loved for its chalkland butterflies, its sheep and its history – including its Neolithic fortifications. Thomas Hardy wrote “The Return of the Native” at nearby Sturminster Newton and incredibly, it is said that the CRT’s first Patron, Sir Laurens van der Post finished his remarkable first novel “In a Province” at Shillingstone. The book really is “remarkable” for being an anti-apartheid story written by an Afrikaner. If there is anybody with any knowledge of Laurens and his book at Shillingstone – I would love to hear from them.

In addition Bere Marsh Farm is important in the conservation history of Dorset. For many years it was owned by the late Angela Hughes, who with Helen Brotherton were pioneers not only in the founding of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, but also in the early days of wildlife friendly farming during the horrors of the ‘sixties and “Silent Spring”. Then with an improving environment

So part of that vision has turned into the Dorset Dream, a dream in which to remember Gordon Beningfield, his life, his work and his hope of a living working countryside.

Bere Marsh Farm already has a high “footfall” (i.e. many visitors, in English) with a trailway, footpaths and easy access. We want to create an exhibition centre to show visitors the cocktail of Gordon Beningfield, farming, wildlife, literature, history, art, landscape, butterflies – and common sense.

We will be making an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, but we will also have to raise match-funding ourselves – a task which we hope will be complete when Angela and Bere Marsh became part of the plan to get otters back to Dorset – using otters from my late friend Philip Wayre, famous for his Otter Trust and the captive breeding of otters for release back into the wild. The farm is now owned by Fiona Gerardin, Angela’s daughter, and there is an important archive of both facts and film.

Then, where does Gordon Beningfield come in all this?

He is a man who turned butterfly illustration into art. I spoke with him in many village halls – he was passionate – the meetings were all packed to the rafters – and he was popular on television. The BBC has much archive material featuring him. Gordon was the man who famously decided to go to the RSPB in the late ‘eighties, dragging me with him, to tell them that they should be taking the whole countryside seriously and they should be showing farmers what they should be doing – not simply criticising them.

We were told in no uncertain terms that the future was “wildlife reserves” and we were unceremoniously shown the door – Gordon was so angry.

Nevermind, out of the RSPB’s lack of vision the CRT’s vision was born and to their credit the RSPB has followed – late and lagging. It still has not quite caught up.

Dame Judi Dench standing on the old railway, which runs through the farm

we meet at the Royal Geographical Society for our Silver Jubilee in the autumn of 2018.

I’ll let Dame Judi have the last word: “My visit to Bere Marsh Farm was a most perfect day – walking round a most delightful, memorable place – a cuckoo, swallows, flowers, barn owls; just right for the memory of Gordon Beningfield – a perfect Gordon Beningfield Day”.

The River Stour, home to otters and fresh-water mussels, runs directly through Bere Marsh Farm

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Feature

Lapwings breed in Barton!

By Dr Vince Lea - Head of Wildlife Monitoring Although we have many achievements at Lark Rise Farm, one of the long-standing aims is to get Lapwings back as a breeding species. We do get them in the winter months and they have bred at Turnastone but at Lark Rise we only seem to get the occasional male bird in spring, which hangs around displaying to attract a mate but failing.

The loss of mixed farms is among the many possible reasons for the Lapwing decline. At Turnastone, they have nested on neighbouring arable fields and then, as soon as the chicks were large enough to make the journey, they have walked to our wet grassland where the abundance of insect prey makes their development much more rapid.

Like all wading birds, the chicks have to forage for their own food as soon as they hatch, but the adults care for them by leading them to good feeding areas, keeping an eye out for danger and fending off predators, and by brooding them when small, especially in bad weather. A decrease in food, an increase in predators, mechanisation, insecticide use, silage production, field drainage, winter cropping, changes in upland land use (tree planting and overgrazing), are among the many possible causes for the decline, which has been relentless.

This year, a male Lapwing turned up in late March and started displaying - on March 30th he spent the whole morning flying helter-skelter, flashing his white underwings, making the vibrating sound, that gives the name Lapwing, and calling wildly (giving one of its other names, Peewit). At one point, he attracted the attention of three passing Lapwings but they did not stay long - he seemed as intent on chasing one of them off (presumably a male) as he was interested in attracting any potential mates to join him. The action was mainly taking place on land that is actually our neighbours, but they regularly came over our side of the hedge as well. By April 5th there were two distinct pairs of Lapwings on this field and things started to look quite promising. I kept a regular watch on the birds, and the field. The reason they seemed to be attracted to this spot was that the farming had gone spectacularly wrong! I knew part of the field was managed by our tenant farmer Tim Scott, on a tenancy agreement with a different landowner, but the part they were most

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interested in was not his bit. I found out it was farmed by Ben Banks, a tenant of Lance Rayner. The problem seemed to be a broken field drain, which had meant that attempts at ploughing were a complete failure - the tractor churned up the wet clay and created ruts, and the soil could not be moved, it was so heavy and wet. Ben and Lance had looked at the problem and already noticed that it had attracted some Lapwings. They planned to attempt to remedy the situation once the ground dried out and the birds had left. Ben managed to cultivate most of the field and plant spring beans in April, at which point one of the pairs decided to leave, perhaps because the suitable area became too small for two pairs. The boggy corner held on to one pair of Lapwings.

On my survey visit of April 25th there was still one pair of Lapwings, and for the whole time, one was consistently sitting in the same spot that I had been seeing her previously. I lurked in the hedge for a while, staring at the spot she was sitting in, and also looking for a suitable landmark beyond the line of the nest. After 5 minutes preparation, I walked out into the field to look for the nest.

As soon as I stepped into the field, she got up and walked

off - this would normally be enough to lure a predator away from the precious eggs, but I kept my line on the distant building I had mentally marked. Once I got near the spot, I started looking carefully at the ground for the stones and stubble features that I had memorised. One thing you don’t want to do at this point is leave footprints leading to the nest itself, or worse... tread on it! A few moments scanning ahead revealed the neat clutch of four eggs, points together and blunt ends outermost. Beautiful.

