Farming projects, 2022-23

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Listed below are the projects which have received funding from the Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme.

 The funding is aimed at farmers and land managers in England's protected landscapes and is for one-off farming projects that can demonstrate benefits to climate, nature, people and place. 

The programme is part of the government's Agricultural Transition Plan which is shifting from direct payments to farmers, to rewarding environmentally-friendly practices. 

Scroll down to read summaries of the projects that have been awarded grants in the Shropshire Hills between April 2022 - March 2023.

or download the list of projects that have been supported to date by clicking on the button below:

list of all projects in the Shropshire Hills 

photograph of a new footbridge on the farm

Morrell's Wood Farm, Much Wenlcok: Improving visitor and educational access to the farm

Awarded £22,648.50.  Total project value £34,348.03.

June 2022 - March 2024

The project is improving facilities to increase educational visits made from children from deprived areas. The farm currently welcomes 25-30 group visits by adults and children of all backgrounds to engage with the countryside. The funding will improve parking for buses, access around the farm and provide outdoor teaching facilities. The project is also planting native broadleaf trees such as oak, birch and hazel, to expand existing ancient woodland and creating a 2.5km permissive path, to link with the existing footpath network. Small interpretation panels and an audio guide will explain the farming calendar, describe the landscape and how the farm is managed to support nature and wildlife.

  farm walk & audio trail

Gibbons Corner Wood, Much Wenlock: Ancient Woodland Coppice Restoration

Awarded £11,127.04.  Total project value £12,356.90.

July 2022-March 2025 

Gibbons Coppice is a 28-hectare Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland to the west of the Wrekin and Gibbons Corner Wood is 2.7 hectares of this larger woodland. The grant is supporting coppice restoration on this hard to access site which includes felling 7 large trees, scrub control and the removal of smaller trees.  The logs will be extracted either by portable winch or by horse loggers.  500 young hazel trees will be planted, and 260 metres of temporary deer fencing erected to ensure successful regrowth of the old coppice and establishment of the young plants. The extracted timber will be used to demonstrate green woodworking and pole lathe turning to create carved or turned domestic woodenware and Windsor chairs, beanpoles, hedging stakes and binders.

Linley Farm, Bishop's Castle: Controlled Biological Composting

Awarded £26,477.20.  Total project value £66,193.00.

July 2022-March 2023

The grant is supporting a new farm-scale composting operation using Controlled Microbial Composting. This method focuses on providing optimal conditions for creation of a microbially rich compost that will dramatically increase the health of the farm soils. The project will transform the farm’s green waste, manure, woodchip, spoiled straw and food waste into microbially active compost that builds carbon in the soil, holds and cycles nitrogen, increases crucial soil biology, increasing soil fertility and structure, improving water holding and cycling, farm biodiversity, and crop nutrition.  Up to 400 tonnes of finished compost could be made per year. The volume of raw material used is approximately one third more than that.  

Lower Bush Farm CIC, Ludlow: Accessible animal housing and tiny homes for farm glamping diversification

Awarded £79,931.85.   Total project value £143,907.48. 

July 2022 - March 2024

Lower Bush is a not-for-profit Care Farm which welcomes people of all abilities.  The grant is supporting the construction of 6 purpose-built animal enclosures. The animal housing will be accessible for those with special educational needs and disabilities.  Pathways and tracks are also being improved for easy access.

(2 agrements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

Black Hall Farm, Knighton: Protection of Historic Monument and headwater tributaries

Awarded £64,433.15.  Total project value £81,252.23.

