It wasn’t a great day for a farm visit. As the rain drove relentlessly across the valley, we had to wait to get up the lane to Ashness Farm due to a blocked drain and flooding. Situated between Derwent Water and the hanging valley of Watendlath, Ashness Farm commands one of the best views in the Lake District on an old packhorse route, though the view was not revealing itself today.
Last week, as part of my work for National Trust, I and other staff were visiting farms with the director general, Hilary McGrady. Hilary had met the farmer at Ashness, Anne Cornthwaite, at an event in the autumn, and was interested to hear how Anne was farming with nature with a hefted flock of Herdwick sheep and her herd of belted Galloway cattle, and so we had arranged a visit for Hilary to see the farm for herself.