I exited the field via the nearest hedge and within a minute she was back on the nest. I let Ben know, and also told Geoff Harries, our volunteer photographer. He came down to assess the possibilities - the nest was close enough to the hedge to give him cover and allow good shots.

On May 3rd, Geoff phoned me to say he had been down, but the Lapwings had gone... I was busy most of the day but eventually managed to get down there in the evening.

I wanted to look at the nest site for evidence of predation or if the nest had been abandoned with the eggs intact. But instead, I found myself looking at a pair of Lapwings in the usual spot! I could see the female (with the smaller crest)

By May 26th, all four chicks were still present and well grown, capable of running and one made a short flight.

We had several sightings of the second pair again in late May, sometimes in the same field and sometimes in Telegraph field. It looked like they had attempted to breed elsewhere and failed, but had come back to think about having a late second attempt. Unfortunately, this did not amount to anything. On June 13th the field was getting very well grown and it was hard to see anything for sure, so I went in on foot. The lone parent Lapwing and all four chicks flew up out of the cover - a complete success for this one breeding pair, quite remarkable. This experience has shown us that there are not so many crows and foxes to prevent Lapwings from having a chance of breeding, although it may be that if they become a regular presence these predators will learn to take advantage of them and stronger control measures might be needed. What is more important is that the field conditions - wet mud or some other easily accessible abundant supply of invertebrates is needed. Even our spring-sown crops are generally too well advanced by the time we get to April and May, when the eggs are laid. Something to create suitable in-field bare ground seems to be the key. I have seen them breeding in maize, vegetable and potato fields where planting doesn’t start until May, but most of the arable crops are well advanced by that time of year. Tim and I have been putting our thinking caps on and talking to the Lapwing expert from the RSPB, and hopefully we have got a plan for 2017 to persuade them to nest on our own land - it’s not likely that the field they used this year will remain out of cultivation or suitable for another year, so we need to get ready for when the parents (and hopefully, some of their young!) come back next year.

Photography © Geoff Harries

had her wings half closed. She was brooding the chicks! I settled into the nearest bit of hedge and soon they relaxed, the wings opened and four balls of fluff stepped down, to resume looking for food. The area close to the nest was still wet mud, and there were plenty of insects to pick up. This was equally demonstrated by the fact that a Pied Wagtail was visiting the area when, on a later evening, I went down with Robin to have a look at the chicks.

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Feature

A watery tale...

Dippers and Eels at Turnastone Court Farm

By Viv Geen, Monitoring Officer (Herefordshire) Adult dipper below box on Trennant Brook at Turnastone Following the discovery of a dipper nest on the old bridge in Vowchurch last year, which was precariously perched on a ledge and fell off with all 5 young, I decided to put up some dipper boxes in suitable locations around the farm. The dipper boxes were given to me, and although Herefordshire Council would not allow me to put a box underneath the old road bridge in case they wanted to carry out maintenance to the bridge during the nesting period, the volunteers and I managed to place three boxes under wooden footpath bridges around the farm.

Dippers will nest on ledges, under river bridges and in the roots of bank side trees, and it is preferable to locate the box over fast flowing water where there is an ample supply of aquatic invertebrate food such as caddis larva and small fish. Dippers spend most of their lives on or under the water looking for this food and you may see these birds bobbing up and down on a rock in the middle of a river.

This bobbing action gives the bird its name.

The nest was checked to establish the stage of breeding and 4 eggs were recorded in April. Dr Stephanie Tyler, a local

Dipper box in situ at Turnastone and box under bridge dipper expert, established a safe period when the chicks would hatch and be ready to ring. It is very important to ensure that nests are not checked when the fledglings are mature enough to ‘explode’ out of the nest before they are ready to fly, as although the adults will feed them on the ground, they are susceptible to predators. All four chicks fledged successfully, and the box will be checked for a second brood.

Dippers are present on the river throughout the winter and their linear breeding territories may be up to 500 metres long. Dippers start to nest early in the year and pair up in January and February, with both male and female birds building the dome shaped nest of grass which is lined with leaves.

Eggs are laid in March or April and take 16-17 days to hatch, and chicks usually take three weeks before they fledge, with the opportunity of a second brood taking place with early nesting pairs. A pair of dippers took up residence in the box over the Trennant Brook at Turnastone dipper nest on Court Farm.

Vowchurch bridge

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Picture of nestling The other two boxes did not support a nest, and it has been discovered that the box on the Slough Brook does flood, even though it is a metre above the usual stream bed, and will be moved to another location.

It was noted that one of the adult birds was ringed and had moved into the area from another location. It will be interesting to find out where this bird has come from, and Dr Tyler will be trying to catch and record the data associated with its ring number. A ringed bird was seen on the River Dore by Vowchurch church, and may have been the same adult male attending another female bird.

The presence of successfully breeding dippers indicates that a healthy river system exists in the Dore catchment.

Grey wagtail, moorhen, goosander, and mallard have also been recorded on the River Dore and its tributaries this year; also showing the presence of a mink-free and healthy ecosystem.

For the dipper monitoring project in the lower Wye catchment, Dr Stephanie Tyler and associates monitor about 50 dipper breeding sites each year. Overall, there has been a 30-40% decline in the population over the last 40 years (since she started in 1977), with territories vacated in marginal areas. Birds are still common on the upper reaches of the Monnow, Olchon Brook and Afon Honddu, with territories of about 500m long and adjacent to each other.

Dr Stephanie Tyler writes: “This spring has been odd, with birds incubating for more days than usual (possibly because of the cold weather) and young staying in the nest for at least a month in comparison to 21 days. There has however, been good success rates this year, apart from a few low nests lost to flooding and a few to predation. Some birds are on their second broods and clutches now”.