July 2022-March 2024

This project has two strands. The first is to protect the section of Offa’s Dyke which runs through the farm by carefully removing conifer trees wrongly planted on the Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1981. Offa's Dyke is one of the longest earthworks in Britain, built by King Offa of Mercia in the 8th Century.  New fencing will also protect the monument from grazing animals and ploughing. The funding is also supporting significant improvements to the farm’s water supply infrastructure.  7 solar pump units are being installed to deliver drinking water through underground pipes via storage tanks and into troughs for cattle and sheep on 140 hectares of upland plateau land. This will allow headwater streams of the River Teme and of the River Redlake to be fenced on the farm, protecting them from poaching and erosion, and improving the water quality.

press release about project

Pool House Farm, Clunbury: Silvopasture Agroforestry research and demonstration site

Awarded £11,269.88  , total project value £12,534.80

July 2022 - March 2023

Silvopasture agroforestry is the intentional integration of trees, foraged plants and livestock.  This is a demo project to promote research and shareable practical experience about which perennial, low input / regenerative food growing systems can work best for farmers in the River Clun catchment and wider area.  The project will plant 1 hectare of Silvopasture lanes; 250 metre rows of fruit tree, berry, animal fodder and nitrogen fixing trees and understorey shrubs.  The rows are planted with 12 metre wide grass strips inbetween, to allow regenerative agriculture practices of grazing and hay making.  The project aims to gain a better understanding of agroforestry systems and species that work in the local climate and soil, and market conditions.  It is hoped that this knowledge will help to develop a larger project later in the year.  

Ashgrove Farm, Wentnor:  Orchard creation and species rich grassland restoration

Awarded £7,032.89.  Total project value £4,392.61.

July 2022 - March 2025

The grant is supporting the planting of a new traditional orchard and restoring 3.63 hectares of species rich grassland on the farm. The project will also carry out a whole farm botanical survey to inform future land management and identify areas of greatest species diversity which can become donor site for hay strewing, if appropriate.  The orchard will be planted with 20-25 local varieties and local provenance trees. Locally sourced green hay or seed will be used to help restore the grassland.  The farm is in the Stepping Stones Project Area and is an important 'stepping stone', in terms of improving and creating habitat connectivity between the Long Mynd and the Stiperstones.  This project will increase the area available for wildlife, attracting invertebrates, birds and small mammals.

Stepping Stones: Upper Onny Farmers Group visit to James Rebanks, Cumbria

Awarded £3,424.05.  Total project value £4,825.95.

August 2022 - March 2023

The Stepping Stones Project is working with the Upper Onny Farmers Group to explore ways of delivering environmental benefits through regenerative farming practices whilst maintaining a viable farming business. The grant will subsidise an overnight visit to discuss farming practices with inspirational livestock farmer, James Rebanks. He will talk about his thinking, decisions and practices in grassland management and the benefits of farming with species rich grassland, wooded corridors, as well as his approach to soil and water management on the farm. Discussion will include the opportunities and challenges of transitioning from ‘traditional’ to ‘regenerative’ farming, and how this approach has benefited the farm business, the economics of faming this way and its sustainability.

Pollardine Farm, Pontesbury: Habitat creation and restoration, a study on Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts, and contour mapping for future landscape design

Awarded £23,057.28, , total project value £28,770.34

October 2022 - March 2024

Installing temporary electric fencing to protect 357 metres of watercourse from grazing animals. A 20-metre buffer strip will allow riparian corridors to develop to improve water quality (less run-off) and help to slow the flow.  6.45 hectares of wood pasture will be created using self-set young trees from the farm.  Temporary electric fencing and mobile water troughs across 169 hectares will create smaller paddocks to prevent overgrazing (allowing plants to fully regrow before they are re-grazed) and compaction, and to increase the density and diversity of the sward through management of animal impact.  72 nest boxes will be installed across the farm to study Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts, and a digital map showing 1-5m contours of the land will be produced to base decisions about future land-use design on the topography of the land, ensuring the farm business works with the shape of the land rather than against it.  

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

Briar Edge Farm, Woolston: Hedgerow restoration on Briar Edge ridge

Awarded £23,000.60.  Total project value £23,000.60.

October 2022 - March 2024 

This project is restoring 790 metres of hedgerow through pleaching, coppicing, gapping up, planting 15 new hedgerow trees and fencing.  The hedges are between the lower edge of two sloping fields and the top of a steep bank, so they play an important role in reducing flood risk by improving water infiltration and reducing the risk of run-off/erosion – particularly as the fields are sometimes used to grow winter fodder crops for out wintering stock.  Planting new trees will increase the range of habitat on the farm and thicker hedges will provide more shade and shelter for livestock, which is important due to the exposed location of the grazing fields. 

