Olchon Court Farm Visit
WVW members exploring Olchon Court Farm
Our visit to Olchon Court Farm and Penygelli was sensational, with twenty members enjoyed a tour of the stunningly diverse hay meadows, bluebell filled dingles and wooded river corridor on a Sunday morning which was blessed with beautiful weather despite the rainy forecast.
I particularly enjoyed hearing about and imagining the hand-spreading of green hay in the meadows on windy days, and seeing the wooded ‘dingles’ - stream courses running down the land into the river. Many of these have been fenced 20 or so meters back from the stream to prevent livestock grazing and in response have become paradises of temperate rainforest, with ferns, epiphytes and twisted mossy trunks of Hazel, Alder, Hawthorn and Downy birch, the ground was bursting with bluebells during our visit. Some smaller streams have a few simple leaky dams, enabling the formation wetland areas to enhance biodiversity and slowing the flow of water to mitigate flood risk lower downstream - only beavers could have done a better job!
One of the restored dingles, now a wetland paradise
One aim on the holding is to recreate and restore upland wood-pasture, by planting native trees and gradually and gently coppicing some extant old, neglected coppice areas. Trees are planted into non-diverse brackeny areas while grassy areas are left open to encourage varied flora and insects.
As the owners explained their management, and how they may vary this over a period of years by watching the land, and the growth of different species, adjusting grazing or cutting depending on the look and needs of the meadows, which they are so keenly attuned to, I was struck by the contrast between nature reserves managed by overstretched charities, whose sites are visited a couple of times a year and the management enacted according to the management plan, and the land stewarded by Wye Valley Wilding members, whose depth of care, love and understanding comes from living on the land they are rewilding and managing for nature.
To see firsthand the recovery of this former overgrazed upland sheep farm, into characterful woodlands and meadows which teem with orchids and meadow flowers, the return of rare butterflies species like Small Pearl-bordered fritillary is a joy. We are very grateful to Anthony and Miriam for hosting our visit and their generosity with their time, expertise and homemade cakes!
New fencing along the river, with planting and natural regeneration enabling the restoration of wet-woodland habitats and enabling the stream to regenerate and meander naturally
The support and peer to peer guidance provided by members to each other is a phenomenal resource and the core strength of our network, so if you’re a member who hasn’t yet made it to an event, please don’t be shy and come along!
One of the many leaky dams slowing the flow of water off Olchon Court farm
