Fencing in Cu Bunt.

Here on the Welsh border extremities of Herefordshire many of the farms and even the field names are of Welsh origins. Often the Welsh spelling has been lost over the centuries and the pronunciation is probably inaccurate too.

We have been working on a small old orchard called Cu Bunt which is part of Rockfield, near the Escley brook. The horse flies have been very active the last few days, and even though they are not speedy insects they always seem to bite when both hands are busy with the fencing tools!

We have now nearly completed fencing off the stream with steep sides (locally known as a dingle).

The recent rain has made the job of putting in the fence stakes easier, but the steep slopes make for physically demanding days.

I have taken a few photographs to show the areas of bare soil caused by shading from the large trees, and the effects of sheep constantly roaming the areas with no grass. By coppicing the trees and fencing out the livestock we should get grass growth on the bare areas and this will reduce soil particle loss into the streams.

Hopefully we will have photographs in a few months to prove that all the work has been worthwhile.

Soon we will move up to the small orchard at Holt Farm to do some fencing there. Again the land will be undulating but we may see some visitors on the footpath or at the cottages to create "rest periods".

Still more rain please.....but not during Hay Festival

We have been busy fencing along side newly planted hedges. Thank fully all the work planting and watering hedge plants and newly established apple trees seems to have paid off and the survival rate has been very good. I am waiting for tree stakes to arrive in Hay-on-Wye and as soon as they arrive we will stake and guard the apple trees. We have protected them with temporary spiral guards to ward off the rabbits and other creatures that like to eat the tender bark on young trees.

Yesterday we finished fencing off one of the bird-seed plots at Holt Farm, despite a poor initial germination the mixture of seed bearing plants is now thriving. The footpath leading up to the western ridge behind the farm passes the bird seed plot. At the moment it is highly visible for great distances as it includes oil seed rape that has bright yellow flowers.

Erecting the sheep and cattle proof fences is a time consuming job as the fence lines weave alongside the historic hedgerows and natural stream banks. The terrain is undulating and in places access is difficult so we are able to complete less meters in a day than we would on lowland sites.

As a result of the minimal rainfall for several weeks the soil has compacted and the posts take much more effort to drive them into the ground. A positive of the dry spell is that we are able to drive machinery over the land without doing any damage and we are able to work without getting plastered in mud.

The Herefordshire/Welsh Border upland country is looking fantastic at the moment with hedgerows in blossom, orchard blossom and all the magnificent green shades of foliage as different species of plant and tree reach the peak of spring growth.

Next weekend our visitors for the Hay Literary Festival will arrive, hopefully the windy weather will die down and everyone will be able to enjoy all the events that the Festival has to offer.

A Drop More Rain Please !

Over recent weeks we have planted several thousand new hedge plants and quite a few new cider apple trees in our mission to replenish the old orchards. Since the planting occurred we have had no rain until last night when we had 5mm .We have been watering all the plants daily with a small bowser so we have succeeded in keeping most of the plants alive.

All the hedging plants have spiral protection, but we left the young trees unprotected for a few days and the rabbits were grateful of the opportunity to enhance their diet by chewing the bark. We quickly spiralled the trees until some tree guards arrive and stakes from Hay & Brecon Farmers.

The next job is to erect new fences to protect the hedging plants against farm livestock. As the land is undulating and the existing hedgerows far from straight, it will be a time consuming job. A drop more rain will help us enormously!

Meanwhile our April holiday guests have been enjoying Bluebell walks so we've taken a few shots in the orchard alongside the drive at Holt Farm cottages.

Fun and Games in the Christmas Snow!

Christmas was truly white as snow can be this year! Our intrepid guests were not put off by our mentions of snow and bravely headed for the Herefordshire hills with excitement! Before reaching Holt Farm we met up at the Crown Inn and discussed tactics and escorted guests along the long lane to the cottage carparks. In some cases there was much exercise needed to get the slipping and sliding cars to the door so the week worth of provisions could be off loaded! A word to any car manufacturers reading this blog - please put towing eyes in the glove box and not under a weeks supply of festive provisions!

Once safely indoors guests were not disappointed - a week snowed up in a cosy 4 star Barn with underfloor heating and a wood burner, plus fields and hills to walk off any festive overindulgence before racing back indoors to cook up another feast! The photos from our guests are proof indeed of the glorious scenery.

Sheep out, Guests in!!

After much thought,debate and planning the new cattle grid was installed at Holt Farm on the day that the snow arrived. We have put the grid above a new concrete channel through which the stream now flows. In extreme weather conditions the track to the farm will no longer flood. Along side the grid we have a new pedestrian walk way so humans can still walk the footpath but the sheep will be excluded from the cottage lawns and gardens.



Snow and ice have provided some challenges but all our guests have got to the cottages and have managed to return home after their vacation. The 23 girls from Cardiff who stayed that first snowy weekend were surprised by our weather as Cardiff at that stage had very little snow.

Congratulations to all of you who made the trips, I am sure that you will remember the very special times you shared walking through the snow, taking great photographs of the landscape and each other in the snow, and keeping warm by the cosy log fire in the cottages. Here are a couple of our photos.

Escape to Brecon

Ruth here again! We managed to escape for a day to taste and see Brecon and the glorious Brecon Beacons. We live so near and needed to remind ourselves of all that is on offer for our guests visiting this area. On the 40 minute drive from Holt Farm you get a great view of Hay Bluff and Lord Hereford's Knob which hide the entrance to the Gospel Pass running down to Llanthony Abbey. Before you approach Brecon the Beacons stand out for miles. We took a tour of the area north of Brecon to hunt out where Gordon's father had lived as a youngster and came upon these fabulous views below! The Mountain Centre just south of the town offers more panoramic views from the Information Centre and Cafe. After a delicious lunch we headed home taking in a view of the canal. If time had allowed we might even have put the walking boots on and tackled Pen Y Fan!

Environmental scheme gets green light.

On Wednesday we had a meeting with our Natural England advisor and as a result we have clarified the problem issues so now will be able to proceed with our programme of work to improve the wildlife environment on the land we farm.

The fact that we farm the land organically , are in an upland area and have a higher level stewardship scheme means that to co-ordinate the demands of all three schemes has required some very specialised advice.

It will be good to actually start the practical part of the project. We shall soon be planting the plots of wild bird seeds give lots of winter feed.

Meanwhile, down on the farm these are our new arrivals.