Wildflower Special - Summer 2017

THE LARK

THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST

MAGAZINE

Summer 2017 | ISSUE No. 60

Wildflower Special Wildflower Meadows and Pasture, Meadow Life and Flowers in the Wild

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THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

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 2,000 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: Sir 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 John Terry Zac Goldsmith Photographs and drawings courtesy of Julian Eales, Geoff Harries, Annika Rees, Teresa Linford, Viv Geen, Tim Scott, Vince Lea, Jackie Cooper, Sue Clarke Front cover image: ‘Wildflower Meadow’ by Matthew J Thomas Editor of The Lark: Lois Dixon

Paper sourced from FSC® compliant, responsibly managed, sustainable sources.

Wildflower Meadows and Pasture Meadow Life Flowers in the Wild We Must Look After Wildlife

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Regulars

Chairman’s Thoughts Director’s Report Volunteers Fundraising Events Education Farm Diaries Merchandise

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Trust News

The Chairman’s Thoughts I love living on an island – weather-wise each year is different and during my lifetime I have lived through warm spells, cold spells, water and drought.

I am so interested in the weather, that I recently bought a book about one of my favourite radio programmes – “The Shipping Forecast”, published by BBC Books. I intend to read it as soon as possible. When I wrote my last “Thoughts“ for The Lark, my study was extremely cold; now I am typing this in short sleeves and if I wasn’t writing there would be cricket on the television.

After the cold wet spring of last year, this year’s spring was exceptionally dry and very hot. Climate change? I have no idea, although because we are on island, part of a fragile planet, the climate has always changed. Another book I was recently given, with Prince Charles among the authors, is a Ladybird book for adults called “Climate Change”. My reading is going to be dominated by the weather this summer and so is farming.

The spring has been followed by more hot weather and not much rain. At Lark Rise Farm yields of cereals are likely to be down because of the dry – and hay has suffered too with the grass being far shorter and lighter than usual.

But never mind – the spring flowers this year were absolutely tremendous and they clearly thrived on the warmth. Violets, Lesser Celandines, Bluebells and Cowslips were all plentiful and beautiful and the bees loved them. The colour and scent of the bluebells at Twyford Farm had to be experienced to be believed and the Cowslips at Lark Rise defied the rabbits and the lack of rain. The miracle of flowers was not just to be seen on the CRT’s farms, the violets on our lawn exceeded anything I had seen before – and Lulu and I live in the farmhouse now, which I have known since the age of four.

The natural flower show went on and on and because of this I must mention again the late John Rogers; a Friend of the CRT who became a personal friend. It was John who started the plots of rare farmland wildflowers in the farmyard at Bird’s Farm opposite the Trust Office. What an absolute picture they have been this year too. John didn’t even live in the countryside, he lived on the edge of London, but he loved butterflies, birds and wildflowers and became an expert, not only in plant recognition, but also in plant propagation. One of the most beautiful wildflowers flowering on his patches is also one of the rarest plants in Britain and one of the most difficult annual plants to grow from seed – Field Cow-wheat.

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Using seed from a CRT Friend in Wiltshire, John obtained immediate germination where others failed. Its flowers are extremely beautiful – far more attractive than the name suggests. Once it was regarded as a common weed – not THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

wanted in arable crops as its seeds are mildly poisonous.

It grows in only a few isolated places in Britain but we are pleased to say that after John’s passing, my sister Rachael has managed to keep the Field-Cow-wheat going and this summer it has been a picture. Another beautiful flower is the Meadow Clary – a plant of meadowland; its status now described as “near threatened”. The name “clary” comes from ‘clear-eye’ and it was once used in old eye potions. This year the two plants produced stunning blooms of deep, clear blue; what a beautiful plant of wild meadows, it would improve any tame garden too. We have numerous other welcome weeds growing – Ox-Eye Daisies, Corn Cockle, Shepherd’s Needle, Corn Gromwell, Corn Marigold and more.

The first field purchased by the CRT in 1993 was named Telegraph Field. It was then divided in two with a freshly planted hedge; those small plants have now grown into beautifully maturing trees and shrubs, so much so that in effect Telegraph Field has become two fields. We intend to keep the southern arable half of the field as Telegraph Field. The half running next to the Bourn Brook has become a hay meadow and the Trustees have agreed to call it ‘John’s Field’ after the much missed John Rogers.

Now a quick word of congratulation to our Trustee Zac Goldsmith who after a short break was re-elected to parliament. Well done Zac – we needed you back – the country needed you back, and importantly, the countryside needed you back.

Many Friends have asked for the latest position of our Dorset Dream in memory of Gordon Beningfield. It is a bit too early to say and we are still working hard to clarify the position. On the question of Bere Marsh Farm it would appear that there may not be Lottery money available. I am a great lover of Bere Marsh and we were relying on the Lottery; I hope to able to give a fuller report in the next edition of The Lark.

With very best wishes,

Robin Page

Meadow Clary

Director’s Report Butterflies are “the souls of summer hours” as the poet John Masefield put it and my heart skipped at the simple sight of a vivid Brimstone, admittedly this was in the middle of Cambridge.

Unfortunately butterflies as with many insects including important pollinators are in worrying decline. Lots of people are saying we are seeing less butterflies and they are not wrong. British butterflies are the best studied group of insects ever but the data is nothing short of alarming. It is well publicised that three quarters of our 59 species are in decline and according to the UK National Monitoring Scheme last summer was pretty bad for a number of species such as the Common (or not so common) Blue and Small Tortoiseshell, although Robin has definitely seen at least one this year! The main cause of the decline is habitat loss – chemically driven rather than chemically responsible agriculture, conifer plantations, neglected woodlands and climate change. So too is the loss of habitat in urban areas and with it a reduction in green spaces; it’s easy to blame farmers but pesticide use in gardens is also part of the problem. You can read more about the importance of meadows and wild plants in reversing the decline and restoring balance in this edition of The Lark, with great articles as usual from our regulator contributors.

Butterflies are also one of the reasons we have chosen to take part in ‘National Countryside Week’. We will be holding a series of ‘Discovery Days’ in association with the Prince’s Countryside Fund, during the summer holidays so that we can focus on all things that brighten the countryside. On Friday 4th August, we will be open to the public and showcasing how the working arable farm at Lark Rise, with its mosaic of crops and wildflower meadows are helping to revive butterflies and with it a whole host of insects and plants. At Mayfields (Saturday 5th August) with Sarah Jenkins, there will be working dog demonstrations and a local star - their Suffolk punch horse. At Turnastone (Wednesday 2nd August) there will be a farm walk (with limited spaces and booking essential) looking at the wildlife and Tudor farming history associated with the water meadows in the Golden Valley.

There’s been lots of warm weather and a very hot June, but this has been an extremely challenging year so far in terms of weather for UK farmers and wildlife. We’ve just had one of the driest Aprils on record and one of the driest winters for nearly 20 years. The UK as a whole experienced just 47% of the average April rainfall. Here at the Countryside Restoration Trust we don’t take soil or water for granted and we actively promote good soil and water management on our farms. We also love mud (at the right time of year)! Jumping in muddy puddles is a lot of fun but we

also want people to understand that healthy soil is an important substrate that supports farming and wildlife.

