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Walkers on Simonside brought their lovely Bull Terrriers Freya and Amber to stay after a long walk in the Northumberland Hills. They were gorgeous! ...

It takes time to cook - everyone knows that but in all our busy days there is always a moment when something made from scratch can give everyone huge pleasure. Nettle Soup with Home Made Bread. Homemade bread made with 1kg flour, some yeast, sugar and salt, left to rise for an hour and then placed into tins for another hour, before cooking for 25 minutes until golden brown. D ...

Northumberland Day will be on 28th May 2017. Come and visit us and see our Northumberland Heritage. The Grade II* listed Silo Tower built by Lord Armstrong of Cragside. ...

Wildlife on The River Coquet Whilst walking with some friends along the River Coquet we saw a Barn Owl in broad daylight. A beautiful creature that swooped and flew right over us. Despite the present it left Hannah with it was a great thing to see - and anyway it is said to bring good luck! Well done Hannah for being so stoic! ...

Come and walk in the beautiful Northumberland Countryside with some surprising and exciting walks at Cragend Farm, like this one that takes you over the Black Burn. ...

If we manage to snap these lovable rogues we are thrilled to have them as part of our growing Rogues Gallery of dog owning holiday guests. If you catch them in action even better. This mighty chap is called Gaspode and he stayed at East Cottage with his owners over Easter. He was very much part of the family by the time they had to leave and so we have nominated his picture as ...

We offer a good selection of Breakfast options: A wide range of cereals and fruit, with yoghurt. Fruit Juice Tea and Coffee. Home Free range Eggs, Bacon, Sausages, Mushrooms and Tomatoes. Gluten Free and Dairy free options on request. In season we provide home grown produce and preserves. ...

Easter is a time for Hot Cross Buns and we have had a fair few over the past weeks for breakfast. We offer a good selection of Breakfast options: A wide range of cereals and fruit, with yoghurt. Fruit Juice Tea and Coffee. Home Free range Eggs, Bacon, Sausages, Mushrooms and Tomatoes. Gluten Free and Dairy free options on request. In season we provide home grown produce ...

Landscaping the area by the Weighbridge. It is 6 years since we first unearthed the workings of the weighbridge and this spring we have been working on clearing the area of rubble and rubbish to make the exterior of the buildings tidy. We are sowing some grass seed and hopefully this summer we will be able to play quoits on this stretch near the Silo. ...

A Taste of Italy We are looking forward to next Wednesday when Mary Wilkins hosts 'A Taste of Italy' Demo & Dine Lunch at Cragend Grange. Preparations are being made to make sure everything is ready for all our guests. Pasta making and Italian wine tasting, along with many other delicious flavours of Italy. To book your place contact www.marywilkinscookery.co.uk or call Lo ...

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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