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

The Graig, Knighton: Habitat restoration 

Grant of £9,165.83.  Total project value £12,663.45.

October 2022 - March 2024

The project is supporting the enclosure (by fencing) of two areas (4.15 hectares and 0.72 heatares) of Priority Habitat veteran oak woodland, and 1.5 hectares of Ffridd habitat which will encourage the expansion of species rich areas and natural regeneration of oak woodland.  A livestock access track will be created to exclude livestock from the woodland area and access to drinking water will be installed in the new land parcels. This will allow the grazing to be managed on rotation which improves the soil organic matter and carbon sequestration.  92 metres of hedgerow will be coppiced to maintain a healthy hedgerow habitat. 

Lower Treverward, Clun: Hedgerow restoration and complete diet feeder for home grown crops 

Awarded £29,164.20.  Total project value £50,164.20.

October 2022 - March 2023

This project is hedge-laying and fencing (697 metres) to safeguard the newly laid hedge from grazing livestock. Fencing allows the hedge to grow up to 2.4 meters wide, ideal habitat for some of our threatened species such as dormice and bats. The grant is also supporting (at 40%) the purchase of a Lucas Spirmix jet 140 feeder/ bedder to efficiently mix and process home grown forage crops for sheep and cattle. This will reduce the farms reliance on bought in feeds, some of which come from abroad. By using home grown crops to include in a mixed ration the farm’s carbon emissions will be reduced through less feed waste, a reduced reliance on bought in compound feeds and improved feed efficiency that are associated with total mixed rations. The feeder also gives greater flexibility and control of what is fed to the farm livestock.  

New House Farm, Ludlow: Grassland regeneration and water management 

Awarded £63,859.44.  Total project value £87,787.15.

October 2022 - March 2025

Supporting a series of initiatives including permanent electric fencing, leaky dams and water troughs along two stretches of watercourse to  improve water quality.  Further permanent and temporary electric fencing, along with mobile water troughs, to enable rotational grazing across the farm, improving grass growth, biodiversity and stock health.  The purchase of a muck spreader to utilise farm manure and cycle nutrients more efficiently across 286 hectares of local farmland.  A 15,000 litres rainwater harvesting system is being installed to manage water better on the farm.  The project is also creating 16.9 hectares of new wood pasture, 1 hectare of a new species-rich meadow and restoring 80 metres of hedgerow which includes planting 20 new trees and installing some nesting boxes.

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

Brook Vessons Farm, Pontesbury: Habitat restoration 

Awarded £48,952.82.  Total project value £70,105.03.

October 2022 - March 2024

This project is restoring the land to historic wood pasture, reviving existing and creating new habitat networks, including hedgerows, improving pasture and soil health, using native rare breed livestock, including Golden Guernsey goats, British Saddleback pigs, and a range of traditional breed chickens, farmed in a rotational grazing system and other traditional techniques to manage the pasture and surrounding habitats. These practices will allow the farm to produce healthy, ethical and sustainable food, with sales starting from Spring 2023, which will connect the local community with the land.

Cheney Longville Farms, Craven Arms: Onny Trail Permissive Access Path Renovation Project 

Awarded £12,550.59.  Total project value £12,550.59.

October 2022 - March 2024

The Onny Trail is a popular permissive walk that follows the line of the old Craven Arms to Bishop’s Castle railway along the banks of the River Onny.  The project will restore and improve the length (3.54km) and accessibility of the trail, and make it a circular, rather than a linear walk. The stiles along the trail will be replaced by 12 accessible gates.  Waymarking along the route will be improved and a welcome panel installed at the start of the trail.  These works also improve the route of the Wart Hill Wander - a day walk from the nearby Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre which increases its attractiveness as a tourism attraction and thereby helping to support the local economy. 

Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership: Fix the Fort – Caering for Caradoc Project 

Grant of £13,001.12 awarded October 2022, total project value £26,840.12 

This project is repairing the ramparts of the impressive iron-age hillfort that crowns Caer Caradoc near Church Stretton.  The hillfort itself is in an area of designated access land and is a scheduled monument of national importance. The popularity of the destination is contributing to the erosion of the main ramparts and approaching footpaths (both desire lines and public rights of way). Working closely with the landowner, Shropshire Council and Historic England, the project will create a stepped and maintainable ‘sacrificial surface’ at two locations that will improve accessibility whilst protecting the exposed archaeology. In the third location, the intention will be to fill and re-vegetate the eroded area.  A specialist archaeologist will work with volunteers to record and understand the exposed archaeology and provide expert advice for the repair process. The project will interpret the hillfort with boundary post panels, linked to online audio descriptions and hold a series of storytelling events to help connect people to the hillfort, landscape and its myths and legends. 

New House Farm, Clee St Margaret: River protection and enhancement measures

Awarded £36,486.75, , total project value £42,712.01

November 2022 - March 2025

This project is focussed on a replacement water supply and protecting 2 watercourses that run through the farm. The new water supply system will pump from a spring to water troughs which supply 23 hectares of grazing land and farm buildings, and a clean water supply is being put in for handwashing facilities for visiting school groups. The 2 watercourses will be fenced to exclude stock and protect and enhance over 800 metres of headwater streams. 22 bankside trees will be coppiced, 14 leaky dams installed and planting up 148 metres of gaps in bankside cover.

Clee View Farmers Group: Carbon Accounting – a collaborative learning initiative 

Awarded £15,730.20.  Total project value £18,656.00.

November 2022 - March 2024

The grant is supporting carbon accounting across 31 holdings covering 8,279 hectares. Members of the Clee View Farmers Group will be trained in carbon accounting, using the Agrecalc tool to collate data and undertake carbon auditing on farms. They will be supported by Carbon Metrics and Dr Simon Jeffery of Harper Adams University, who will help the group to consider how to adapt farm practices to reduce emissions, increase carbon storage and maximise sequestration. The results will be shared at a farm event and separate meeting to discuss implications / opportunities for the Nature Recovery Network. An education pack presenting the results will also be produced for stakeholders and other interested groups.

photograph of Steel and timber to create cattle bridge

Derrington Farm, Ditton Priors: Protection of watercourses and woodland and pond enhancements 

Awarded £59,387.93.  Total project value £60,749.09.

November 2022 - March 2024

The project is fencing two brooks (1,600 metres) which run into the River Severn to prevent livestock from eroding the banks and polluting the water. Mains water drinking troughs are being installed for cattle and sheep.  Two livestock bridges, using oak felled on the farm are being installed to maintain grazing access, and a large overgrown and trodden-in field pond is being restored and fenced. The project is also erecting 680 meters of new livestock fencing along the field side edge of Withygreaves Wood, an historic Priority Habitat Broadleaf Woodland.  This will enable livestock grazing to be managed to encourage natural tree regeneration, protect rare ground flora and encourage wildlife (including dormice and ground nesting birds). 

Thresholds Farm, Picklescott: Habitat restoration and creation

Awarded £34,990.81.   Total project value £34,990.81

November 2022 - March 2024

This project is planting approx. 700 meters of hedgerows with a mix of native plants and trees.  A further 400 metres of hedgerow will be restored by coppicing and gapping up.  This restored hedge links to the existing hedgerow networks on the farm (2730 metres), which in turn is links to approximately 4 hectares of woodland and scrubland, and creating a diverse linked habiat network for wildlife.

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

Villa Farm, All Stretton: Enhanced biodiversity, habitat connectivity and carbon sequestration

Awarded £7,674.61.  Total project value £7,674.61

November 2022 - March 2025

This project is restoring 135 metres of hedgerows and restoring just under one  hectares of species rich meadow through the introduction of new seed and controlled grazing. Scrub will be managed through a combination of fencing and the controlled browsing by a new flock of 9 Hill Radnor sheep. Detailed analysis of species in soil through DNA testing.