The Plight of the European Eel

Elver stocking at Turnastone An elver stocking took place at Turnastone Court Farm this spring following a donation made by the CRT. Approximately 5Kg of elvers were stocked into a pool on the Slough Brook with the help of the local Golden Valley Wildlife Group, including several children who were very keen to help these interesting animals. Elvers are the offspring of the European eel which inhabits most freshwater bodies in the UK; including rivers, lakes and streams. However, this well known species has been in decline since the 1980s and needs our help. It is listed as critically endangered, and there has been a 90% decline over the whole of its range. It has been listed as a UK Biodiversity Action Plan species since 2007. ‘glass eel’/elver

Although many people do not like the snake-like form of the eel and the fact that it is covered in slime, you will find that these creatures are amazing when you get to know them. They will do you no harm, and form an important part of the food chain, being the favourite food of the otter.

They can live for over 40 years and have an unbelievable life cycle.

The story starts in the Sargasso Sea, south west of Bermuda, where adult eels spawn; these eggs drift towards the European continent and hatch into their larval form called leptocephalus. They reach the continental shelf and transform into eel-shaped ‘glass eels’. On entering the freshwater environment of our rivers from the saline environment of the sea they lose their transparency and turn into elvers. The elvers travel along the estuaries of rivers such as the River Severn into our rivers and streams where there are no obstacles such as weirs and hydroelectric schemes present. These passages or ‘runs’ of the glass eels take place on the spring tides. If the elvers reach the river they will grow into adult eels known as yellow eels in their freshwater state. After many years the eels are ready to breed and transform into silver eels and return to the Sargasso Sea, breed and then die, and the cycle starts again.

Eels have been exploited by man for many hundreds of years, but the problem is that a large percentage of the glass eels are caught by large commercial fisheries present on the Severn estuary and sold to fisheries on the continent where they are reared to be sold as food. Although this activity is licensed by the Environment Agency it is having a devastating effect on the eel population in our rivers.

The purchase of the Severn estuary ‘glass eels’or elvers from the commercial fishermen is not solving the problem of the decline of the eel; it does help some elvers to reach their home rivers. Only 5% of the elvers will survive to become adult eels, but nevertheless will help the plight of the European eel in the local area of the Golden Valley in Herefordshire.

Photography © Viv Geen

Male dippers can be polygamous; they may pair up with more than one female bird.

‘Glass eels’(elvers) finding a niche in the pool at Turnastone Court Farm

Acknowledgements Dr Stephanie Tyler – for advise on dippers, ringing the dipper pulley (chicks), and allowing me to accompany her on a dipper survey day in 2015.

References The Dipper, Stephanie J. Tyler and Stephen J, Ormerod, Shire Natural History series, 1988 Viv Geen Monitoring Officer (Herefordshire)

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Feature

Punters enjoy drinks from Frensham Brewery, during the Pierrepont Festival of Farming, food & Wildlife in June

Brewing up a Storm Taken from an article by Katherine Wootton, published in Surrey Life There has long been a tradition of buying your milk and eggs at the farm gate, but how about beer? Down a winding dirt track past Pierrepont Farm in Frensham there’s an old courtyard of buildings, which we are currently restoring, following our acquisition of Pierrepont in 2006.

after a history of brand management. Miles always had a passion for good beer. “He got me into real ale years ago,” said Emily. “Beer making is such a lovely industry to be in - there are very supportive breweries locally. Hogs Back and Triple FF have been very helpful and supportive. We haven’t looked back since.”

One of the first buildings to be restored, a 17th century former dairy, situated on a footpath which cuts through Tankersford Common and Frensham Little Pond, is now home to a florist, a chair maker, and a microbrewery.

They started with four casks, and now produce 19-20 barrels a batch, using handmade kit made from the original milk tanks from the dairy – as far as we know we are the only brewery in the UK to use a self made brew kit on a commercial level – and have won awards!

Frensham Brewery was set up on a shoestring by Emily and Miles Stephens, 22 months ago. With the addition of 23-month-old Lyra, they live on the farm. “We had bets on as to which would come first - beer or baby,” laughed Emily.

She explained: “Pierrepont Farm is a working dairy farm which was gifted to the CRT by a local lady, Jo Baker, who has supported us hugely in our new project. We approached the Trust after noticing after some years that the out-buildings were falling down and we put our business plan to them. The Trust has been very supportive - they saw us as pioneers. They’re currently restoring the other buildings here ready for more small businesses.

It’s going to be a great place, surrounded by artisans and craftspeople.”

So what brought them into the brewing business?

“We were both tired of the stressful 9 to 5 grind. Miles comes from a leadership background, structured and disciplined, but which left him feeling creatively capped.

It was very frustrating,” said Emily, who worked in the alcohol industry, specialising in sales and marketing

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Frensham Brewery currently produces four beers, all made with British hops: Forager, a copper-coloured 4.5% ale; Rambler, a 3.9% pale ale which won a CAMRA award at last year’s Farnham Beerex; Owlswood - a dark 6% porter - which won best porter at Woking Beer Festival in Nov; and Soul, a light 3.8% session beer. And this year, Frensham Brewery is creating the 40th anniversary beer for Farnham Beerex. We called it Silent Flight as the owl is the brewery’s logo - “a very traditional English symbol” said Emily, and very fitting for our location. The serenity of the farm is everything to us and our brand.

These beers are ‘bright’; poured fresh from the cask into a container, not bottled. And they can be bought straight from the brewery door. Miles said: “I’ve always had a passion for real ale. In the last five years, I taught myself the production side. For me, it’s all in the taste. There is a lot of confusion in the industry between real ale and craft beer - essentially it is the same thing. Craft beer likes to see itself as a little more daring in its international flavour profile. Our beers are quite unique - zesty. CAMRA like us - we are very traditional for a young brewery. We like

Photography © Julian Eales

Frensham Brewery on life at Pierrepont

to keep it simple - old school. And pretty much all our ingredients are from the south area.”

Miles has had to learn a lot in a short space of time, including the mechanics of the business: “It is a challenging process - but we work with nature and ambient temperatures. We use no preservatives, no harsh cleaning chemicals either - mainly steam. Actually, it’s about plumbing and temperature control - give me a 35mm adjustable spanner and a pair of grips and I can fix anything here!”

