Of the many wonderful habitats and landscape features that the Yorkshire Dales are renowned and loved for, it is arguably the flower-rich hay meadows that are the most iconic. Hay meadows are the product of years of careful management by generations of Dales farmers to ensure ample winter fodder for their livestock. Visually stunning and teeming with wildlife, they are also a living and vibrant link to the past, rich in folklore and tradition and an important part of our rural heritage.
FOREWORD BY JOHN CRAVEN
Hay Time in the Yorkshire Dales
This book explores the types of meadows in the Dales and their history and culture, their flora and fauna, the science behind their botanical richness, and the emotions inspired by them as expressed through poetry, art and photography. It also illustrates the efforts being made to protect the remaining meadows and, where possible, bring back the flowers, wildlife and beauty to meadows that have been agriculturally ‘improved’.
With a foreword by John Craven OBE and contributions from farmers, academics and experts with a specialist interest, Hay Time in the Yorkshire Dales will appeal to all who have a love for the Yorkshire Dales and its hay meadows. Cover photo credits: Front cover: David Tarn Front cover inserts (from top): Tanya St. Pierre, Frank Knowles, Wayne Hutchinson Back cover inserts (from left): Robert White, Pippa Rayner, Dales Countryside Museum
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SCOTFORTH BOOKS
OBE
Hay Time
the natural, cultural & land management history of hay meadows
in the Yorkshire Dales E D I T E D B Y D O N G A M B L E & TA N YA S T. P I E R R E
26/04/2010 15:42:23
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Introduction Hay meadows are the product of years of careful, consistent management by generations of farmers. Visually stunning and teeming with wildlife, these species-rich grasslands are a living and vibrant link to the past, rich in folklore and tradition and an important part of our rural and cultural heritage. They are a by-product of the farmer’s objective of ensuring ample fodder for their livestock during long, harsh winters. The annual cycle of grazing and mowing, with only ‘muck’ being added to fertilise the hay crop, works closely and cooperatively with nature to create and sustain something of stunning beauty and great wildlife value. A rare success story in humanity’s interaction with the natural world. The Yorkshire Dales were once full of these flower-filled meadows, and what a sight it must have been in early summer, with field after fabulous field speckled with flowerheads painted yellow, pink and white, red and blue, some intense, some muted, but all blending harmoniously against a wash of pale green. The aroma of the wildflowers and grasses, especially at haytiming, would have equally stimulated the sense of smell. The heady scent of newly-mown hay is something that stays with you, as a Dentdale farmer told us: ‘When you get in the middle of summer and it’s hot and the whole dale’s wafting with this beautiful smell of dry grass, there’s nothing like it.’ Even the old sounds of haymaking can be so evocative, as Jeremy MorroghRyan, who farms in Swaledale, fondly recalls: ‘I can remember all that lovely old machinery being used and even now I can remember the sound of haytiming: the click, click, click of the cutter bar and the clank of the hay rake as it released its load into the rows.’ Plate 1 Muker Meadows. Kath Needham, YDNPA
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Plate 2 One of the few remaining species-rich hay meadows. David Tarn
Sadly, the number of traditionally managed, species-rich meadows has drastically declined. Over the last fifty years or so, some 98% of meadows in the UK have been destroyed. To satisfy our demand for cheap food, and encouraged by the chemical industry, successive governments provided financial support and incentives to farmers to enable them to ‘improve’ their grasslands and increase productivity. But cheap food comes at a price. The result of the intensification of grassland management has been the shocking decline in the extent and quality of hay meadows. Spectacularly colourful and joyful meadows have been exchanged for bland, unnaturally green ‘deserts’ of little wildlife or landscape value. The Yorkshire Dales have taken their share of the destruction, but for over twenty years the area has been the focus for meadow conservation and more latterly restoration. Here, the remaining species-rich meadows are now largely protected through various schemes, and meadows that have declined in quality are slowly recovering.