Quite simply without it the crops, trees and plants that make up our farmland, woods and countryside would not grow and the birds and animals that depend on it would not flourish. Inspired by Robin’s muddy puddle in the farmyard, we introduced #MuddyUpBritain (as featured in The Countryman), to bring awareness to the organic matter beneath our feet and to explore the importance of soil restoration across our wildlife friendly farms. Leading up to International Mud Day on 29th June 2017, we published a series of blog articles written and researched by our education team and with the help of Chloe Brown, a fantastic writer and journalist, to inform and inspire people. We had lots of really positive engagement and welcome support from other organisations such as the Soil Association and Muddy Faces as well as lots of lovely comments from a new growing family audience.

Underpinning all of our work is you. The generosity of all those who support us remains vital and with your help, we are making a real difference. Thanks to your support, the CRT owns some wonderful and historic farms, now totalling over 2000 acres and our building restoration work at Pierrepont and Turnastone is helping us to expand our visitor access and education programmes. By working with local food producers, cheesemakers and brewers, we are helping to revive local countryside crafts and support local employment. But we know that there is so much more we can do. We know that our farms are amazing places for wildlife, as featured in the Farm Diaries on page 20. If we are to demonstrate our impact and prove it to other farmers, politicians, conservation organisations and the public, then we need to continue to expand our wildlife monitoring work to collate together our findings, which is no easy task, so that we can observe changes and recommend continuation or adaptation of specific land management practices. Then we need to shout about it and there is no better opportunity than next year, as part of our Silver Jubilee!

We hope you will help us and continue to support us on our journey.

Sarah Stannage

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Feature

Oxeye daisies blooming in the early days of Telegraph Field, Lark Rise

Wild Flower Meadows and Pasture ‘When they’re gone, they’re gone’. This phrase, used by budget supermarkets about bargain buys, is also a stark reminder of what is happening to UK wild flower meadows and pasture. The State of Nature Report 2016, confirmed that 97% of lowland meadow was destroyed between 1930 and 1984, a total loss of 64,000 sq. km.

Why has this happened?

Quite simply, most farmers no longer value species rich grassland. In contrast, in 1250, arable land was valued at 6d per acre, pasture at 12d and meadows at 24d. As you probably know, meadows are cut for hay and pasture is grazed.

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How do we save what is left?

The first step is recognising the really valuable areas of species rich grassland. Certain wild flowers and herbs can be viewed as indicator species. In dry meadows, this is likely to include cowslip, ox-eye daisy, lady’s bedstraw and yellow rattle. Wet meadows, often next to water courses, may include ragged robin, lady’s smock, sedges and forget-me-not. Various orchids may occur on both.

In the recent past, thousands of acres of grassland have been ploughed up for arable production. Early EU payments supported production, ensuring that arable farming was much more profitable. (Subsidies are now paid on all the land farmed, including grass.) Even trees have been planted on species rich grassland. It must be added that the management of species rich grassland is not easy.

Appropriate management Mowing is the best approach, timed after the wild flowers have flowered and produced seed. This allows seeds to reach the sward to provide new plants for the following year to supplement those that carry over from year to year. The ideal timing is around late July but some farmers cut earlier in occasional years to secure more leafy hay, which has higher protein levels. Early cutting may also be necessary in some years to help control perennial weeds like dock and thistle. Tim had problems with bristly ox-tongue in a meadow at Lark Rise.

Where livestock production continued, especially in the west, grassland has been ‘improved’. This inappropriate word means replacing traditional permanent grassland with leys of higher yielding grass. This often means a monoculture crop of ryegrass, with herbs and wild flowers viewed as weeds. This approach overlooks that herbs contain vitamins and minerals, which help livestock to stay healthy. Furthermore, wild flowers are vital sources of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies, moths and other invertebrates. The use of fertilisers and herbicides have further reduced biodiversity.

Where grazing animals are involved, the stock should be shut out from early May to allow the grass and broad-leaved plants to develop flowers. Some farmers like to graze livestock throughout the summer but clearly flowers can be grazed off so stocking rates should be kept low (down to one cow equivalent to three acres). Sheep damage wild species more than cattle because they graze lower and more uniformly; an alternative is a three year rotation involving grazing at low stocking rates in years one and two (cattle and sheep together) and only cutting for hay in year three.

Biodiversity in grassland is also reduced by inappropriate management. Drainage, overgrazing or no management at all, have brought about a loss of herbs and wildflowers in grassland.

Riverside grasslands Riverside grasslands are often special because of their diversity of plants and animals and their ability to buffer the water from soil, nutrient and pesticide

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Photograph © Sue Clarke

By John Terry - CRT Trustee

ingress. 100 years ago, most grass in flood plains held up water in winter and were grazed in summer, making a contribution to farmers and the local community. This approach could be encouraged today with grants to farmers.

Can we replace the lost species rich meadows?

Oliver Rackham, the Cambridge University ecologist, who died in 2015, suggested it is feasible, but it takes 150 years. However, some conservationists have succeeded in getting quite close in less time. It is best to locate new areas next to remaining species rich grass, if possible, so that plants and animals can easily migrate to the new patch. Management by cutting and removing the hay reduces the soil’s nutrient status, encourages herbs and wild flowers, to the detriment of aggressive grasses.

Established species rich meadows on CRT holdings The jewel in the crown is perhaps the water meadow next to the River Wey at Pierrepont. Mike’s meadow has SSSI Status, because of its flora and fauna. Meadows at Turnastone are also species rich, and Gareth and Madelaine are fast learning how to manage them. You may know that some were flooded by Roland Vaughan when he first developed his flood meadows in the 17th Century. These fields apparently yielded five times the weight of hay than his neighbours, and claimed that the rental value of his land rose from £40 per acre to £300, but he was apparently prone to self publicity.

Oxeye daisies, Yellow rattle and Clover in Telegraph Field, Lark Rise

Education Many of the CRT education sessions use species rich grassland to illustrate the importance of understanding nature and natural systems. At Lark Rise, Kenny calls these areas the UK equivalent of rain forests, underlining their value and their rapid disappearance.

Summary We must look after the species rich grassland that we have in the UK and manage them to encourage more biodiversity. We should learn the skills of establishing new areas so they exist for generations to come, and spend time with youngsters to ensure they appreciate the value of areas rich in biodiversity but with low perceived economic value.

Photograph © Sue Clarke

At Lark Rise, Tim has managed to establish meadows by three methods; by seeding, by spreading hay from a nearby field and by managing a self-established sward (natural regeneration). One special meadow next to the Bourn Brook is Telegraph Field where Miriam Rothchild’s seed mix was sown. This is a fine example of the glorious mix of flowers and grasses (over 120 species at the last count) which attracts millions of insects and quite a few human visitors.