There are lots of microbreweries opening up. Miles said: “It can be a competitive industry as everyone’s fighting to get their beers on the pumps.” But the couple say, it’s not about making a fortune with mass production. “We want to grow organically. It’s a lifestyle,” said Emily. “We don’t want to expand so much that we’re mass production.

We don’t want a fleet of vehicles and staff. It’s doing well, we are running a profit in our first two years which is incredible, it’s paying the bills, and we get to live and work here with this amazing view. That’s what it’s all about.”

Miles said: “We know we have three choices - maintain it as is, expand, or diversify. We’ve gone for the third option.”

The brewery’s second birthday will be celebrated in July and by then Emily and Miles hope to unveil a new brewery and tap room just behind the current courtyard. The Trust is restoring two buildings which are set to become the new brewery plus a room where around 80 people can sit and drink the beer - like a micro pub selling only Frensham

beer, alongside other refreshments. There will be a wood burner and benches, Emily explained. Since the brewery inception we have planned to include smoking our own products to enjoy alongside our beer. We are having an in house smoker built for guest meats / produce & events like pulled pork on Saturdays from 12-3pm - using pork sourced from a local farmer whose pigs are fed on the left over grain from the brewing process - all the malt and grains. “Opening the tap room will draw more people to us and we can sell direct,” said Miles. “It will reduce the miles we drive (our carbon footprint) - and we can sell at retail instead of trade prices. We have lots of loyal local support already and that’s what we want to focus on.”

The brewery is already at batch 200. Emily said: “We brew every week and more at busy periods.” And the beer is flying out of the door - it’s bought predominantly for pubs but also for weddings, sports clubs, village fetes and British Legion events - all very local. Some regulars simply turn up every Friday for their weekend supply.

Because the site is dissected by a bridleway, they often get ramblers and riders passing through, stopping off for a pint at the door before going on their way – hence one of the beers is named Rambler, also pulling the ‘Best Beer of The Festival’ award at last year’s Farnham Beerex.

For more information, or to arrange a visit to Frensham Brewery, please visit www.frenshambrewery.co.uk.

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Reindeer, Mountains & life as a Trustee...

By Tilly Smith - Vice Chair/Trustee, reindeer herder, farmer, amateur naturalist and hill runner.

I have been a Trustee for the CRT since 2005 and have recently been appointed Vice Chair. Since its inception in 1993 I have been an active member of the CRT, inspired

by Robin Page and the late Gordon Benningfield’s pleas to encourage best practice in the wider countryside to encourage wildlife and not restrict the subject of wildlife and conservation to nature reserves.

23 years on and the CRT has gone from strength to strength with the CRT ethos now embraced by other conservation bodies in recent years. But still the CRT punches above its weight, raising important issues that need to be addressed and which other wildlife organisations often choose to ignore.

As you might expect my passion is with ‘the great outdoors’, whether its enjoying the wildlife, working the land, caring for livestock or more recently ‘bagging Munro’s’ (mountains over 3,000 feet of which there are 282 in Scotland for me to scale!).

However many people will associate me with reindeer; a life to which I have been devoted since I first worked with the Cairngorm reindeer herd as a volunteer. Coming fresh out of Bristol University, with a degree in Zoology I headed north to the Cairngorm Mountains in the summer of 1981. Without a doubt fate played its part, for me the Cairngorm landscape was truly breath-taking, the reindeer positively endearing (‘scuse the pun) and the reindeer keeper wasn’t bad looking either! Since those early days

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Alan (who was the good looking reindeer keeper) and I have lived, worked and raised our reindeer herding and farming family (human and otherwise) in the Highlands of Scotland.

So you may ask yourself, why am I a CRT Trustee living in the Scottish Highlands. Well my childhood was spent in rural Hertfordshire and my father was an amateur naturalist who was instrumental in the early research of the Muntjac deer. Dad was also a keen ornithologist, a trained bird ringer and undertook annual BTO bird surveys. So as child I was immersed in natural history and had a fantastic rural childhood in the small village of Welwyn.

So the aims of the CRT are very close to my heart and if I can play some small part in helping our rural environment cope with the ever increasing pressures from sprawling urban development, bad farming practice, urban attitudes and increasing numbers of people, as well as educate young people to enjoy, appreciate and help to protect the countryside then I will hopefully ‘go to my grave’ content.

Although I hasten to add I hope that’s a long way off, so can I give many good years service to the CRT!

Photography © Tilly Smith

Photography © Tilly Smith

Volunteers

Volunteer News Over at Mayfields in Norfolk, the group started by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) is continuing to be successful.

I have just received the programme for the next two months and there are some really exciting things planned; if I lived closer, I would be attending some of the days Mark Webster of TCV has put on for the lucky volunteers. Some of the planned activities, beside practical conservation work, will include: - Wildflower ramble – identifying wild plants with Tony Leech - Dragons and Damsels (and their larvae) with Pam Taylor.

The group meet fortnightly at Mayfields, but they do visit other properties as well. If you live in Norfolk and would like to get involved with this group either contact me at HQ or visit the TCV website - www.tcv.org.uk/norfolk

It is my favourite time of year for Conservation Work, as I will soon be able to get the waders on and attack the Himalayan Balsam.

If you would like to get involved with any of the groups please get in touch with me and I can point you in the direction of the relevent property’s co-ordinator. Further details below.

Kenny MacKay Conservation and Education Adviser

The TCV are also interested in working with the CRT at some of our other properties, but more information will follow on those in due course.

The Lark Rise Rustics continue their hard work. May can sometimes be a quiet time for conservation work, so they have been building and mending bridges and building stiles.

Brian Lavers and the crew at Pierrepont continue to win the battle against the Rhododendrons. If there was an award for volunteering, then Brian and his crew would be top of the list.

The volunteer group at Twyford continues to grow steadily. At the recent open day, the volunteers planned and led the farm walks, enabling them to show off their hard work! Inspired by their achievements, a wave of new volunteers signed up to the group.

Volunteer Dates Volunteers for any of our properties are always welcome!

Please email info@countrysiderestorationtrust.com or get in touch using the contact details below.

