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This is Mrs Millard (nee Bowes) who rented East Cottage as a holiday cottage in the 1930's at Cragend Farm. We recently had some visitors here who where driving a beautiful Model T and they said they would research what sort of car Mrs Millard was driving: "We tracked the car in the photo down to be a Riley and below are some details from the secretary of the Riley regi ...

We are members of The Historic Houses Organisation, where membership gives you the opportunity to visit private houses and castles where historic and listed buildings are located. AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE! Historic Houses are offering our guests a £5 discount on a new annual membership, whether as a Christmas or Birthday gift or to use yourself, when you quote our co ...

Historic Tours 2021 We have been hosting Historic Tours in association with Historic Houses this year and we thought that we should let this review guide anyone wanting to book to visit us for a Tour: "We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your fantastic farm on the Historic Houses tour on Tuesday. We both agree that it was the most interesting HHA visit we have ever done - an ...

Well-loved Local Rothbury resident plants a dedication tree in April 2021.   Anthea Logan-Wood planted this Red oak tree on Sunday in the sunshine. She is a well known and loved Rothbury resident. As a child, she was evacuated to Cragend Farm during the Second World War, and her family stay is part of the history at Cragend Farm.  Her ties to Rothbury and Cragend Farm are stro ...

Booking in Advance It is important to plan ahead if you are wishing to travel to Northumberland this year, as all the Historic Houses and National Trust and English Heritage sites are open using a booking system due to the Pandemic. With this in mind, please make sure you book in advance if you wish to visit Cragside, Bamburgh Castle, Alnwick Castle and gardens, Wallington, ...

10 year Celebration of Cragend Farm renovations. We have put together a video powerpoint on youtube and our website and social media for people to see how the farm is coming along terms of renovation after 10 years. We hope you enjoy it. It shows then and now photographs of the areas around the farm. ...

Historic Tours 2021 WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US IN OUR CELEBRATION OF 10 YEARS HERE AT CRAGEND. Booking open now for our historic tours of the Farm, with information and tales aplenty about our links ot Cragside and  Lord William Armstrong. Our Grade II* Listed Silo and outbuildings are full of history and intrigue. Bookings taken direct via our website using our contact page ...

Restoration in 2019 to the Grade II* listed Silo at Cragend Grange made it possible for us  to submit an entry  to the Historic Houses competition in association with Sothebys for an award. We are very pleased that  our efforts where acknowledged, and despite not winning the top award we received a letter from them stating:  We all found it absolutely fascinating Lou - than ...

Celebrate 2021 We are celebrating a Decade of being part of Cragend Farm history this year and hope to celebrate with many photos and updates on our progress. Watch this space! ...

Just a short note to say that our dear friend and neighbour Margaret Straughan passed away on 31st December New Years Eve 2020 after a brave battle with cancer. She has been a major part of our lives since we bought Cragend Farm in 2010 and was a vital part of piecing together the history of the farm. She was a kind and jolly neighbour, sharing recipes and thoughts for the da ...

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your fantastic farm on the Historic Houses tour on Tuesday. We both agree that it was the most interesting HHA visit we have ever done - and we have done many over the years! We had no idea of the extent of the Armstrong connection or what you have there, having visited Cragside on so many occasions in the past 50 years or so. And indeed looked down on the farm from the walks at Cragend quite recently. We particularly enjoyed ascending and descending the ladders to look at the hydraulic equipment and get an idea of how it all functioned, the beautiful and unusual buildings which had housed the cattle, and were intrigued by the contents of your "underground " loo! Peacocks and chicks, hens and a beautiful pet lamb added to the feel of the farm.

Shaun & Lou Renwick are keen to harness the farm's natural resources, using wood to heat their water, to cook with on a wood burning range, and to heat the houses on the Farm. Even if your house is not equipped to totally run on wood there are things you can do to make sure you are using the best quality wood for your fires.

Why use Seasoned Wood?

Seasoned wood is a definition for 'wood drying'. About 5% of the energy of the log is wasted through evaporation and heating the water vapour of damp logs.

Moisture effects the burning process with unburnt hydrocarbons going up the chimney, which can in time create 'sooting' in the chimney, with the possibility of a chimney fire, all of which requires specialist sweeping.

Drying the wood before burning reduces moisture content in the wood before it is used for burning,

Air drying is the most traditional method, and it takes time. usually over and above 2 years! The fire will use less energy to burn the log if the water content is below 20%. Therefore is can give OUT more energy in the form of heat!

Cragend Farm endeavours to provide their customers with the best seasoned wood possible.

if you would like further information on the process of burning wood please contact us and we will be happy to help.

Why seasoned wood?

Thank you so much Lou and Shaun for a great holiday break on your farm at Cragend last week. East Cottage was a super place to stay. Very comfortable accommodation with everything we needed for self-catering and situated next to the beautiful Cragside National Trust gardens. It was super for our dog with fields to walk across as well as a secure fenced place for her to run off lead! Such interesting history too about the farm and how you have restored the buildings, the Victorian silo and so much else of the past farming life at Cragend. We look forward to returning! J&M Nottingham.

Award Winning Accommodation