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This fabulous fellow is Gibson, who came to stay with his owners over the May Bank Holiday weekend.  It was their 1st wedding anniversary, and we wish them very many more! Our Rogues Gallery is a place on our Blog to show off some of the splendid dogs who bring their owners to stay at Cragend Grange. ...

This photograph is of James and George Thompson who lived at Cragend Farm. Their parents were tenants of Lord Armstrong of Cragside.  It was taken in 1921. The hay cart would have been driven onto the weighbridge to be weighed, and then the hay stored wither in the Dutch Barn or inside in the main barn. We have many horseshoes left over from this period when the heavy horses di ...

The weather is now relatively frost free as we are in May so we have started pointing again. We have to chip and scrape out the old mortar (and concrete) and replace it with a lime mortar mix which should stand the building in good stead for another 100 years or so. We are about half way around the main barns. ...

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 ...

Not a pretty picture but it demonstrates well the debris in the main Silo Tower at Cragend Farm.  The Gilkes Turbine is being suspended by rotten floor joists and being held up by its own pipework at the present moment. ...

Minecraft Virtual Tour In 2011 we set about starting to repair the slate roof of the Grade II* listed Silo on Cragend Farm. That work has been completed and the roof is water tight now. We have now received some funding from The Country Houses Foundation to continue that work with some interior repairs to floors and stairs. With this in mind we commissioned Jake, our son, ...

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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