• LARK RISE FARM, Barton, Cambridgeshire:

Volunteer Conservation Days – Usually held on the second Saturday of every month. Please call the office on 01223 262999 for more information.

• PIERREPONT FARM, Frensham, Surrey:

Volunteer Monitoring Group – Please call Bill Young on 01243 811563 or email bill@parmelia.me.uk for more information.

Volunteer Conservation Days – Held every 2 weeks. For more information, contact Brian Lavers on 01276 471870 or brian.lavers@btopenworld.com.

• GREEN FARM, Churt, Surrey:

Volunteer Work Days – please contact Kenny MacKay on 01223 262999 for more information

• MARGARET WOOD, Upper Denby, West Yorkshire:

Volunteer Conservation Days – please contact Phil Opie on 07762 642814 or jpo.92@live.co.uk for more information.

• TURNASTONE COURT FARM & AWNELLS: Vowchurch, Herefordshire: Volunteer Conservation Days – please contact Kenny MacKay on 01223 262999 for more information.

• MAYFIELDS, Themelthorpe, Norfolk:

Please call Sarah Jenkins on 01362 683337 or visit www.mayfieldsfarm.co.uk for more information.

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Fundraising

An introduction...

©

A big hello to all of our Friends and supporters; I’m Sarah, the new Fundraising Manager. I joined the CRT in the middle of May and I’d like to thank everyone I’ve met so far for giving me such a warm welcome. I’ve only been here a few weeks, but I’m looking forward to getting out to our properties and festivals and meeting you all over the coming months.

It’s exciting to be able to start with a massive thank you for the amazing response we had to our recent Education Appeal for Turnastone Court Farm in Herefordshire (for which I of course claim no credit!). We raised a staggering £16,892 which will enable us to fully kit out the centre and provide first class educational support to clubs, schools, local clubs and societies.

It’s certainly an exciting time to be joining the Trust with lots of plans for the future; one of which is, of course, the purchase of Bere Marsh farm which you will have read more about elsewhere in the Lark. I will also be looking at ensuring that we continue to build our income from various sources for our ongoing education and conservation work. Busy and exciting times indeed! ne

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Sarah Clay Fundraising Manager

Elaine does it again...

The views from the Wessex Ridgeway provided the motivation for CRT supporter Elaine Spencer-White’s epic 70 mile walk from Ashmore to Lyme Regis. Walking in aid of the Gordon Beningfield Memorial Farm appeal Elaine said: “The weather was perfect and “Hardy’s landscape” inspiring. The trail was challenging but the rewards were high - especially the views from Pilsdon Pen”.

Whilst sponsorship is still rolling in, it is estimated that Elaine will have raised over £1,000. The walk, completed over 6 days in May, follows on from Elaine’s walk in 2015 along the Thames Path National Trail from Oxford to Tower Bridge, also in aid of the Dorset appeal.

A huge thanks to Elaine for taking on the challenge yet again and to all those providing motivation, support and of course sponsorship.

If you would like to contribute towards Elaine’s walk and the Gordon Beningfield Memorial appeal you can do so at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Beningfield

Funding boost for wildlife monitoring We are very fortunate to receive funding from several charitable trusts and foundations for our work. Just over a year ago the Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust very kindly donated £2,250 towards a remote bat recorder and some trail cameras. This equipment has already been paying dividends at our properties in Herefordshire, with Viv Geen reporting that several species of bat have been recorded. It is hoped that over time we’ll be able to monitor the presence of otters and other wildlife using the trail cameras. This information will be used not only to inform our land management plans but also to demonstrate the effectiveness of our work when we approach other grant making bodies.

Images -Top: Turnastone Court Farm, Middle: Elaine SpencerWhite, Bottom: The Long-eared bat in flight

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Dates for your diary Please put these dates in your diary as we would love to welcome you and give you a tour of each CRT property.

Sunday 21st August

Green Farm Open Day

Sunday 25th September Lark Rise Festival of Food, Farming & Wildlife TBC December

Reindeer Event - will be announced shortly

For more information or to register your interest for each event, please contact the CRT head office on 01223 262999 or email info@countrysiderestorationtrust.com.

Legacies

How your legacy could help create a living, working countryside: • £100 could fund the conservation of a section of water course running through farmland for one year in order to protect a vital habitat for species such as otters and water voles.

• £250 could enable us to bring a school group onto our farms to learn about nature, the countryside and farming.

• £500 could enable us to carry out a season of regular surveys on one of our farms to make sure particularly important species are thriving.

Would you like to know the birds will still be flying after you have gone?

• £1,000 could pay for the equipment needed by one of our volunteer teams to carry out vital conservation work on the land.

For more information and a free legacy information pack please contact 01223 262 999 or visit countrysiderestorationtrust.com THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST NEWSLETTER

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Education

Education At Mayfields Farm We are in the middle of the busy season with education here at Mayfields!

In March began the first school visits of the season, with two groups of very little visitors looking for signs of Spring to link with their school topic. Despite the unpromising start, Spring fortunately did put in an appearance in time and we were able to spot the first blackthorn blossom, catkins, primroses and pussy willow, as well as hearing a fantastic variety of bird song in our ‘listening log circle’ in the clay pits. One group even pretended to be Spring birds and made their own nests out of natural materials they’d found, then lined it with sheep fleece. Some of them looked very cosy indeed!

Since then, school classes and Beavers groups have also enjoyed exploring the ponds, grassland and woodland, spotting different species of plants and trees, visiting the red squirrels, and watching sheepdogs working. Pond dipping has been very popular and recent highlights for the children (and me!) have been finding two incredible dragonfly exuviae specimens and watching a Great Diving Beetle nymph devour some of its fellow pond dwellers!

The educational garden development has continued, with further help from our local school at Bawdeswell and volunteer gardener, George Gillespie.

We have now got three fruit trees planted, a keyhole garden made from hazel logs, two raised beds, a grassy mound, and we are ready to start work on a sensory herb spiral. After a busy day of preparation and planting with

the children back in April, they have recently harvested their first crop of radishes and salad leaves; with carrots, spring onions, broad beans and peas all doing well!