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

photo of 9 farmers on the final water quality workshop

Pollardine Farm Partnership, Pontesbury: Monitoring water quality, with workshops and training on how to improve water quality by changing land management practices – across 8 holdings

Grant of £72,949.41, , total project value £77,405.68

January 2023 - March 2024

The project will deploy 21 sensors to monitor the turbidity, colour and temperature of water in streams and ponds on 8 land holdings across 3 waterbody sub-catchments and hold a workshop every 3 months for participants to discuss data captured by the sensors and identify projects they can deliver on their land to improve water quality. A final year BSc (Hons) Agriculture student will complete a research study on the project to identify the impact of agricultural activities on nutrient losses using proxy sensors. The participants will have the option to complete the course, Holistic Management: Fundamentals halfway through the project to help with their decision making in changing land management practices and to develop their understanding of ecosystem processes.

photo of new fencing and gate on farm

Hope Park, Pennerley: Habitat restoration and creation, protecting watercourses and introducing cattle

Awarded £21,317.32.  Total project value £21,317.32.

December 2022 - March 2025

Inspired by the Upper Onny Farmers Group visit to James Rebanks farm in Cumbria, this project is taking a nature friendly farming approach to managing Hope Park by introducing suckler cattle to this part of the farm and installing the necessary infrastructure to achieve this. Adopting rotational grazing techniques, will allow rest periods to improve forage production, soil health and protect watercourses. Habitats will also be improved.

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

photograph of a curlew in a field

Shropshire Wildlife Trust: Carbon for Curlews in the Clun Forest

Awarded £63,087.72.  Total project value £63,087.72.

Janurary 2023 - March 2024

The project will investigate the extent and condition of the peat soils over approximately 500 hectares, including Shropshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves, land managed by Natural Resources Wales and upland hill pasture managed by several private landowners.  The results will inform these landowners and managers on the potential for peat restoration and enhancing biodiversity and provide options for future environmental land management schemes. This study will help prioritise a second phase of more detailed restoration options and unlock funding from a range of other sources in the future. 

Photograph of bracken control on the Long Mynd

National Trust, Church Stretton: Bracken and gorse management on the Longmynd Common 

Awarded £106,432.21.  Total project value £186,205.26.

Janurary 2023 - March 2024

Project to support the clearance of gorse and bracken on steeper slopes across the Longmynd Common, that are inaccessible for routine management. The Longmynd supports some of the rarest acid grassland habitats which are being encroached upon by gorse and are vulnerable to being shaded out.  The project is working with the Active Graziers to identify and remove bracken and gorse in critical locations, grazing areas will be increased and access for stock management improved to support the traditional sheep farming practice on Longmynd Common. This will also help to reconnect areas of grassland to restore the habitat mosaic of the Site of Special Scientific Interest to benefit a wide range of associated wildlife. 

Greater Poston Farm, Craven Arms: Water and wooded corridor project

Awarded £90,314.39.  Total project value £90,888.21.

December 2022 - March 2025

The creation of a long riverine corridor habitat and associated water provision for livestock away from the brook. The creation of five new blocks of wooded land of grazed woodland and scrub, wooded scrub bank and rewilded area connected by a network of newly planted hedges eith gapping up of hedges, new hedgerow trees and more wildlife friendly managed hedges. Increased rotational grazing, rainwater harvesting system and provision of wildlife nest boxes.

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

photo of new fencing on the farm

Upper Ledwyche Farm, Ludlow: Soil health and water protection 

Awarded £57,886.68.  Total project value £90,807.50.

December 2022 - March 2024 

The grant is supporting a range of activity including electric fencing for rotational grazing, gapping up hedgerows and creating two pollinator patches (582m2)) to increase species diversity. To improve soil health, the farm is investing in FECPAK (faecal egg counting) technology to reduce overuse of wormers which have a detrimental effect on soil microbiology and livestock health.  A precision spreader is also being purchased to spread organic manure, lime, gypsum and solid digestate at variable rates across the farm. A borehole and rainwater harvesting system (10,000L) is also being installed to secure water for livestock as 750 metres of watercourse is fenced to create a riverine corridor with natural regeneration and targeted tree planting (10 trees). 

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

GWCT, Curlew Country, Pennerley: Curlew Headstarting 

Grant of £75,698.18.  Total project value £92,564.49.

