Trip reports

Visit to Hall Farm

Sunday, 8 July 2007

16 members met in the farmyard at 10 a.m. and were welcomed by Ray, Liz, their son, Ian and his girlfriend, Anna. From the word go, the family enthusiasm for farming and conservation measures was clear for all to see. Around the farmyard, Ray pointed out where pied wagtails, blackbirds, house martins and swallows were all nesting or had nested earlier. From here we began our tour of the farm.

Our first stop was the former kitchen garden, now a small enclosed area used to introduce lambs to life outdoors before moving into a larger field. It was here that Keith had an unexpected, almost face-to-face encounter with a lively sheep. I am sure he is fully recovered but please don't upset him by asking what happened.

Crossing the main road, we made our way through the fields and learned that these larger fields, lacking dividing hedges, provide good habitats for brown hare, skylark and curlew - so it is not all about planting new hedgerows. We saw clearly the effects of selective weed killers and were reassured to hear that farmers do not use pesticides etc indiscriminately as they are too expensive to do so.

Numerous butterflies were seen - small tortoiseshell, meadow brown and large white among them. We were shown the unfarmed margin along the edge of one field which, by regulation must be 2m wide when measured from the centre of the hedge. We also observed a small plot left for wild flower regeneration and one small area, which was fenced and planted with less common cornfield flowers, initially as a seed bank but for more extensive planting in the future.

At the beck, we observed the badger crossing point and saw kestrel in flight. (The farm has numerous bird boxes, including two for kestrels)

A 3m border along the beck had been sown with cornfield flowers but as these will not regenerate next year (requiring soil disturbance) a variety of perennials had also been planted, including orchid.

In the hay meadow we learned that the sheep eat this particular grass only reluctantly and much prefer the grass in the next field. (Now where have we heard that before?)

As we made our way to the pond, we saw evidence of damage caused by roe deer.
When we reached the pond, we watched blue and red damselflies and a red darter, taking care not to tread on the 'toadlets' underfoot.

We left at 1p.m., with invitation to come again and see the other half! I'm sure we will do so and send our sincere thanks to all for a splendid morning visit.