Working with nature – conservation in action in the South West Peak

✓Happy wildlife ✓Happy valley ✓Happy farmer

Denis Moors, High Ash Farm.

Agriculture has always been a major industry in the Peak District but the last 70 years have seen major changes, with more to come. Farming and land management in the National Park provides around 3,000 jobs*, just over half are part-time. In the South West Peak, part time farmer Denis Moors talks to Alison Riley about how he manages 50 acres and a hostel.

*Defra Agricultural Census

Denis describes himself as a part-time farmer as his main business at High Ash Farm is the sixty-bed schools hostel he has run since 1986. A former teacher, originally from Stoke via South London, he saw the Peak District as the ideal location for the business, with city schools and industrial museums on the doorstep. Denis champions wildlife and the environment to visiting youngsters.

High Ash Farm is a small upland farm of 50 acres at Barrowmoor, near Longnor. It has a mixture of species-rich hay meadows, acid grassland and rush pasture, through which several watercourses and a tributary of the River Manifold run.

“The farming side helps the kids get a smell of it,” Denis says. Apart from grazing and haymaking down the years, and the trees planted by the previous farmer, Denis believes the land has been relatively untouched for a hundred years. “The farm has always been low intensity and we’ve never spent any money on weedkiller or fertilizer. A neighbour takes hay off for us and grazes the pastures with his cattle. The cattle are White Park, a traditional British breed with long horns. The kids think they are all bulls because of their horns and that if you wear red they will chase you – we have plenty of misperceptions to put right and teach the kids how to be in the countryside.”

Unlike others, Denis is not dependent on making a profit from the land by maximizing production. He uses the hay as an example for the youngsters: “Let’s say we sell the hay for £1 a bale, if we put fertiliser

NEIL BARDEN PHOTO:

Uncommon grassland fungi have fruited at High Ash Farm. Internationally important ballerina waxcap (Porpolomopsis calyptriformis), left, and crimson waxcap (Hygrocybe punicea), right, have been newly recorded on the site. PHOTO: SWPLP

on the ground we could grow more grass, make more hay and gain more profit. The kids ask me why we don’t do that, I explain by doing it our way we get more wildflowers which brings insects, birds, hares and badgers – and that is more valuable to us than what we would make selling hay.”

Due to the pandemic, there have been no visiting school groups but it has allowed Denis time to enjoy an area of the farm he calls ‘Happy Valley’ where nature is flourishing with help from the South West Peak Landscape Partnership (SWPLP).

Working with Ann Cantrell, grassland officer for the SWPLP’s Glorious Grasslands project and Ashley Deane, Slowing the Flow project manager, and volunteers, they have surveyed habitats and species, developed plans to enhance the land and re-naturalise watercourses, and brought funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to carry out interventions. Since 2019, they have fenced an area to keep the cattle off and encourage more wild plants to grow, raised the water level in the stream and helped it meander.

Ann Cantrell says: “Denis’s ‘Happy Valley’ is turning up some rare species including the violet oil beetle, which relies on unimproved, flower-rich habitats. The release from grazing has enabled spring and late summer flowers to flourish and complete their lifecycles. In turn, they provide an abundance of nectar and pollen for pollinating insects. A walk through the meadow and every footstep releases a cloud of insects from small flies, bees and hoverflies to colourful butterflies and grassland moths. Getting the grazing right is critical to maintaining the quality of the grassland.”

Denis is looking forward to seeing what wildlife it will attract this spring and summer: “I want it all tomorrow but we’ll have to wait and see.” He has noticed a kestrel watching birds on the feeders in his garden. “I want to encourage lapwing, snipe and curlew – I hear them and usually only see them on neighbours’ farms. We have scrapes on our land but quite a lot of rushes so you don’t always see them when they’re nesting.”

Denis has shown what can be achieved on a relatively small area of land in a short space of time. His land connects other important habitats in the area and helps wildlife move through the landscape more easily.

Doing it our way we get more wildflowers which brings insects, birds, hares and badgers – and that is more valuable to us than selling hay

Common blue butterflies benefit from the abundance of wildflowers. PHOTO: SWPLP

For more information about support available for farmers and land managers, speak to a National Park farm adviser on 01629 816 270.

FARMING The South West Peak Landscape Partnership

The South West Peak

Defined by the spectacular gritstone ridge at the Roaches and Axe Edge moors and its rural communities and independent spirit, the South West Peak is where the rivers Dove, Manifold, Goyt, Dane and Wye rise. You can read more about the South West Peak Landscape Partnership (SWPLP) and its projects at

www.southwestpeak.co.uk

Slowing the flow

The SWPLP and Cheshire Wildlife Trust are working with land managers and nature to restore rivers’ natural flood defences and reduce downstream flooding by improving wetlands, floodplains, and riverbank woodlands.

Glorious grasslands

This SWPLP project is helping farmers protect and restore traditional hay meadows to allow diverse plants and animals to thrive. These grasslands provide food for livestock and improve drought resistance. The project is also identifying ‘waxcap grasslands’ that are important for rare fungi.