January 2023 - March 2024

This project is raising Curlew from egg to fledging stage, from nests proven to be at risk of failure. The project involves coordination of nest finding by a trained ornithologist, collection of eggs and incubation of eggs under carefully controlled and monitored conditions, and care of chicks from hatching to fledging. The grant is paying for project staff, equipment and materials.

photograph of the site for borehole on the Stiperstones NNR

Natural England: Water supply for the north end of the Stiperstones National Nature Reserve (NNR) – borehole prognosis report. 

Awarded £21,802.00.  Total project value £28,126.42.

January 2023 - March 2024

The internationally important heathland habitats on the Stiperstones NNR rely upon summer grazing to maintain their favourable condition. This grazing is becoming increasingly compromised by the drying up of the natural springs during the summer months. To maintain the site in favourable condition grazing needs to continue and a reliable water source is needed. This project will investigate the possibility of a borehole to supply the heathland and adjoining tenanted grassland by carrying out a desk-based prognosis report to see whether drilling a borehole is achievable, what depth would be required and cost.  Stage 2 is to drill and set up a borehole, solar pump, storage tank and pipework to existing troughs as well as an additional trough on the heathland, to replace the natural spring that dries up in the summer.  

photograph of curlew grassland habitat

GWCT, Curlew Country, Pennerley: Habitat creation to benefit foraging Curlew   

Awarded £11,976.08.  Total project value £12,429.11.

January 2023 - March 2024

Supporting innovative land management and habitat enhancement techniques to increase foraging opportunities for breeding Curlew and their progeny on 3 farms in the Shropshire Hills which are known curlew breeding areas. Activities include creating an artificial spring with 4 scrapes totalling 740 metres square, installing 4 leaky dams and erecting 85 metres of permanent fencing to protect one of the newly created scrapes. 180 metres of electric fencing will be used to protect a scrape and ‘rushy’ ditch feature, where the leaky dams are located. This fence will be in place during the Curlew breeding season, from April to August. These activities will increase opportunities for Curlew to forage close to their nest sites and help their ability to defend their territories against predators. 

Plowden Farming Partnership, Myndtown Farm, Lydbury North: Hedgerow creation and renovation and protection of watercourses and wetlands

Awarded £61,486.46.  Total project value £61,486.46.

January 2023 - March 2024

The objective of this project is to create a network of new and renovated hedgerows to complement and enhance the existing landscape. It will include the planting of 616 metres of new hedgerows on old hedge lines, hedge renovation through coppicing and gapping up, totalling 850 metres combined with 24 new hedgerow trees. All hedgerows will be double fenced with permanent 4 strand electric fence totalling 2,598 metres. Protection of 1,150 metres of watercourses and wetland areas.

(2 agreements due to Countryside Stewardship rate changes, January 2023)

photograph of tree planting and new gate

Coates Bungalow, Ratlinghope: Hedgerow creation and tree planting 

Awarded £4,066.60.  Total project value £4,066.60.

December 2022 - March 2024

A new 280 metre hedgerow is being planted and fenced, creating a new habitat which links into a wider habitat corridor for wildlife. A further area is being fenced (150-metre fence) to provide 0.2 hectare enclosure for 220 native trees and shrubs to be planted. The trees will be predominantly oak, birch and rowan but hedgerow species will also be planted and allowed to grow to their full potential e.g. spindleberry, guelder rose, field maple. A botanical survey of grassland species will be carried out to inform future management.

Ashgrove Farm, Wentnor: Hedgerow rejuvenation

Grant of £7,643.07.  Total project value £7,843.07.

January 2023 - March 2023

This is a small project to rejuvenate 163 metres of hedgerow by coppicing and gapping up and planting five standard hedgerow trees. Hedgerows are valuable habitat for wildlife. Double fencing will be errected to protect the hedge. 103m of rejuvenated hedge will be funded by a Countryside Stewardship grant.

photo of farmer and cattle

Pollardine Farm, Pontesbury:Grassland restoration (extension of earlier agreement)

Awarded £3,132.05.  Total project value £6,674.10.