It has been rewarding to develop this relationship with children in the local community and see their enthusiasm for planting and growing, and their interest in the variety of life on the farm.

More exciting news is that we have just got the keys to our brand new bird hide. This fantastic structure is raised up, providing 270° views towards different habitats – into the clay pits woodland, out over the fields and along the hedgerows. This gives us another versatile educational resource for children to learn about the diverse habitats and species of bird here at Mayfields. We have already taken some very excited children up for a viewing and are hoping some funds might be raised for a set of binoculars to really bring this resource to life for young people.

Teresa Linford, Education Officer, Mayfields Farm

Education in Herefordshire The past term in Herefordshire has seen continued uptake in the schools visits. After meeting with a number of schools in the Golden Valley and Hereford, visits have been taking place every week. These have been across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 with topics including seasons, lifecycles, habitats, mini-beasts, seeds and the farming calendar.

One of the biggest challenges this term was taking part in a whole school activity day. The theme for the day was ‘Helping Ourselves Help Others’, I chose to focus on ways in which children could help wildlife in their garden. The end of the day resulted in 60 bee houses made by key stage 1 children and 90 bird feeders made by key stage 2 children.

The other large event that I have been involved in this term was the Bioblitz at Hartpury College. This was a 25 hour

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survey of wildlife on the college estate along with visits to the college from 2 primary schools. I led an activity about dragonflies which they were able to see around the college lake. Both of these events were fabulous to showcase the work of the Countryside Restoration Trust.

The children’s enthusiasm for learning about food, farming and countryside is fantastic and I look forward to building the connections with the schools over the coming months.

Helen Jones Education Officer, Turnastone Court Farm

Education

Lark Rise, Cambridgeshire Since the last edition of the Lark it has been a busy few months at Lark Rise, with our village primary school sending most of their year groups to the farm for a tour. I must thank Tim, Vince, Graham and John, as without them I would struggle to put on such good trips for the children.

Graham and I have taken the tractor and trailer up to the school and collected the children to bring them to the farm.

You can imagine how excited the children were about this; tractor and trailer rides are exciting enough, but being picked up from school? I might even go so far as to call that ‘cool’. Once the children were all on board and had received their Health and Safety lecture, Graham drove us to the farm, where we toured Warner’s Corner Meadow and Warner’s Corner Field. The children were lucky enough to see some Hares in the crop and we had a chat about the function of the Beetle Bank which splits the field.

Next we took them down to the flood meadow and crossed the foot bridge into Telegraph Field, where they used their binoculars to try and find the Barn Owl box. At the bird hide in Tinker’s Field, we saw some Grey Partridges take off from the hedge. In small groups the children looked at another Barn Owl box and discussed their requirements for survival on farmland, and used their trusty binoculars to look for Yellowhammers from the bird hide.

The proof of the pudding was when a little girl, on boarding the bus back to school, said “This has been the best day of my life”.

Kenny MacKay Conservation and Education Adviser

Pebble hook-tip moth

Pierrepont Farm Moth Night 2016

More recently we had some of the Cambridgeshire Girls Brigade visit the farm and we made birdfeeders, planted up some wildflower seeds and they also had a nature ramble and tractor and trailer ride. I was hoping the girls would gain an insight into what we do for wildlife on the farm and maybe try to replicate it in their gardens at home. St Matthew’s Primary School also visited the farm for the day; well, 90 children over three days - phew! The children enjoyed a nature ramble with Vince, whilst I was on the farm planting seeds and talking about germination and photosynthesis. After that we discussed crops and different types of grain, what type of cereal they had for breakfast and from what it was made. Few children knew what their Coco Pops were made from. Finally, we ground some wheat and whilst I showed the children how to make a dough, we discussed why the process of ‘kneeding’ and ‘proving’ is necessary.

enthusiasts.

Some of the children who attended are members of Pierrepont’s Saturday Safari Club. These budding naturalists have already contributed data to a national recording scheme. In April, the children went pond dipping in the farm’s pond and identified and recorded the species they found. This data was uploaded onto the Freshwater Habitats Trust’s website to be included within their ‘Big Pond Dip’ scheme they are running.

Black Arches moth

Every year there is a national recording scheme organised

by Atropos (a UK journal for Butterflies, Moths and Dragonflies) and Butterfly Conservation focussing on the fascinating world of Moths.

Moth Night takes place over three nights, and moth enthusiasts around the country are encouraged to put out their traps and record the species in their area. Many organisations put on events to encourage members of the public to join in. This year, Pierrepont hosted its very own ‘Moth Night’ on Friday 10th June aimed at local families who are keen to join in with this study. Seven families attended and both adults and children worked tirelessly to try to identify the moths caught in the light trap the night before. In total a whopping 86 moths were caught and we managed to name them as 41 different species including the charismatic Poplar Hawkmoth, and the perfectly camouflaged Buff Tip. Hopefully seeing this variety of exciting species up close may have encouraged the next generation of Moth

I am hoping that helping children to get involved with scientific studies like these, will help nurture their interest and enthusiasm.

Annika Rees Education Officer, Pierrepont Farm

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Farm Diaries Lark Rise Farm, Cambridgeshire As a tenant for the CRT I always think I have two remits, namely, to run a profitable farm and have an abundance of wildlife. To achieve both successfully is largely in the lap of the gods, simply because world economies dictate my profitability and I cannot force wildlife to come and visit the farm, let alone stay there, but I try to make it as appetising as I can. Earlier this year we received further recognition of the good work that is happening on the farm. This time with that oh so pretty and iconic bird of arable farmland, namely the Yellowhammer. Bird numbers were recorded using a method devised by the recently created Red List Revival, and we were countrywide top for yellowhammer and number one in the County for several other species. I provide some of the habitat and food, but a big vote of thanks goes to Vince and the CRT Rustics for all of their sterling work. A section of hedge laying was particularly impressive.