The Wey Meadow at Pierrepont Farm

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Feature

Barn Owl flying over Wildflower meadow

Meadow Life

By Dr Vince Lea - Head of Wildlife Monitoring

Wildflower meadows are a glorious sight in their own right, but it is the life they sustain that makes them such an important part of our traditional farmland landscape, and the loss of the vast majority of hay meadows is a major factor in the decline of many species. We monitor and observe various aspects of wildlife across the fields at Lark Rise farm, and from this evidence we can see the clear importance of meadows for bumblebees, butterflies, bats, Barn Owls, Brown Hares and many other small mammals.

Red Tailed Bumblebee

the Red-tailed Bumblebee, and looks very similar but is larger and with dusky wings. By emerging later in the summer, the female cuckoo can look for established Red-tailed Bumblebee nests and will enter the nest, kill the existing queen and lay her eggs in the nest.

The Red-tailed workers will continue to rear these eggs to produce male and female cuckoo bees that will mate and produce hibernating fertile females ready to parasitise nests next year. Clearly a large number of the host species nests is required for these cuckoos to maintain a viable population, and without large areas of flower-rich habitat there would not be sufficient hosts for these cuckoos.

Marbled White Butterfly

We have two butterfly transects, both of which include one or two sections that incorporate meadow areas, and one bumblebee transect which is divided into nine sections, three of which are through meadow. For both groups of insect, it is clear that the highest numbers and biggest variety are seen on the meadow sections.

On our latest bumblebee survey, for example, half of the bees were recorded from these three meadow sections, despite the fact that one of the best meadow areas had recently been cut and had virtually nothing in flower and had only a tiny number of bees; the best meadow section on this occasion had 189 Red-tailed Bumblebees and one specimen of the enormous female Red-tailed Cuckoo Bumblebee; this species parasitises

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As far as the butterflies are concerned, the meadows are important for both a nectar source, which is why the bumblebees are there, but also a breeding area, as the important food plants for the caterpillars are present in natural meadows. In a commercially improved grassland, the main agricultural species tend to be rye grass and maybe a bit of red clover. Neither of these species is of interest to the caterpillars of any of our butterfly species. The main meadow plants and their associated butterflies are the finer fescue, meadow

Photography Š Geoff Harries / Jackie Cooper

Lark Rise Farm, Cambridgeshire

and bent grasses - essential for Marbled White, Small Heath and Gatekeepers. Coarser grass species such as Cocksfoot, Oat-grass and Yorkshire Fog support Meadow Browns, Ringlets and the common skipper species (Large, Small and Essex Skippers). This group of grass-feeding butterflies make up the bulk of the butterflies seen in the meadows, but there are also Common Blues which feed on Birds-foot Trefoil and Small Coppers that rely on Sorrel plants for their larvae.

While the bees and butterflies are relatively large, conspicuous and readily identified and counted, they represent just the tip of the invertebrate iceberg that meadows support. It is very difficult to assess the total quantity and diversity of the numbers involved, but the response from the insect-feeding bats and swallows tells us just how important these habitats are. Changing from an arable to a meadow habitat has increased the number of bats visiting one field at Lark Rise by about 18-fold.

Photography Š Dr Vince Lea / Geoff Harries

Of the other mammals that use meadows, the most numerous are the voles that feed on grass, plants and seeds, and can make their homes in the thatch that builds up at ground level and in small burrows underground (interestingly, the old abandoned vole nests are also important sites for bumblebees to nest in).

In grazed fields, the height of the grass is kept too low for these animals to shelter and hide from predators.

The 11 months of the year when hay is not being cut and harvested are ideal for voles to exploit these fields; hay making time is Water Shrew a hazardous period when all the predators have easy access to these animals, but even when the grass is long, specialist vole predators such as Kestrels and Barn Owls will spend most of their hunting time in these fields. Our small mammal trapping in recent years at Lark Rise has shown a high density of small mammals (around 160 animals per hectare) as well as a good diversity - three species of shrew, two species of vole and four species of mouse have been recorded over the years. Water Shrew, Harvest Mouse and Yellow-necked Mouse are particularly significant rarer species that have been recorded in the meadows.

Moving up in size, Brown Hares also benefit greatly from the introduction of meadows to Lark Rise. The

Hare in meadow

long grass is ideal for hiding and especially for the young which are left alone for long periods. On a largely arable farm, the fact that the hay meadows are cut in June or early July means that by the time the arable crops are harvested later in July, there is a bit of regrowth on the meadow grass, which provides a fresh bite of grass when the rest of the farm is bereft of any food. Once the first crops are sown again and the arable fields start to green up in October the hares have a much wider range of feeding options which remains the case through till the next harvest, but the couple of months when the arable fields are empty are when the meadows particularly come to the rescue of the hare population.

The key factors that meadows offer for all this wildlife are the diversity of plant and grass species present, and the fact that the meadows are allowed to grow without any interference for most of the year. The one catastrophic event in the life of all meadow-dwelling species is the day the hay is cut. This is always a difficult decision moment in the management of a wildlife-friendly meadow. Without this one cut, there would be an accumulation of grass and a gradual conversion from meadow to scrub. Without taking the hay off the field it would become enriched with nutrients and the flowers would be lost in competition with the grasses. Leaving the cut date too late means that the hay is not very nutritious, much of the nutrient has already gone back into the roots and there won’t be much regrowth to provide cover and food for hares and small mammals. Cutting too early will deprive the bulk of bees their nectar sources, and will reduce the seed set from the meadow plants so wildflower diversity will start to decline, particularly if the important annual grass-parasite Yellow Rattle fails to set seed.

Ideally different cut dates would be applied to different meadows, but with the notorious English summers this cannot always be arranged!

Wildflowers in Telegraph Field, Lark Rise

A trail camera attached to a tree

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Feature

Flowers in the Wild There is nothing to compare with the uplifting feeling of walking through a hay meadow in June; with the array of pinks and yellows and the white hogweed umbels floating like mini clouds above the sward.

But other than their aesthetic value why are wildflowers so important? For the ‘pollinators‘ (the insects that pollinate a flowering plant in pursuit of a nectar feed), it is a symbiotic relationship between flowering plant and invertebrate. It is known that 75% of the world’s flowering plants require an insect to pollinate them and 1,500 species of insects pollinate plants in the UK, including those from which we source our food.

The loss of wildflower habitats will lead to the loss of pollinating insects, particularly if they are specific to a species of wildflower, and sedentary in nature. It is therefore important to have corridors of wildflowers across a field or woodland, across the farm, and indeed within the larger landscape to allow insect species to travel and prevent isolation which will ultimately lead to extinction on a site.

The Bee The pedigree of honey Does not concern the bee A clover, at any time, to him Is aristocracy.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Wildflowers can also be important caterpillar food plants for many species of moth and butterfly. The six-spot burnet moth, Mother Shipton moth, orange tip butterfly, meadow brown, common blue, small copper and speckled wood are some of the species recorded on the CRT farms in Herefordshire in 2017. Swallows, house martins, spotted flycatchers, swifts and redstarts are species of bird that depend on an insect food source and have been recorded at both farms this year. It is all part of a diverse ecosystem and food chain.