February 2023 - March 2024

Grassland restoration on 169 hectares at Pollardine Farm using Holistic Planned Grazing. Addition to equipment awarded in an earlier Farming in Protectd Landscapes project to allow the farm to manage multiple livestock groups and to make them more resilient to a lack of water from frost / drought. Hosting and participation in Low-Stress Livestock Handling course delivered by Miriam Parker.

photo of newly laid hedge along a lane

Cow Hall, Newcastle: Enhancement of habitats, water and resilience

Awarded £22,169.23.  Total project value £26,327.23.

February 2023 - March 2024

Creation of a series of 3 leaky dams; creation of a pond; wood pasture planting on 1.4 heactares and hedge planting; cattle handling equipment to increase farm resilience; 110 metres of hedge laying to thicken the hedge to create more habitat delivered this financial year; 179 metres of hedge laying to thicken the hedge to create more habitat delivered next financial year; Curlew nest fencing; Borehole survey.

Brow Farm, Ratlinghope: Hedgerow rejuvenation and improvements to the Darnford Brook

Awarded £19,900.35.  Total project value £19,900.35.

February 2023 - March 2024

This project will be erecting new stock fencing adjacent to the Darnford Brook, to create wide riparian buffer strips, to enable controlled grazing and protect and enhance species diversity. Rejuvenating and widening of relic hedgerows, to create significant shrubby wildlife corridors. Planting new hedgerow along an old hedge bank.

photo of new scrap and fencing

Newhall Farm, Church Stretton: Upland field re-creation and habitat mosaic creation 

Awarded £44,474.46.  Total project value £57,745.42.

February 2023 - March 2025

The reinstatement and enhancement (widening) of 1,110 metres of hedgerow and planting of 10 hedgerow trees and creation of a 330 metre long rough barn owl rough feeding strip. The protection of a wet flush, spring habitat and creation of a shallow wet pool/scrape area. The protection and active, selective management of two pockets of gorse/scrub habitat. The creation of a livestock holding pen to reduce environmental impacts (water pollution, carbon footprint) of frequent stock movements to and from main farm holding (1.2km round trip). The provision of wildlife boxes for nesting and roosting (barn owl, bat and solitary bees).

Downton Hall Partnership, Henleyhill Farm, Ludlow: Creation of flood-water attenuation scheme, wetland habitat, and short rotation coppice

Awarded £39,322.67.  Total project value £39,322.67.

February 2023 - March 2025

Bring to the surface a piped spring and field drains to create a series of wet landscape features to increase biodiversity and attenuate peak water flows. An area of short rotation coppice will be incorporated to provide wood chip to be used as cattle bedding, whilst providing a continual ‘woodland fringe’ habitat to adjoin the existing woodland. The project area will also include other habitat areas to target feeding and breeding opportunities for key species such as owls, bats, and raptors. The water outlet from the scheme will be diverted into an adjacent woodland and leaky dams built to create an area of priority habitat ‘wet woodland’ to further enhance biodiversity in the area.

Little Leath, Much Wenlock:  Integrating land regeneration, livestock and local people

Awarded £18,591.54. T otal project value £19,999.28.

February 2023 - March 2025

Restoration and regeneration of the land at Little Leath through hedge coppicing, gapping up and tree planting, scrub management for wildflower meadow creation and orchard restoration, backwater wet habitat creation, wildlife box provision etc. Supporting Little Leath’s ‘Flying Flock’ of conservation grazing sheep, to help manage small patches of neglected or over managed land across the Corvedale/Clee hills area. The creation of a new community gathering place, with a particular focus on getting Women back out onto the land.

Marsh Farm Partnership, Highcroft, Craven Arms: Wet flush and Upland habitat enhancement project (Phase 1)

Awarded £3,557.78.  Total project value £3,748.28.

February 2023 - March 2024

This is a small project to collect data (bird species and habitat survey and wildlife trail camera monitoring) and expert guidance and design, to help plan the delivery of priority wet flush habitat protection whilst improving livestock drinking source and gorse and bracken management across the hillside (which contains pockets of priority lowland heath habitat). The beginning of habitat enhancement through targeted gorse cutting to cerate a mosaic of age structures.