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As well as their undoubted wildlife value, hay meadows and their field barns and dry stone walls are an iconic part of our rural heritage and a highly distinctive and valued feature of the Dales landscape. Meadows are also economic assets: farmers who continue to manage their meadows traditionally or who want to restore some of their species-poor meadows can access agri-environment funding; visitors drawn to the Dales in the early summer months to see the stunning display of wildflowers and grasses contribute to the local economy. It’s also becoming clear that species-rich meadows may play a part in tackling climate change, as they store twice as much carbon as species-poor meadows, and they may prove more resilient than improved grasslands. Their importance for wildlife will increase as climate change impacts on other habitats. This is why the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Natural England and others are working together with farmers and landowners to safeguard the remaining flower-rich meadows and, where possible, restore meadows that have lost some of their nature conservation value. Raising awareness of the importance of hay meadows and why we should value them is a vital part of this work. This book aims to celebrate and explain the
Plate 3 Wood crane’s-bill, pignut and meadow buttercup. Pippa Rayner, YDMT
Introduction
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natural, cultural and land management history of the Dales hay meadows in a way that is accessible, inspiring and educational. Although part of the book looks back at the history of meadows and how they were managed before tractors trundled along, we are not suggesting that the clock should be turned back. Haytiming without the benefit of modern technology such as tractors was incredibly hard work for all involved – for those labouring and sweating with scythes, rakes and hay forks under a blazing summer sun as well as for those providing much-needed food and drink from before sunrise to well past sunset. Mouldy hay contains spores which caused ‘farmer’s lung’, a kind of allergic pneumonia. Many a hay crop was, and still can be, ruined by unpredictable weather. Nor are we anticipating whole dales full of restored, flower-strewn meadows once again. Ecology and economics do not allow it, at least in the short-term. But what is possible is a Dales-wide network of good meadows, traditionally managed but using modern farm machinery, and valued as assets that help make upland farms viable and the Dales a very special place. The chapters of the book each deal with different aspects of Dales meadows and their importance. Chapter 1 looks at what meadows are, the kinds of meadow in the Dales, and their history and role as a vital component of upland farming. Chapter 2
Plate 4 A colourful meadow near Dent. Don Gamble, YDMT
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describes the annual cycle of traditional meadow management, haymaking, and the implements and machinery used over the years. This chapter includes wonderfully evocative photos of Dales farmers haymaking in the past. Field barns and dry stone walls are essential parts of meadow ‘infrastructure’, and their history and function in meadow management are explored in Chapter 3. Many of the meadow wildflowers and grasses, their folklore and their intriguing traditional culinary and medicinal uses are described in Chapter 4, while Chapter 5 describes the exceptional range of birds, animals, insects and other fauna supported by hay meadows. Chapter 6 describes the shift from traditional to intensive meadow management and the huge impact this has had on meadow ecology and the countryside. Thankfully, agri-environment schemes and other initiatives have prevented the complete loss of hay meadows in the Dales, and Chapter 7 looks at how these measures support farmers who have continued to traditionally manage some of their meadows, as well as those farmers who have meadows that can be restored. Chapter 8 comprehensively covers, in a fairly technical way, the scientific research that has been, and continues to be, carried out to explain how meadow management affects the species composition of meadows, and how what goes on in the soil affects what can be seen above ground. This meticulous and fascinating research provides us with another level of understanding and insight, enhancing our appreciation and enjoyment of a meadow bustling with wildflowers. The research informs meadow restoration policy and practical meadow restoration projects such as Hay Time, which works with Dales farmers to restore meadows. Chapter 9 looks at this project and its achievements so far. Chapter 10 concludes the book by looking to the future – the potential impacts of climate change, possible changes in farming practices, and the thoughts of local children, many of them born into farming families, on what they want and foresee for the future of hay meadows and farming in the Dales. In Appendix 1, to help you get into the meadow, perhaps for the first time, we include details of 25 superb meadows that have good public access. Although the focus is on the Yorkshire Dales National Park, here we also include hay meadows on the outskirts of the National Park. Scattered throughout the book are quotes from Dales farmers interviewed as part of producing this book, and edited transcripts of the interviews are in Appendix 2. The book is filled with superb photos, charming illustrations, beautiful artwork and evocative poetry, capturing the beauty of the meadows, the emotions they arouse, and the character of the people who manage them. We hope the book is of interest to all – locals and visitors alike – who have a love for the Yorkshire Dales and its wonderful wildflower meadows.
Introduction
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Brough
Kirkby Stephen
Ravenstonedale
1
Richmond
3
2 11 6
8
Hawes
10
Whernside
Kirkby Lonsdale
14
12 9
7 Dent
4
Muker
5 Sedbergh
Reeth
Askrigg
Leyburn
13
15
YORKSHIRE DALES NATIONAL PARK
16
Middleham
20
19
17
18
Masham
Buckden
NIDDERDALE 25 AONB
Pen-y-ghent Ingleborough
Ingleton
Bedale
West Burton
Kettlewell Clapham
Ripo
21 Settle
22 Malham
Grassington
23
Pateley Bridge
24
HARRO
Skipton
Appendix 1
Otley
211