Mother Shipton moth in hay meadow yellow rattle indicates the presence of a traditional hay meadow, and it is semi-parasite of grasses. The presence of too much yellow rattle and too little grass results in poor winter fodder for livestock, and too much grass is not good for wildlife. Unimproved grassland can support up to 160 species of insect.

Bumblebee on native daffodil at Awnells Farm in March Photography © Viv Geen

By Viv Geen, Monitoring Officer (Herefordshire)

The meadows at Turnastone Court Farm have been monitored using a 1m squared quadrat survey method.

The species present in a quadrat (thrown at random in one section of the field are recorded, along with their percentage cover. Another six or ten quadrats are then recorded and the results collated. The percentage of each plant species will give a good indication of the quality of grassland present according to the National Vegetation Classification system, Phase I habitat survey methodology, and HLS guidelines. The annual condition of the meadow can also be assessed and the management tweaked accordingly. This year the common spotted orchids in the main hay meadow have been spreading down the meadow, however, the oxeye daisy appears to be concentrated in 2-3 areas of the field. It may be worth collecting some of the hay in this area and spreading around other parts of the field in July when the field is cut. Other wildflower species recorded include bird’s-foot trefoil, goat’s-beard, black medick, self-heal, common cat’sear, and hogweed.

Wildflower habitats Whatever the habitat type it is important to have a source of nectar throughout the spring and summer, and early nectar sources such as the native daffodil, lesser celandine, and common dandelion are very important for those insects emerging early in the season.

Hay meadows There has been a loss of 97% loss of hay meadows in the UK since the 1930s. The wildflowers of a hay meadow require an undisturbed low nutrient soil and many fields were ploughed and enriched during and since the World War to provide food for the nation. A farm hay meadow should have a good grass to herb ratio. The presence of

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Common spotted orchid with garden chafer

A six foot high nettle growth make access to this wood difficult, and some species of bird, such as the pied flycatcher, require an open woodland under-storey.

Sweet violet has been recorded in the wood, along with primrose, English bluebell, wood avens, red campion (named after Silenus, the drunken Greek god of the woodland), lesser celandine or pilewort, germander speedwell, enchanters’ nightshade, dog’s mercury and wood speedwell. Primrose is pollinated by bees but the plant often flowers too early for many insects as mentioned in Shakespeare’s The Winter Tale;

Ash plantation without nettles & with primroses

Bluebells at Turnastone Court Farm

‘pale prime-roses that die unmarried’.

Unfortunately, both English and Spanish bluebell is present in the wood. The alien invader which hybridises with our native species is being pulled up where it is found.

Wood pasture and anthill meadows Gareth and Madeleine Boaz have been controlling the creeping thistle at Turnastone Court Farm using a weed wiper pulled behind a tractor in the lowland fields, and using a back pack sprayer in the anthill meadows. Thistles are important nectar sources for many insects. The creeping thistle, important for invertebrates and birds such as goldfinch, is an invasive species that spreads quickly and needs to be controlled.

Other species of thistle are also present on the farm and are not so invasive. The marsh thistle grows in the anthill meadows and does not spread as vigorously as the creeping thistle. The spear thistle is also present. The welted thistle was recently recorded along the River Dore corridor on the farm.

The grazing in the bluebell area in the wood pasture, and in some areas of the adjacent anthill meadow has been controlled over the spring to protect the bluebells and other spring flowers. The sight and smell of the bluebells have been amazing this year.

Other wildflowers include tormentil, barren strawberry, dog violet, common spotted orchid, bugle, heath bedstraw, primrose, wood anemone and goldilocks.

Photography © Viv Geen

Mixed Plantation Woodland The Ash Plantation at Turnastone, as the name suggests, supports a stand of ash trees. However, other species such as hazel, silver birch, English oak and elder are also present which would indicate the presence of an historical ancient woodland site. Nettles have been a problem in the wood and have been smothering the spring flowers present on the woodland floor, some of which are ancient woodland indicators. I was asked why I was spraying the nettles when they are important for butterflies like the peacock, the small tortoiseshell, and the red admiral, that lay their eggs on nettles. The caterpillars of the small tortoiseshell spin a communal web over the top of the nettle, and the red admiral caterpillars make a tent-like structure. Twenty-seven species are wholly dependent on the nettle. Seventeen other species feed on the nettle as well as other plants. All parts of the nettle attract beetles, butterflies, weevils and aphids.

Nettles are present in corners around the farm Welted thistle to provide a habitat for this wildlife.

Anthill covered in wall speedwell

The vegetation on the anthill meadows included fairy flax, sheep’s fescue, lady’s bedstraw, field wood-rush, ribwort plantain, eyebright, upright chickweed, pignut, meadow buttercup and lesser stitchwort.

Hedgerows: important nectar producing corridors The flowers of woody species are also very important for invertebrates. Crab-apple, elder, blackthorn (first blossom of the year), hawthorn (the blossom or May is very popular with many insects, notably moth caterpillars. The word haw is believed to be derived from the Old English word ‘haga’ which means hedge), honeysuckle and rose. There are 100 species of wild rose in the United Kingdom. Dogrose (Rosa canine), field-rose (Rosa ardencies), sweet-briar or eglantine (Rosa rubinginosa) which has a wonderful apple scent, have all been recorded at Turnastone Court Farm. These roses decorate the hedgerows with perfumed flowers; an attraction for insects, followed by orange or red hips; ideal for birds. Look out for robin’s pincushions plant galls which were once valued by apothecaries. The gall is produced by the wasp, Diplolepis rosae, which lays its eggs in the tissue of the plant.

From The Month of June It is the month of June The month of leaves and roses, When pleasant sights salute the eyes And pleasant scents the noses.

Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1894) THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

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Bramble is another important nectar source of the hedgerow. Hedge mustard and other members of the Crucerifae family are important for orange tip and small white butterfly; the females of which identify the leaves on which to lay their eggs by smell.

Longhorn beetle (Strangalia maculata) on umbel

Goat’s-beard and agrimony along the green lane

Field-rose

To the Dandelion Dear common flower, that grows beside the way, Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, First pledge of blithesome May, Which children pluck, and full of pride uphold, High-hearted buccaneers, o’erjoyed that they An Eldorado in the grass have found, Which not the rich earth’s ample round May match in wealth! Thou art more dear to me Than all the prouder summer blooms may be.

From a poem by James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

Umbel of angelica along green lane Grazing Cattle – discriminate grazers but can poach the ground.

Some wildflowers will be left. They will graze some areas and leave areas of longer grass which can provide important habitat for waders such as curlew. Belted galloways are used as a conservation tool to graze rough areas of vegetation.

Sheep – indiscriminate grazers, a wildflower meadow to a sheep is like a sweet shop to a child. They will eat everything if allowed to do so.

