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Every summer we have to shear the sheep and this year Shaun was there with his shears again to clip the sheep.  This year we have some video of the action, and although not winning any prizes for speed or fleece, Shaun is very careful and gentle with the sheep in order not to stress them. There is also a cameo appearance by Dax our new sheep dog. ...

The green oak beams in the kitchen that Shaun cut in 2013 have now been in situ for over 5 years and are really settling in well. We are really pleased with how they  have turned out.  It was a huge task, using 6 oak trees, which we cut ourselves. Our fantastic joiners on site helped us position them, and then Shaun polished them. They were cut from our plantation wood ...

After a tense week of watching and waiting we have a final count on our Rare Breed maternity unit. One  heifer, one bullock and one, sadly, stillborn bullock. Although we are so sad that all three cows did not have successful births, we are pleased that there are two more Whitebred Shortborns to add to the numbers in the world.  Our Artificial Insemination programme can b ...

We have been lambing for a few weeks now and have a fine selection of ram and ewe lambs. We haven't quite finished as yet, with a few more ewes still to give birth. One little lamb has particularly won our hearts as she is so tiny we were worried she was not going to survive; but over a  week later she is  still tiny but has a strong bleat on her and is full of fun. ...

We are thrilled to announce that we have had the first of our Whitebred Shorthorn cows give birth this week. ...

Rare Breed Survival Trust Watchlist 2019-2020 CATTLE 1: CRITICAL (Fewer than 150) Albion = The Chillingham Wild Cattle + Dairy Shorthorn (Original Population) + Northern Dairy Shorthorn = Vaynol 2: ENDANGERED (150 to 250) + Native Aberdeen Angus 3: VULNERABLE (250 to 450) + Lincoln Red (Original Population) + Whitebred Shorthorn (Cragend Farm has 3 cows due to calf sho ...

Spring is here at Cragend Farm with daffodils in abundance and lambs being born. ...

Cragend Farm Breeding Programme for Rare Breeds The Whitebred Shorthorn cows are pregnant and have a gestation period of 8 months. We used an A.I. (Artificial Insemination) programme as they are a rare breed. Hopefully we will be calving 3 calves in mid-May 2019. ...

Our cows are pregnant and due to give birth in May, and our sheep have already started lambing, with the current total being 2 ewe lambs and 2 ram lambs. ...

Lambing We have a small flock of Park Type Cheviot Sheep and with the help of our 3 rams we are hoping for a successful lambing season this year. Lambing starts in earnest towards the middle of April with the gestation period for sheep being approximately 21 weeks (152 days). ...

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