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On site with Richard Bradford Fencing new watermeadows at
Pound Farm, North Tuddenham
This month AF Building Key Account Manager, Richard
Bradford, visits Simon Dann of FS Dann and Sons at Pound Farm, North Tuddenham. Simon, whose mixed
farm is well known for producing Norfolk Famhouse Icecream, is erecting three kilometres of fencing
sourced by AF to fence two new water meadows with public access. These are being created from arable
land as part of a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme with Natural England.
As part of the scheme, which will secure payments over the next ten years, arable land either
side of North Tuddenham Common is being turned over to water meadow planted with species rich seminatural
grassland. This will extend the area of the common to approximately 25 acres of wetland and heath, offering
an important environmental sanctuary with open public access. The grassland, which
will be used to graze young stock, will attract butterflies
and bees and
a series of ponds are being dug or restored which, it is hoped, will support dragonflies, damselflies and Great
Crested Newts. Two kilometres of species
rich hedgerows will also be planted to provide an important habitat for birds and other animals. New
footpaths are being laid to offer circular walks across the land, which start and finish by the Norfolk Famhouse ice cream factory and shop – providing a popular family treat after some
brisk exercise! Simon is planning to create an animal interaction area near the start of the walk where children can visit farmyard animals such as calves, chickens and pigs and is
welcoming school visits to the farm as part of the HLS scheme.
Simon explained “It’s all about helping people connect to
farming and thecountryside. We want to help children understand that a beef burger doesn’t just
come out of a packet and a pint of milk doesn’t just appear in a carton.”
“With Norfolk Farmhouse Ice Cream we have gone back to our roots and used simple natural
ingredients like fresh milk from our dairy and free range eggs from our hens and we are keen for people
to see this.”
So far the AF building team, which has a wide range of industry experts
with specialists in areas such as fencing, timber, landscaping and kerbs have saved Simon a considerable amount of time and money on his fencing requirements. Simon commented “The
costs of the fencing through AF were half that of what I have seen other people pay –I was amazed!”
“The service from the AF building team also makes life easier by saving ringing around
for quotes and negotiating directly with suppliers.
When you are one man in an office that really comes into its own because I don’t have the time to spend comparing notes.” So far the AF building team have sourced 6ft straining posts, barbed wire, 12ft wooden
field gates and kissing gates for Simon to fence the new meadow on the west side of North Tuddenham Common, while maintaining
good public access. The next step will be to fence the area on the east side of the common, closest
to the ice cream factory and the AF building team will be sourcing these materials soon.
Simon recently completed digging the wildlife ponds after going through a lengthy planning
permission process and as soon as there is sufficient
rain for seed
to germinate he will sow the species rich grassland
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