Horses – Exmoor ponies are used to graze scrubby and overgrown areas of bracken and gorse; particularly for the

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conservation of butterflies.

Foxglove A conservation management plan, that includes a grazing regime, is necessary to prevent over grazing and loss of certain plant species caused by grazing at the wrong time of year. Livestock need to be rotated around a farm, much like the crops in an arable system, to rest certain fields and allow plants to set seed. Some grazing is required to provide a nutrient input from the manure produced by the animals, even in a hay meadow. Soil tests carried out in each field will give a good indication of the management required, and whether there is a problem with over grazing removing the necessary nutrients from the soil system.

The importance of soil We know more about outer space than we know about the soil on this planet! Soil dictates what grows above. Take a look at the CRT MuddyUpBritain Campaign on our website. The CRT wants to reconnect adults and children with nature through its #MuddyUpBritain campaign.

With events and activities (in the lead up to International Mud Day on 29th June), hands on learning will foster an understanding of both the fun and serious qualities of this earthy matter. Jumping in muddy puddles and building mud kitchens are the quintessential joys of outdoor play, but discovering the complexities of one of its key properties, soil, holds a sobering and important lesson for us all.

References Hedgerow and Wildlife: A guide to animals and plants of the hedgerow, Jane Eastoe, 2008, The National Trust Poems of the Seasons Pictures by Gordon Beningfield published

by Cameron Books, 1992

Green lane at Turnastone Court Farm THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

Photography © Viv Geen

Road verges and green lanes These are also very important wildlife corridors.

The green lane at Turnastone supports over 74 species and would very likely qualify as a site of nature conservation in its own right. These species include the umbellifers; hogweed, angelica, cow parsley or Queen Anne’s lace (the prefix ‘cow’ means false as the plant resembles another after which it is named) and rough chervil.

These flowering plants are important for bees, hoverflies and beetles as they provide a good landing site from which to feed. They are composed of an umbel of flowers. Other species present include agrimony, betony, greater knapweed, foxglove (its Latin name Digitalis refers to the shape of the flowers which can fit over the finger. The common name is derived from ‘folks gloves’) and dandelion.

A Brimstone Butterfly

We must look after wildlife!

Wildlife is amazing, birds migrate from Africa to the Arctic each year and have been doing it for hundreds and thousands of years. Some of us also migrate to a second house somewhere in Europe but we have only been able to do that recently and we have to go by mechanical transport. The human race of course has been the most successful species on this planet. We have hunted many species to near extinction and are just brushing or bulldozing the rest of wildlife to one side. If wildlife can adapt to our lifestyle it will thrive. If it cannot withstand the pressures of the human race it will eventually die out.

Wildlife really is amazing, just think about the life cycle of the Cuckoo. It completes it’s migration without it’s parents, firstly going south to the Po valley where most of them fatten up before crossing the Mediterranean and the Sahara desert to winter in the Congo. Some return the same route that they went and others return via West Africa and all the males returning to where they were bred, absolutely amazing.

Insects have suffered huge declines and some of you might say that’s a good job, but they are the basis of all life, many species of birds are declining because insects are declining.

Nearly all our small birds need insects to feed their young, no small birds, no birds of prey and one expert has said that humans have only four years left to live after the last

bee dies, so if that is the case we had better start looking after wildlife. Most of you will probably agree with me but how many of you will actually do something?

Nature has woven a very intricate web over the years and there is no one fix to put it right, hundreds of insects have a specific plant that they live on and without that plant that insect cannot live. It can be well illustrated with the moths and butterflies, quite simply without any privet bushes there are no Privet Hawk moths because the caterpillar eats privet, without any holly or ivy there is no Holly Blue butterfly. The Brimstone butterfly, another beautiful butterfly relies on the Buckthorn bush to rear it’s caterpillar but do any of you know where there is a Buckthorn bush?

Photography © Nicholas Watts

By Nicholas Watts - Trustee & Owner of Vine House Farm

Why not go down to your local Tree nursery or garden centre and buy a couple.

An Alder Buckthorn bush is a native deciduous hedgerow plant, it is not a prickly bush and will grow to four metres high if not trimmed. It flowers through June to August, although only small flowers producing small berries which are green first, turning red then black as they ripen.

Because it flowers for a long time it is possible to find butterflies nectaring on the flowers and Blackbirds eating berries on it at the same time.

Brimstone caterpillar on an Alder Buckthorn leaf

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Friday 4th august 11am-6pm

Lark rise discoVery day Supporting National countryside week · Farm & meadow walks·· Meet the farmer · Butterfly surveys and activities · build a butterfly biome · conservation activities & wildlife advice · BBQ · full details on our website!

Free entry www.crtuk.org 14

Lark Rise Farm, 51 Wimpole Rd, Barton, Cambridge Limited parking available nearby - follow signs THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

Volunteers

Volunteer News The CRT and Mayfields were recently presented with a “2017 Norfolk Community Biodiversity Award” by the Norfolk Biodiversity Partnership in recognition of our work in creating and restoring local ponds and engaging with school groups and community volunteers. We are hugely grateful for this accolade and could not have achieved this without the TCV and the volunteer group they helped us to establish on the farm. A big thank you goes to Mark Webster and all of the team for the hard work you have put in.

We also held a Volunteer day at Mayfields Farm on the 2nd June, during which volunteers contributed to wildflower seed and plug planting across the farm. Each participant worked hard and remarked at how nice it was to be creating something, rather than cutting something down or removing an invasive species. We are holding a Discovery Day at Mayfields on the 5th of August and in preparation, volunteers and I planted well over 50 metres of wildflower seed, in collaboration with Michael Fletcher, who kindly led a small group planting some woodland wildflower plugs. Details on the Mayfields Discovery day can be found on Page 17.

Back at Lark Rise we are continuing our attack on Himalayan Balsam on the Bourn Brook and some of the other volunteers have been maintaining the Ride we created in the Holt Field Spinney. We are looking forward to seeing what species emerge in this new habitat. We have been doing a lot of work on the site of the new CRT HQ. Vince has formulated plans for a summer and spring meadow, a couple of ponds and some planting of native flora species. The site for the new HQ is currently good for biodiversity and will be a perfect location to lead education, volunteers and host events. So our volunteers have their work cut out to improve this area for nature.

As always our volunteer program is for everyone and no special skills are required. Please get in touch, if you would like to get involved, or if you are a small local conservation group and would like to join forces, please email me. Thank you of course to ALL of our volunteers, conservation, monitoring and help with office related tasks, without your hard work we wouldn’t achieve nearly as much on the ground.

Kenny MacKay Conservation and Education Adviser

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 or email info@ countrysiderestorationtrust.com for more information.

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TURNASTONE COURT FARM & AWNELLS: Vowchurch & Much Marcle, Herefordshire: Volunteer Conservation Days – please contact Viv Geen via vgeen@countrysiderestorationtrust.com for more information.

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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 two weeks. For more information, contact Brian Lavers on 01276 471870 or brian.lavers@btopenworld.com.

