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Welcome to the Cragend Farm blog, where we try to keep you up to date with what is going on on the farm, the B&B, self-catering cottage and anything else we get up to.
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There are accommodation, historical and nature entries cataloguing what has happened in the past.
You can dip into a specific area of interest for example, farming, or Accommodation simply click on the title and open up the blog entry.

 

 

Shortlisted for Find My Past competition Heritage Open Days - Vote for Us! We have been shortlisted as one of 25 national sites for Heritage Open Days. Please vote for us   here. Tickets for this tour so please get your ticket from Eventbrite.  Historic Tour about the Farm of  Lord Armstrong of Cragside , Tours & Events in Northumberland. Book through   Invitati ...

The story behind the nomination. We are thrilled to announce that Cragend Farm is Shortlisted for National Competition Everyday History Heroes 2026 We Need Your Vote!  We are delighted to announce that Cragend Farm has been shortlisted for the prestigious Everyday History Heroes 2026 awards, run by Find my past in association with Heritage Open Days.  Being shortlisted is a ...

BCA Festival 21/22 July 2026 ‘Archaeology and Nature’: Cragend Farm Heritage Site July 2026   The Festival of Archaeology at Cragend Farm is unique because visitors can experience both ‘heritage and the natural landscape’ in the same place. The event demonstrates that archaeology is not just about digging up ancient objects, it is about understanding the long relationship be ...

We're letting our regular visitors know that we're currently developing a new version of our website. Over the coming weeks and months, you may notice some changes as we prepare for the transition to the new site. We have moved the Blog to Substack already.  We wanted to give you advance notice so the switch doesn't come as a surprise. Our aim is to make the experience as smo ...

B&B and Self Catering in northumberland We are a great base in central Northumberland for the coast, Hadrians Wall and Northern Castle's Lindisfarne and Bambugh, to name but a few. Walking cycling and driving from our central point makes you daily travel to each part much easier.  Book now or contact us for availability. ...

We have a new home for out Blog. Please subscribe to get the updates on what we are up to. This is the code but you can just subscribe to Substack a nd look for Cragend Farm - much easier.               <iframe src="https://cragendfarm.substack.com/embed" width="480" height="320" style="border: 1px solid #EEE; background: white" frameborder="0" scrolling="no">< ...

Holiday Availability in Northumberland this summer 2026! We have availability throughout the summer in either The Armstrong Wing or The West Room B&B and East Cottgae our holiday self catering property. We are located right next door to Cragside, 2 miles from the scenic town of Rothbury, with Alnwick and Bamburgh Castle within 20 miles.  Being in Central northumberlan ...

Farmhouse Chic in the heart of Northumberland We have availability in July.  Bed & Breakfast Rothbury Northumberland, The Armstrong Wing Accommodation 2 night minimum stay Book Now Button.  Uncover possibility. Late availability check-in. Two Adults +/or Two children +/or travel cot. Families and Dogs welcome.  Self Catering East Cottage in Rothbury Northumberland sle ...

Substack is the new home of our blog and it can be found here. It will have most of the historic items plus news ones. After 15 years we haev decided to use a digital platform that will be easy to resource for our archive on restoration on the farm. We hope you join us an subscribe.  https://substack.com/profile/159626638-cragend-farm/note/c-288128030?utm_source=substac ...

British Council for Archaeology Festival  21st July 2026 We are having a dig day! We aim to look deeper into the Pre-historic Celtic Camp and the industrial heritage  on this event. Limited Tickets £15 can be purchased in advance here Cragend Farm is an award winning site – winner of the The Custodian Prize 2023 and runner up in the Historic Houses Collections Award 202 ...

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