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In September we hosted Heritage Open Days for people to come and visit the farm and see its heritage, its links to Cragside and to have a private visit to The Silo which is Grade II* and a Building at Risk. The visits comprised of a two hour tour of the farm and lots of information about the history of its many owners over the years, with exclusive access to the two turbines ...

In August we had the fields cut for hay. While we were doing this we decided to plant a new tree as part of our planting scheme. Thank you to Oscar Aspey (my godson) for his digging efforts as we now have a young oak tree in the newly fenced 'Oak Tree Field'. We hope that in years to come this tree will prosper and grow giving our landscape an ongoing tree line. If anyone is ...

Book your holiday and stay near the Northumberland coast, on a local Rothbury farm with character and history. Cragend Grange has two B&B  rooms and a holiday cottage that sleeps 4 adults. 01669-621533 for details. ...

Cragend Farm has been in existence since the 16th century. Now records from the Duke of Northumberland's Archives reveal that Lord William Armstrong of Cragside bought Cragend Farm from the Duke in 1874 with a view to making a model farm for his prize cattle. In 2011 Shaun & Lou Renwick bought the farm from the Armstrong Family and have spent the following years renovatin ...

Bed & Breakfast in style at Cragend Grange this summer with a large ensuite room, Super King size bed, sofa and TV, free WIFI, large bathroom with bath, shower and a view of our newly finished courtyard. Prices range from £100-£160 off peak/on peak and if you are travelling as a couple, for business or as a family of four. Breakfast is included. Situated on the Cragside E ...

We were thrilled to have Dexter and his owners to stay last week. Dexter is 10 months old and a beautiful Rhodesian Ridgeback who made our labrador look tiny. He had some gorgeous runs on the beach and in our fields. ...

Countryside Stewardship Scheme 2018 We have spent the summer putting in 1600m of fencing as part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme using a Wrag Post knocker and some muscle power - thanks to Shaun! Our special thanks goes to Roger Kagan who has been the backbone of this process. This will mean we can do rotational grazing and also give the wildlife at Cragend Farm somew ...

Experience  Cragend Farm is linked to Cragside, The National Trust Property, literally by steel pipes joining the Blackburn reservoir to the farm buildings. When you book a holiday in Northumberland and stay at Cragend Farm, you are able to explore the history of the Armstrong family, who aslo have a castle at Bamburgh. ...

Tilly and Wynn came to stay with their fabulous owners on what has been one of the sunniest weeks so far this year. Simon, Rhys and Linda have been looking at gardens in Northumberland and visiting castles and beaches. There certainly are plenty of those to visit in this amazing county. ...

We go to our wildlife pond nearly every day and see something new. Our boys had a friend to stay and we went for a walk there and saw hundreds on tiny frogs leaping about. The boys were amazed that there were so many. We are pleased that they all survived the cold winter as the spawn had been frozen, and also the heron and visiting geese who think tiny frogs are a tasty treat! ...

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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