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MAYFIELDS FARM, Themelthorpe, Norfolk: Please call Kenny MacKay on 01223 262999 or email kmackay@countrysiderestorationtrust.com for more information.

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TWYFORD FARM, Sussex: Volunteer Conservation Days – third weekend of every month, volunteers can choose to go on Saturday or Sunday, whichever is more convenient.

Please email bobfelton@farming.co.uk for more information.

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GREEN FARM, Churt, Surrey: Volunteer Work Days – please contact Kenny MacKay on 01223 262999 for more information

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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.

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Fundraising

The Costwold Way!

By Elaine Spencer-White, Fundraiser, volunteer & supporter

On Friday 28 April, I took the first steps of the 102 mile trail that follows the western escarpment of the Cotswolds through an Area of Outstanding Beauty known as the Cotswold Way. It is Britain’s first of fifteen National Trails, through some of the most iconic countryside, stone villages and historic market towns to be found anywhere - dare I say it - in the world!

Why? Well, it was the third personal challenge to raise funds for the Dorset Farm Appeal. The first was in 2014 to walk the 150 miles from Oxford to Tower Bridge along the Thames Path - when my artificial knee was then only ten months old! Last year I ventured seventy-eight miles across Hardy Country from Ashmore on the Wiltshire - Dorset border to the harbour town of Lyme Regis in West Dorset along the Wessex Cotswold stone style

wild garlic. A truly beautiful time of year.

So, why the Dorset Farm Appeal? Well, it wraps my career in the ‘field of agriculture’ and keen interest in conservation into one in the county where I live. (I went to boarding school in North Dorset too!).

The first decade of work was spent as a freelance farm secretary in this area. The following twenty years were spent in southern Africa managing agricultural development programmes. On return to the UK in 2000, for the next thirteen years I was totally engaged with farmers, growers and producers across the Somerset Levels and Moors to conduct the research, development and marketing for a local food supply chain under the registered brand Levels’ Best.

I have been a Friend of the Countryside Restoration Trust for five years or so, and have been familiar with Gordon Beningield’s work since 1980s and have a number of his books. Hardy Country, Published in 1983 was my first.

Ridgeway. Both were completed in beautiful Spring weather and with comparative ease, each raising over £1,000.

By comparison, the Cotswold Way was tough. The weather was overcast, views dimmed by poor visibility and an icy East wind blew all week. Yes, it took 7 days to complete walking on average 7 hours each day. Unlike the Thames Path which remained level (of course) the Cotswold Way was more like a Coast Path with variations of between 300’ and 400’ several times a day, as the trail descended to each picturesque village, rose to every lookout or monument and routed through market towns for overnight accommodation. But, the reward was that this year the sponsorship tally was very nearly £2,000.

I now live in the village known to Thomas Hardy as ‘Marlott’ where Tess’ father drank at the ‘Pure Drop Inn’.

Gordon Beningfield’s painting of the church tower (page 56 ) which stands as a familiar landmark, remains today bar a few extra houses in the frame! I am a bellringer at St Gregory’s and the thatched Crown Inn is our local pub and restaurant. There is a timelessness about Dorset shrouded by nature’s richness. So, where better to mark Gordon’s wish Elaine at Bath Abbey to have a farm and one that will celebrate and nurture all that Gordon cherished in this landscape.

I am happy to have contributed a little towards this Dream.

There were other ‘upsides’ to this adventure. The friendliness of strangers - all fellow walkers with their own tales to tell. Birdsong that was not affected by the weather. In particular skylarks - high in the cloudy sky twittering away overhead and underfoot the carpets of bluebells that were giving way to swaths of aromatic

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THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

Background: View from Broadway Tower towards the Malvern Hills

Photography © Elaine Spencer-White

At least, fellow walkers from New Zealand, the USA, Australia, Holland, France and Sweden thought so.

Over the May Bank Holiday week end I also walked alongside folk from Cumbria, Kent and London.

Events The below events are being held for CRT Friends in 2017: Date

Location

Wed 2nd Aug

Turnastone

Fri 4th Aug

Lark Rise

Discovery Day

Sat 5th Aug

Mayfields

Discovery Day & Dog show

Mon 30th Oct

Lark Rise Turnastone

Tues 28th Nov

Margaret Wood

Wed 29th Nov

Harolds Grove

Fri 8th Dec

Lark Rise

Event Discovery Day - Guided Walk

Going Batty: A talk about all things Bat related Woodland Walk to celebrate National Tree Week Supporters Social Night

Wednesday 2nd august 10.30am - 4pm

ng i k Boo ntial e ess

tuRnastone disCoVeRy day

Two guided walks at 11pm & 2pm · Visit the restored sluice & Trench Royal · View livestock & farm wildlife · Learn about drowning the valley · Explore archeology of 16th Century Farm · Refreshments available · Limited places available ·

Book your place at www.crtuk.org Turnastone Court Farm, Vowchurch, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR2 0RA All proceeds will go towards the Countryside Restoration Trust (Charity Reg No. 1142122)

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Education

Lark Rise, Cambridgeshire We have been pleased to welcome St Matthews Primary School and Kings School to the farm this summer so far. St Matthews brought 90 children over three days. We decided to hold the visit on Warner’s Corner, one of our biggest fields, which is split into three. There is a permanent meadow at the north end, a small spinney woodland and then two crop fields separated by a beetle bank.

flora in the meadow and talked about which species rely on the diversity of pollen and food here. The children accompanied our head of Wildlife Monitoring, Dr. Vince Lea, on a nature ramble around the meadow so they could see the tree with the Barn Owl box. He spoke to them about pollinators and small mammal populations that support each other and the Barn Owl.

A beetle bank is a place for invertebrates to take refuge and in some cases even hibernate over the winter. One of the key features of a beetle bank is that it is raised slightly higher than the rest of the farmland around it, which helps to keep this area drier and therefore slightly warmer over the winter. The other more substantial effect is that the invertebrates that have sheltered here over the winter are able to come back on to farmland in the spring to feast on some of the pests present on the arable crops. Beetle banks do not only benefit invertebrates; they provide habitat and a food source for small mammals and ground nesting birds.

King’s College School also visited the farm for the day, with 50 slightly older children. We were able to discuss food miles and freshness of food and how we can grow food whilst leaving space for nature. Trustee, John Terry delivered an arable tour with volunteer, Graham driving the tractor. They stopped to look at some crops and came back singing the famous Photosynthesis Song! The teaching staff from Kings led a scarecrow making activity (collective noun for scarecrows?), which led to discussions on how we stop our crops from being eaten. Vince led an activity on meadow appreciation, involving the importance of identifying plants, how to do so and what their prevalence tells us about the soil.

