Environment Judith Tooth meets a group of Norfolk farmers sharing ideas and expertise along the River Glaven
Cluster farm group is better for landscape – and for business
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t’s a beautiful winter’s morning in north Norfolk where members of the Glaven Facilitation Fund Group have gathered for their latest meeting. Today, they are learning from Ollie Martin from Groundswell about his experience of regenerative farming in Hertfordshire and how it might be adopted in the Glaven valley. Meanwhile, Ed Bramham-Jones from Norfolk Rivers Trust is explaining soil erosion and the grants available for sediment traps. The group is one of more than 100 across England, with several in East Anglia, including those based around the rivers Wissey and Wensum in Norfolk, and on the Felixstowe and Shotley peninsulas in Suffolk, each bringing together farmers and other land managers to improve the local natural environment at a landscape scale. The idea is that by working together they can deliver more for soil health, water quality and wildlife than they could achieve as individuals.
Natural England’s Facilitation Fund pays for a facilitator and training costs for each group. Facilitator for the Glaven Group is Norfolk FWAG adviser Charlie Ennals, and her role is to listen to the group members and plan events based on the priorities in the Glaven valley highlighted by Natural England and other advisers working in the area. “I support the farmers in the area by finding interesting training providers that are thought provoking and relevant to the
area, and working with other advisers to highlight priorities and work more collaboratively,” she says. The morning’s talks spark a lot of interest among the group. For Thomas Courtauld of Barningham Hall, hosting the session, the opportunity to bring together farmers associated with the Glaven to discuss problems and share ideas is the best part about it. “Collaboration is the key,” he says. “The more we meet, the more we discuss, the more we see the scope of what we could do. Some of us might know more about a particular subject, some less so, but, by discussing it together, by going out in the field to see an example, a lot comes out of it.” Charlie agrees: “I think one of the main achievements of the group is actually getting together regularly to talk about the problems in the Glaven valley, such as soil health and erosion, and also the successes. Farming can be so isolating and this group
Rare habitat supporting a wealth of wildlife East Anglia is home to a quarter of the world’s rare and special chalk streams. The River Glaven is one of them: just 10 miles long, it rises from tiny headwaters in lower Bodham, with the main river beginning just below Selbrigg Pond where three streams combine at the outfall. It meets the sea behind the shingle spit at Blakeney Point. The River Glaven and its tributaries support a remarkable wealth of wildlife, according to the River Glaven Conservation Group – whose founder members include farmer Robin Combe – with an array of plants, invertebrates, birds and 10 ANGLIA FARMER • JANUARY 2020
fish, many of which are of key conservation concern. Brown trout, bullhead, stone loach, European eel, three-spine stickleback and brook lamprey can all be found. In the middle reaches of the river, where it runs over a chalk bed, large drifts of river water crowfoot cover the water’s surface with white flowers in early summer, and white-clawed crayfish thrive. Major threats to the river’s wildlife include fine sediment pollution linked to soil loss from arable fields, as well as barriers to fish migration and invasion by American signal crayfish.
provides a space for neighbours – who would actually see each other surprisingly little – to be able to talk openly about issues around soil health, erosion, wildlife – and the weather!
Sharing best practice “It’s difficult to measure the achievements but it is so important getting together to share best practice, support each other and promote changes where needed. Keeping up to date with new tech-
