Training day at Croft Castle

Earlier this year you helped us to raise over £14,000 during our ‘For the Love of Meadows in Herefordshire’ campaign, hosted by Big Give.  Thanks to your generosity, and to Big Give for match-funding your donations, we have been able to spend the last few months delivering events and training aimed at inspiring better understanding, management and preservation of meadows in Herefordshire.

Delivery of our campaign promises kicked off in May, with a tour of one of our most recent restoration meadows at Homme House, Much Marcle, followed by a training day at Croft Castle, where restoration site owners learned about meadow condition monitoring and identification of key meadow species.

This summer we hosted a series of meadow walks, farm visits and knowledge exchange events at some wonderful sites across Herefordshire, where our hosts talked us through their meadow restoration journeys, and featuring topics such as herbal leys, rotational grazing, meadow invertebrates, anthotypes and medicinal plants.  These events were mostly open to all of our supporters, with a couple specifically for Farmers and land managers such as Natural England’s Grassland Team, and took us to diverse sites such as the ancient grassland of Broadmoor Common on the Woolhope Dome, to the well-hidden marvel and restoration success story of the Mowley Valley.

So far the Big Give funds have allowed us to engage with 205 people at Herefordshire Meadows talks, events and training, and we were able to make meadow conservation a part of public events such as the Spring Plant Fair, with over 1500 attendees.  This autumn and winter we have more events planned, such as a Winter Management training day, a Waxcap ID day, and our annual Forum featuring variety of talks and presentations.  Keep a look out for upcoming events and invites to register, and read more about his years events on our website.

Thank you all for your donations to the campaign, coming along and supporting our events, sharing your knowledge and helping to build a strong and supportive network!

Farmers visiting Upper Pengethley Farm to talk about herbal leys, rotational grazing and pasture fed systems with Pasture for Life, Wye and Usk Foundaion, and HM