St Matthews brought along 90 Year two children, which we split in to two manageable groups, meaning we were able to engage more with the kids and answer any questions they had. One group of children made an insect hotel on the farm. I was trying to inspire the children into thinking about why we need insect hotels at all? The loss of habitat through intensive farming systems and lack of garden wood piles, compost heaps and vegetable patches, means these hotels are needed more than ever. The other group focused on making wildflower seed balls. This activity tied in nicely with the Trust’s ‘Muddy Up Britain’ campaign, which focused on the importance of soil in an ecosystem - full details are on our website www.crtuk. org. Once the seed balls had set, the children were able to throw them into the meadow. As part of this activity, I asked the children to identify flowering and non-flowering

Special thanks to Ben and Graham for driving the tractor, John and Vince for their support and of course thanks to Tim Scott for use of the tractor and trailer.

Thanks to the local Scout group for coming along to help us make a new pond and help with some tidying up and bramble bashing at the location for the new CRT HQ. If you would like to make a visit to any of our properties please get in touch with us and we can discuss your requirements.

Kenny MacKay Conservation and Education Adviser

Turnastone Court Farm, Herefordshire The education programme at Turnastone Court is currently on hold, whilst education officer, Helen Jones is on maternity leave. We will look forward to her return later this year.

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Helen on the birth of Elliot on the 15th April. We hope you are managing to get some sleep!

CONGRATULATIONS to the Joneses!

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Education

Mayfields Farm, Norfolk Spring brought with it a number of educational visits, a new potting shed and a beautiful raised pond! This year, the new lambs obliged by coinciding nicely with several school visits so we were able to offer children the wonderful experience of holding and bottle feeding a new lamb. This was particularly beneficial for a small group of youngsters where the school’s aim was to build their confidence through new experiences, and it was great to see even the most nervous children stroking a lamb.

There were lots of questions about how the lambs are fed; why their ‘belly buttons’ were yellow; where their mums were and, most importantly, what their names were going to be! Name suggestions ranged from the good old fashioned ‘Bob’ to the fruity ‘Strawberry’! It was certainly a valuable learning opportunity for children to see new life on the farm and to learn about how they are cared for.

Many thanks to Caitlin Jenkins for organising the orphan lambs to be fed and fielding all the weird and wonderful questions!

Our new potting shed was completed in March and is now home to my expanding collection of educational resources plus the children’s gardening equipment. With a covered decking area and sturdy fold-out potting bench, it was highly approved of by our local school gardeners, who have been busy again this year planting up the vegetable beds. The building has also been engineered to allow for the development of a green roof, so we are hoping to get that planted up and established very soon. This will add another educational dimension to the garden area.

The raised pond, built by George Gillespie, provides a fantastic ‘habitat within a habitat’, as the wooden framework was filled with small log sections to create a home for invertebrates. Holes of different sizes were also drilled into some of the solid wood for possible nesting sites for bees. Within days, water beetles, pond skaters and water boatmen had taken up residence in the pond itself, so it will be interesting for little (and large!) visitors to be able to observe the development of this new habitat close up.

Meanwhile over on North field...the new wildlife area by the bird hide is taking shape, with help from the TCV group. It now offers a turfed log wall, two tyre ponds, a mini-meadow bed made from railway sleepers and an enclosed compost heap. In July, a new school group will be coming along to help us create an ‘insect hotel’ (maybe with a little advice from Barton expert Kenny!) and some additional habitat features. Hopefully this should result in rich pickings for the birds and a real haven for wildlife, with people of all ages having contributed and learnt something along the way.

Teresa Linford Education Officer, Mayfields Farm

Pierrepont Farm, Surrey Busy Spring of Education at Pierrepont May and June this year have been Pierrepont’s busiest months for education so far. The last two months have seen nine school visits, six Scout visits (beavers, cubs and scouts), two Brownies visits and Pierrepont’s first Forest School course, which took place one evening a week for six weeks. These visits add to the monthly Saturday Safari Club sessions that are also run here. In these two months alone we have seen 426 children / young people come through (with their accompanying adults). Amongst these visits we have had young people from a nearby secondary school learning about the dairy industry, children from a local infant school making a ‘house for a mouse’ as well as

Cub Scouts building a bug hotel.

On top of all this, 8th Aldershot Scouts, who very kindly helped us to build some new bird boxes last year, came back to see them in use. They spent a Saturday morning observing the bird ringing that the farm’s conservation volunteers had arranged.

Those that came were lucky enough to see a few families of Blue Tits nesting in the boxes here at Pierrepont.

Annika Rees Education Officer, Pierrepont Farm THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

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Farm Diaries Lark Rise Farm, Cambridgeshire Lark Rise Farm is normally associated with arable production, but we also have some grassland. This is mainly ex arable land replanted with various grass and broad leaved flower mixes, although some is simply natural generation. Grazing is a vital ingredient in both maintaining a high quality sward and also as a tool for increasing the general biodiversity. I have never had any sheep or cattle, but a friend came to the rescue three years ago with his small flock of sheep. His sheep were put in the Holt field and after their first autumn the field was transformed from a scruffy mess into a high quality pasture.

This year a lad from a neighbouring village has grazed with his flock of 56 ewes plus lambs. The sheep have rotated between our water meadows over the last three months and now they have moved on allowing the meadows to grow up and flower.

A rather unusual flower in our hay meadows is Yellow Rattle.

This pretty little flower is both a bad boy of the countryside and also a barometer for when hay making should commence.

Unusually yellow rattle is partially parasitic taking some of

its nutrients from neighbouring plant roots, hence the grass around it always looks small and somewhat stunted. The old wives tale or possibly the old countryman’s tale is when the seed head of yellow rattles actually rattles then its time to crack on and cut your hay - hence its name.

Talking of hay making, there is always much debate as to when this should happen? Looking in an old edition of The Elements of Agriculture (1913) it suggested hay making could commence from the end of the 3rd week of May onwards.

If you listen to the current crop of environmental science graduates then it would not be until September when all of the flowers have shed their seeds. In reality anytime between those two timings will favour some species whilst others will struggle.

I always remember a neighbouring farmer describing our hay as having such a fragrant smell it reminded him of his summer holidays in west wales when he was a young lad.

Now I would take that as an endorsement of us doing the right thing.

Tim Scott

Turnastone Court Farm, Herefordshire The weather this spring has been abnormally dry so there has been a real shortness of grass. Lambing went well and the early lamb trade this year has been exceptional. We reorganised the lambing shed and created walkthrough feeders which allow us to easily feed the sheep inside the shed therefore reducing significantly the onset of foot rot. Our 4 Hereford cows which we purchased in December all calved down with no real problems. We would have preferred more heifers but instead we got one heifer and three bulls! We are now just awaiting delivery of our Pedigree Hereford bull that we purchased privately from Firbosa Herefords near Stow on the Wold. We had some soil tests carried out on the farm and they indicated that liming should be carried out. We had to apply to Natural England as most of the fields are in a stewardship scheme and thankfully they have given us the go ahead so we hope to get this done in the autumn. We are trialing a different grazing system this year, rotational grazing, and so far so good. Just one problem being that some fields do not have a water supply, so we are having to use bowsers but unfortunately, because of the intense heat we have had over the past week the sheep have been drinking out the water troughs faster than the water from the bowser flows into them so we had to scrap the grazing strategy temporarily and put them permanently in a field with an adequate water supply!

