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Art Club We are very fortunate to have visiting artists interested in drawing and painting both inside and outside at Cragend Farm.  June is  a great month for fine weather and a great chance to sit outside with a pencil and paper. This week we have been visited by the Kirkwhelpington Art Group. Thank you for coming! ...

The Elder trees are in full bloom and the sunshine has brought out the glorious scent of the elderflowers. We are collecting the head to make elderflower cordial and have a go at making Elderflower champagne. One is easy the other is not so easy but we will see how it goes! ...

We are thrilled to be starting a herd of rare breed cattle.  They arrived in early June. This pedigree breed, the Whitebred Shorthorn, originally a local breed, is often used to cross with Highland or Galloway Cattle to  breed a successful beef cow. We hope to keep this herd pure bred with the intention of having a "Cragend" herd.   http://www.whitebredshorthorn.com/history/i ...

We are very pleased to announce that we have been certified by Northumberland County Council as a Produced in Northumberland official Bed & Breakfast supplier. This means we endeavour to supply our guests with produce made in Northumberland in season, which includes sausages from local butchers, honey, eggs and jam. We also have our own fruit in season and the breakfast is ...

OPEN DAY - Wednesday 14th June 2017 Visitors were encouraged to take a look around the farm and learn about the innovative engineering that Lord Armstrong of Cragside designed and built at Cragend Farm. It was a huge success raising funds for The Great North Air Ambulance and Rothbury Christmas Lights. Shaun & Lou Renwick would like to thank everyone who came along, and ...

"Stay With Us" Gift cards available for you to buy for relatives and friends for birthday and wedding presents. Whether its one night or more there are B&B and holiday cottage options near Cragside, Rothbury. Contact Lou Renwick 01669-621533 [email protected] for details. ...

Northumberland Day will be on 28th May 2017. Come and visit us and see our Northumberland Heritage. The Grade II* listed Silo Tower built by Lord Armstrong of Cragside. ...

A Taste of Italy We are looking forward to next Wednesday when Mary Wilkins hosts 'A Taste of Italy' Demo & Dine Lunch at Cragend Grange. Preparations are being made to make sure everything is ready for all our guests. Pasta making and Italian wine tasting, along with many other delicious flavours of Italy. To book your place contact www.marywilkinscookery.co.uk or call Lo ...

As well as having two new lambs to add to our flock, I have been busy planting autumn raspberry plants and blackcurrant bushes in the Farmhouse garden. I have potted some of the smaller specimens up ready for our Plant Sale when we have our Open Day on 14th June. It is a lovely time of year when the Daffodils are out and the weather is fair enough to start the summer planting. ...

The Sandstone Way is a new 120 miles (192km approx) mountain biking route between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Hexham along the Sandstone Ridge in North Northumberland linking numerous sandstone features, crags and outcrops. The route traverses through an amazing ever-changing landscape which is rich in history, geological features and iconic scenery. The Sandstone Way links numerou ...

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.

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