On a totally different subject, could somebody please tell me what good blackgrass and cabbage stem flea beetle do to anybody? My life would be so much richer if those little

Turnastone Court Farm, Herefordshire We were getting concerned during April/early May at the lack of grass, we were turning our ewes and lambs out and still having to supplementary feed some with hay but along came a warm, humid and wet spell in May and everything sprang to life. We have now been able to shut a couple of meadows up for hay so hopefully the warm weather will continue and we will have lots of meadow hay for the winter months.

Shearing time is upon us. This year Gareth managed to shear 120 ewe lambs before his back gave up and so he has called the shearers in!

We have had a nightmare of a time with the Rural Payments Agency this year. Along with a lot of other farmers we are appalled at the service provided by this Government agency.

You are expected to get your application in correct and on time, if you don’t you will be penalised but when you ring them up to chase up your application and advise of any errors you cannot speak to anyone with any knowledge of the situation. So frustrating!

We have already sold several of our early lambs that were born in January. We started to sell them through Hereford Market but were disappointed with the price they were fetching so we now take them to Ross on Wye as for some reason they make a bit more money there!

The swallows are out in force around the farmyard and are busy making nests. We also have several Canada Geese this year on the farm. They live on a lake nearby but lately have been migrating to our arable field to eat.

Gareth & Madeleine Boaz

perishers cleared off and haunted somebody else. This year is obviously a bad blackgrass year and a couple of my fields are absolute shockers, the only saving grace is the worst field can not be seen from the road! This weed appears in very high numbers and can have devastating adverse effects on yield. A yield loss of 50% can be common place, which equates to £500/ hectare in the current economic climate! Not wanting to stir up a hornets nest regarding neonicotinoids seed treatments on oilseed rape, but without them I drilled and ultimately lost my winter oilseed rape crop after 10 insecticide foliar sprays were applied and now it’s taken 6 sprays to save my redrilled spring rape crop. With neonicotinoids there would have been no need to spray at all! Some good to come from this is, our first breeding success with Lapwings in about 30 years. The bare crop-less field which included a very wet corner drew in several Lapwing, with a pair nesting and rearing 4 chicks.

This field is adjacent to the main 98 Land but not under CRT ownership. Seeing the pretty Lapwing chicks is possibly ample compensation for the devastation caused by the cabbage stem flea beetle!

Tim Scott

Green Farm, Surrey Five years ago we had a major tree-felling operation at Green Farm. Mature blocks of conifers were taken out, and in some areas restocking was undertaken with broad-leaved trees. Other areas have been left for natural regeneration to take its course, with the expectation that conifers will be the predominant following crop. The main management required has been control of bracken to allow the seedling trees to establish and take hold. The bare ground created by this work has been great for specialised wildlife such as Woodlarks and Nightjars, Grayling butterflies and much else. As the areas become vegetated by a mix of heathland plants and sapling trees, the habitat changes and other species start to appear.

This year, I recorded a breeding pair of Stonechats and a territorial Tree Pipit in the area that was cleared five years ago.

Tree Pipits are red-listed with an 85% decline in the long term monitoring trends for the UK, so it’s great to get this species occupying a newly created habitat. Although Stonechats are fairly common in heathland and moorland, it is also great to get them at Green Farm as they often act as partners for the much rarer Dartford Warbler that we are hoping to get back to the heathland. The two species work together to keep an eye out for predators and seem to benefit from foraging together. If the habitat is now suitable for Stonechats, there is the potential for Dartford Warblers to follow. The Stonechats were using an area that spanned our felled woodland block plus an area that is maintained as heathland. In the last five years we have been improving the heathland, by mowing areas to create a more varied mosaic of heather heights and ages, and also by removing colonising trees. This year, a major programme of scrub removal has also been undertaken at the second block of heathland at the Gravelhanger part of Green Farm. This heathland area is on an extremely steep slope and has been difficult to manage for volunteers so contractors were employed with specialist equipment to clear the slopes. Hopefully, this will now attract a similar range of wildlife although the first species that seems to be benefiting is bracken!

Dr Vince Lea

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Farm Diaries Twyford Farm, West Sussex

The last day of May was cold and wet but at least we didn’t feel guilty at being indoors writing this report !

Lambing is over. It was very uncomplicated thankfully; we only had to assist 2 ewes and have managed to foster all but one orphan lamb. The lambing percentage was down a bit but tests carried out by Liverpool University have identified Schmallenberg virus present and they have followed this up by putting midge traps in the shed and will be testing them.

We are pleased with the Charollais ewe lambs we kept back last year and we have managed to get them shorn early along with the Welsh ewe tegs* and Charollais ram tegs*. (*A sheep in its second year).

The highlight of the spring was a visit to the farm by BBC Countryfile when they were featuring the Ashdown Forest.

It eventually came about after much negotiating by Bob and a whole Friday afternoon filming resulted in 5 minutes on air, but Matt Baker and the crew made it a very pleasant experience. He interviewed Robin first, then Bob and then Liz with the volunteers who were engaged in planting a traditional Sussex hedge of 12 mixed species. We hope that this will have created a continuing and productive relationship between the BBC and The CRT. Our Open day was held on May 1st to coincide with the beautiful bluebells in the woods and we were lucky to have lovely weather and support from Robin, Lulu and Nicholas Watts. We had a selection of local produce on offer, barbecued our own lamb and beef and had displays of spinning and wood crafts and about 250-300 visitors enjoyed walks around the farm. We managed to recruit some new members and volunteers and special thanks must go to our existing volunteers for all the hard work they put in to making the day a success and something we can expand on next year. We, with the support of Sue Lake and Sue Wilson, took the CRT trailer to a local Heavy Horse show. We had a reasonable amount of interest, recruited a new member and were situated right by the main ring, so had a lovely time watching the ‘gentle giants’.

The Garden Cottage is really coming together and looks superb, we are counting the days to when we can furnish it and open for business. The bed and breakfast has been busy over Easter, then was rather steady for a while but improving daily and we have the added bonus of meeting some delightful people.

In the woods Stumbletts furnace has now been cleared and we are waiting for drier weather to haul out the timber. The rest of the woodland is going into stewardship which will improve the habitat for the wildlife and hopefully increase their population. The grassland has mainly been shut up for hay plus one wildflower meadow, in which we will be starting to enhance the number of species .