Gareth & Madeleine Boaz

Mayfields Farm, Norfolk Mayfields is rich in habitats for wild flowers. The wide margins left round the fields to allow for an access path, the scrubby areas around the far end of the south field and the ponds, the short grass of the grazed areas and the wet woodland of the clay pits all provide different conditions for plant growth, and the list of species present is impressive, around 170.

Over the last few years there have been at least four species of orchids growing in the wide margins round the South field. This year there were ten separate plants of Common Spotted Orchid, one with eleven spikes on it, and one plant of Southern Marsh Orchid. In previous years there have been Bee Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids. St John’s wort, Woundwort, Jack-goes-to–bed–at– noon , Greater hairy willow herb, Colt’s foot, Meadow vetchling and many others are also to be found here. On the Northern side of the road it was pleasing to find Self-heal, Rose-bay willow herb and Black knapweed.

The Clay pits are home to Tway-blade, a very striking orchid which has two big oval leaves with a spike of green flowers rising between them. There are many other plant species in this area including Wild currant and Gooseberry bushes, Primroses, Violet sp, Black bryony, Honeysuckle, Lady fern and Dog’s mercury, often regarded as an indicator of ancient woodland. Broom-rape has been found in several different locations. This odd-looking plant has no chlorophyll, and is a parasite on the roots of other plants, often clover.

A small area of grass was damaged by vehicles taking food to sheep in wet weather. This was resown two years ago and a wild flower mix was added to the field mixture. This was also used for the grassy area of the garden behind the education building. Both these areas now have Ox-eye daisy, Greater knapweed, Bird’s foot trefoil, Ribwort plaintain, Tufted vetch, Ladies bedstraw and Doves foot cranesbill. The wild flower mix was sold as native British seed, but the Knapweed looks more like a continental pasture variety than the true British Centaurea scabiosa. There are many grasses too, but that is for another occasion.

A shepherd’s hut is available to rent on a nightly basis to anyone requiring a “glamping” adventure at the farm. If anybody is interested in becoming involved with any of the topics I’ve covered, please do not hesitate to be in touch.

Sarah Jenkins

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Farm Diaries Twyford Farm, Sussex

Pierrepont Farm, Surrey

Our Bluebell day on May 7th was a very pleasant one; we were privileged to have Sarah Stannage and some of her family stay in Bellflower Cottage and chat with the visitors about the Trust. Vince took a small party on a ‘dawn chorus’ walk at 4am which they enjoyed enormously. We had demonstrations of shearing, hedge laying and woodcraft and managed to recruit some new members. We were delighted to have Andrew Burns present on the day talking to visitors about the butterflies and dragonflies on the farm and leading walks specifically to view them. Andrew has been a member of Butterfly Conservation for 30 years, has a wealth of knowledge and has agreed to do regular butterfly/dragonfly surveys on Twyford. He has found some dragonflies on the two lakes that he has not sighted for many years so is very excited about that. Tim and Chris mapped out some new and varied walks around the farm and led guided walks along with the other volunteers. We were delighted to be able to send a considerable sum of money to the Trust raised on the day selling tea cakes and the lamb/venison barbecue.

2017 is turning into a tough year at Pierrepont. After a drier than normal winter, spring and summer have become even warmer and drier. As a result grass growth has been reduced, meaning less silage made for the winter feed, luckily we still have a bit left from last year. What rain we have had has come just at the right time and we have fairly good crops of barley, maize and fodder beet growing but with the two hottest months of summer still to come that could change!

The wild flora has also been affected by this dry weather; notably the Marsh Orchids on the SSSI meadow have seen a drop in numbers, but it has been found growing in the smaller meadow in front of the house for the first time this year.

There are 28 of our cattle grazing behind an invisible fence on the Ashdown Forest, helping to improve the heathland by grazing and were the subject of a National Heathland Grazing conference on this system. On election day one group was chased by a pair of Border Terriers who frightened them into breaching the invisible fence and drove them down to Chelwood Gate polling station, much to the consternation of the returning officer. We arrived to find two policemen herding them back onto the Forest. We think they voted for the right party but of course they would not say!

The volunteers have been waging a very successful war on the Skunk cabbage in the watercourses and we have discovered that the bird feeders that they made from builders waste are squirrel proof!

Lambing went well; we were blessed with good weather and were able to turn the lambs out and watch them grow. We had quite a lot more triplets than usual and ended up with quite a group of tame lambs as a result.

Bob has spread a dung heap at the top corner of the farm and will seed that area out with a special ‘bumble bee mixture’.

The B&B has been keeping us busy, June was a good month for guests and Bellflower Cottage has been a real hit with the visitors there, we are hoping for repeat bookings. Bob especially enjoys the ‘hen parties’!

Bob Felton & Liz Wallis

Part of the regulations of selling raw milk to the public is that we have to test the cows annually for TB. At the routine test in February all the cows passed except for three that were classed as inconclusive (neither passed or failed). These three had to be retested 60 days later and if we kept their milk out of the tank we could carry on selling raw milk. Come the end of April, the three cows were retested along with a few extras, which we were hoping to take to Surrey County Show. The test involves a vet measuring the thickness of the cows skin, giving her two small injections and then coming back four days later to remeasure the skin at the injection site.

Depending on how the skin reacts to the injection determines if she is a pass, fail or inconclusive. We were shocked to find one of the original inconclusive cows was still inconclusive, which is then deemed to be a TB failure. This resulted in the whole herd being placed under full TB restrictions. No movement of cattle onto or off the farm unless going to slaughter (no showing for us this year). Sales of raw milk to the public had to stop, all of the milk sold to our processor Arla is unaffected as it is pasteurised before reselling. We have looked into getting our own pasteuriser to enable us to carry on selling direct to the public but have decided against it for the moment, as the costs are very high and our investment budget for this year has already been spent. We now have to achieve two clear whole herd TB tests before restrictions will be lifted. The first of which will be at the end of July/beginning of August and the second will be 60 days later. With our history of inconclusives we could be in for a long frustrating wait.

A final twist to the year so far, came when Tony, our herdsman, decided he wanted to take on a new challenge elsewhere and handed in his notice. He has been with us since we took the farm on in 2006 and has worked on the farm since 2000. We could not have achieved half of what we have without him; easily adapting to the new management, technology and machinery and caring for the cows to the highest of standards. Always making us smile with his wit and unique sense of humour, he will be greatly missed on the farm. We wish him all the best in his new venture whatever it may be.

On a happier note, our Barn Owls have yet again laid three eggs and have so far successfully hatched two of them. They seem to be permanent members of the Pierrepont Farm gang now, after rearing three chicks last year as well.

Mike & Bev Clear

THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

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CRT Legacies

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

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.

• £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 www.countrysiderestorationtrust.com

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THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

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THE COUNTRYSIDE RESTORATION TRUST MAGAZINE

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

Registered office: as above.