BRAESTEAD FARM
PATTERDALE
ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES
There are a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest on the farm including Dobson Hoggist.
SOIL TYPE(S)
Silty loam in the valley meadowland become thinner and acidic on the intakes and peaty on the fell.
GEOLOGY
Ordovician? Granite
FLORA
There are 30 acres of deciduous woodland on the farm. An area of around 8 acres is planned to be fenced off for natural regeneration to connect two areas of woodland. There are also plans to fence off a wildlife area adjacent to the stream running through the valley bottom.
There are plans to allow an area of meadow land to revert to traditional low input hay meadow.
FAUNA
Red squirrels have been seen on the farm and the farm tries to cull grey squirrels. Birds include Red Starts, Dippers, Tree Creepers, Sisskins Owls and Buzzards.
© Copyright 2008
ARCHAEOLOGY
There is a small settlement in the top right hand wood and old mining ruins on the farm.
HEDGEROWS
There are no hedgerows currently on the farm although some may be planted as a boundary for the stream wildlife corridor.
DRY STONE WALLS
Paul Renison does his own walling and estimates that rebuilding and maintenance can take as much as a month per year.
VERNACULAR BUILDINGS & FEATURES
The farm has four traditional barns that have been renovated under the Lake District ESA scheme/ One of the barns, Croasdale Hoggast (a local term for Hog House) is on the Coast to Coast walk.
The Cumbria Fells and Dales Leader + programme is based at Voluntary Action Cumbria and is part-financed by the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund of the European Union and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. This project is part of a trans-national project with Gévaudan Leader + Programme, Lozère, France.
© Copyright 2008 Cumbria Hill Farms