The afternoon began with a walk from Turnastone Court Farm along the
River Dore where we saw the work carried out by the Monnow Project
and the follow up to it which resulted in the control of mink and
the reintroduction of water
voles. Ben Rogers of the Game and
Wildlife Conservation Trust explained the work carried out on these
projects
Ben
describes the baited 'rafts' which are left floating by the water's
edge
close
up of a raft
Ben
extracts from the raft a shallow tray packed with soft clay
and
shows us the paw prints as Robert Fraser,
the tenant, looks on.
In
the next
part of the walk, Robert Fraser outlined the visions and aims of his
stewardship of this largely grassland farm with its traditional and
sustainable system of livestock grazing. No herbicides, pesticides
or artificial fertilizers are used on the farm which is one of great
wild life value, with many meadow flowers and a variety of birds to
be seen.
During
the last part of the afternoon David Lovelace described the
site of a large irrigation project created over 400 years ago of
which traces are visible today. He also talked about aspects of the
survey which he undertook for the Countryside Restoration Trust when
they purchased the farm in 2003.
More
pictures will make their way here soon.