The Ashdown Forest Riggit Galloways that have been having bed and breakfast at Twyford for the winter have now gone back out on the heath and we are just about to put collars on our own cattle ready for them to go out and graze another area of the forest, that should be interesting!! During the summer we plan to improve the cattle shed and hopefully we can house more cattle next winter.

Pierrepont Farm, Surrey As we write this piece, we are finding ourselves juggling more balls than ever. Thankfully calving isn’t one of them as we finished the last group of cows with a fantastic 15 heifer calves all looking strong and healthy.

The milk price continues to plummet with no end in sight at the moment. As a result we are continuing to make more efficiencies. We have made more improvements to our grazing strategy, meaning the cows are having to make the absolute most of the grass rather than be fed extra food to help them produce the milk. Cows would happily eat just the juiciest parts of grass and then trot up to the shed where we put food out for them while they are waiting to be milked.

Now they are having to eat the stalky bit as well because we cannot afford to let them waste it as that is where they get a lot of nutrients from that we no longer feed in the shed. We have also bought a round baler so that we can bale our own big bales of hay and straw for the cows, thus cutting down on very large contractor bills. No more summer holidays for us as we will be flat out baling and carting straw in preparation for the winter months.

Another positive move we have taken is to purchase a Milk Vending Machine. We have recently been granted a licence to sell raw milk straight from the farm and now have our vending machine up and running. The benefits of drinking natural unpasteurized milk are becoming more widely accepted and so far all the feedback we have had have been positive. We now have a Facebook page; Pierrepont Farm Raw Milk and a website www.rawmilksurrey.co.uk, why not take a visit and follow our progress.

Another of the balls that have been kept in the air, primarily

by Zoe is the preparation for the Surrey County Show.

We took 8 of our best Jerseys to the show which Zoe had been busy training, washing and clipping. Her efforts were rewarded with a winning calf, Honey, and Reserve Jersey Champion with Topaz. She also put together a promotion display that won the best Presentation Award at the show, all this while doing her GCSE’s. This year will be the last for a while that we will have her help on the farm as in September she is fledging the nest at the tender age of 16 and going off to the Plumpton Agricultural College for 3 years. I am sure at weekends I will be treated to bags of smelly washing though…..

In amongst all this busyness on the farm, we have moments that remind us why we farm in the way we do. The most notable one being a regular visit from Mr Barny. Most evenings and sometimes at breakfast we get to watch our resident barn owl gliding round the water meadow in front of the house hunting for his next meal. We are hoping that he will soon find a Mrs Barny too.

Mike and Bev Clear

Bob Felton & Liz Wallis THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST NEWSLETTER

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Farm Diaries Margaret Wood, South Yorkshire We often hear how wonderful nature is but it can also be quite vexing at times. This year’s Bluebells looked as though they would be very early as they were showing signs in early January, so we decided to arrange our Open Day for the end of April. The result was that a cold spell held them back and they were disappointing for the visitors, however on a visit two weeks later they were absolutely magnificent.

The good thing about the Open Day was that we were visited by Martin and his wife which gave us the opportunity to thank him personally for all his help and friendship over the time he has been with CRT. He will definitely be a hard act to follow and we wish him every enjoyment of his retirement.

We are now looking towards our efforts to control the annual Bracken growth which will shade out our young trees if we don’t keep on top of this control. It would be nice to just strim it off but with the Bluebells still being in

evidence it seems a shame to risk damaging the plants by this action.

We aim to have a monthly workday to which you are very welcome, either to work or to look around the property so please contact John on 01777 818732 or Phil on 07443 567844. There is also a Caravan Club Certificated Site on adjacent property for those who like Caravanning.

John Dunn

Fen Country A Poem by Ann Jenkins There wasn’t any sky The way to say That’s where the land ends.

I didn’t see the difference Between the lighted and the light.

And through the bore of one repeated note Clay ran to bone And day dropped into night.

If you would like your work (poetry, pros, photographs) featured in the Lark, please send to Lois Dixon ldixon@countrysiderestorationtrust.com

The Wood

A Poem by Sheila Logan

You knew I was there.

Long before I stepped from the furrowed track Onto the narrow path, Hoping to catch a glimpse, You knew I was there.

Bramble barriers warned against intrusion And I waited respectfully, quietly, Listening in the stillness, Looking for movement And seeing nothing.

Suddenly you sprang out!

I could only stand amazed and unbelieving!

In a moment you were away – Bounding into the open field and Spring sunshine.

Heads erect, you turned as one, To watch me warily But your liege lord, majestically antler-crowned, Studied me unhurriedly and sensing no threat, Slowly led you away.

I gazed enchanted, shielding my eyes until you were gone.

Held in the silence and reluctant to leave, I pondered my good fortune And wandered home in peace.

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THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST NEWSLETTER

Rabbit Purse - £3.50 including p/p A zip-up rabbit faced purse; perfect for children

Farm Tractor Brick Set - £5.50 including p/p

85 piece building brick set in a superb picture display box.

Farm Animal Pencil Set - £3.00 including p/p A set of six pencils with erasers, featuring farm animals

Red Squirrel Soft Toy - £7.50 including p/p Adorable red squirrel. Height to tip of tail approximately 17cm.

Cotton Printed Tote Bag - £4.00 including p/p

A perfect lightweight bag to carry in your handbag for those unexpected purchases!

Size: 41.5cm x 38cm featuring the CRT logo.

Silver Triple Function Pen - £4.00 including p/p Pen/LED Light/Stylus – comes in gift box Further merchandise is available on our website - www.countrysiderestorationtrust.com

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Cowslips at Lark Rise Farm Photograph by Geoff Harries

The Countryside Restoration Trust, Bird’s Farm, Haslingfield Rd, Barton, Cambridgeshire CB23 7AG Tel: 01223 262999 E-mail: info@countrysiderestorationtrust.com www.countrysiderestorationtrust.com Registered charity no: 1142122 A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales No. 7320026.

Registered office: as above.