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The Coquet Valley is renowned for its Dark Skies and a great deal of Northumberland has Dark Sky Status. On a clear dark night we have some amazing views of the stars and sky, and the moon often looks amazing too . Cragend Farm is on the border of the Dark Sky and National Park area. We are 20 miles from Keilder Water where there is an observatory for the earnest astronomer ...

Planting time We have planted the 'hydrangea petiolaris' today, on a north facing wall at the rear of the barns that will climb and give some beautiful flowers in due course. This area will eventually be a west terrace for evening sunshine up until approximately 9pm during the height of summer, and this north wall just falls short of any full sunshine so is ideal for this cli ...

After some days of heavy rain and seeing a great many newts and frogs around the pond, we now have a vast amount of frog spawn. As long as it stays reasonably wet and the water levels do not drop too much we will have a good many tadpoles wiggling around in a few weeks time. The frog spawn makes good eating for the visiting ducks and geese but hopefully there is enough there ...

It has been really exciting to see the wildlife return to area of the farm that were unusable. With the help of a Natural England grant we have made a woodland area. Hares have been sighted there as now is the mating season for them. We are thrilled. Brown Hares graze on vegetation and nibble bark from young trees and bushes. Hares shelter in a 'form', which is simply a shallo ...

I was walking the dogs through our newly planted woodland to the east of the farm, and despite having them with me, I spotted a deer who did not seem at all afraid of us. In recent weeks we have also spotted a stag and several does going from our woodland down to the river. ...

Farm graffitti dating from 1880 to Post-War has been found in the top floor on the  lime plaster of the barns. ...

Our Rogues Gallery is dedicated to visiting dogs who stay at East Cottage and Cragend Grange. Memorable are the Cockerpoo and Labrador who brought their owners for a holiday to name but a few. ...

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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