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Cragend Farm Breeding Programme for Rare Breeds The Whitebred Shorthorn cows are pregnant and have a gestation period of 8 months. We used an A.I. (Artificial Insemination) programme as they are a rare breed. Hopefully we will be calving 3 calves in mid-May 2019. ...

The Country Houses Foundation: The Cragend Silo has been under the close scrutiny of The Country Houses Foundation for the past year, with a visit from their committee last July where we showed them around the farm, and gave them information on the buildings and machinery. We are thrilled to announce that they have offered us a grant to help us repair the stairs and floors o ...

Our cows are pregnant and due to give birth in May, and our sheep have already started lambing, with the current total being 2 ewe lambs and 2 ram lambs. ...

Lambing We have a small flock of Park Type Cheviot Sheep and with the help of our 3 rams we are hoping for a successful lambing season this year. Lambing starts in earnest towards the middle of April with the gestation period for sheep being approximately 21 weeks (152 days). ...

Brexit Bookings Brexit is not stopping us looking forward beyond 29th March 2019 and offering the best Bed and Breakfast and holiday cottage accommodation for European and International travellers alike. There is a strong booking trend within Great Britain despite the media coverage, with many people within the United Kingdom wanting to book accommodation in England. With Sc ...

This is Olive a beautiful Beagle Poodle cross who came to stay with her lovely owners over Half-Term. They visited Warkworth Castle, Cragside and the coast during their three day stay. ...

We have a puppy called Dax. He is a Border Collie and will be our new sheepdog, when he is old enough. We will start training him in dog manners straight away but the sheep dog training doesnt start until he is at least 6 months old. ...

THERE ARE PLENTY OF PLACES TO CHOOSE FROM TO EAT IN NORTHUMBERLAND IF YOU ARE PLANNING A VISIT STARTING WITH A TASTY BREAKFAST AT CRAGEND FARM. On sunny days our courtyard is a great place to relax with a cup of tea or a glass of wine. If you want to eat locally we recommend the following as there are plenty of Pubs and Restaurants in Rothbury and in nearby villages and towns, ...

Rothbury Registers 1663-1664 This is taken from the Rothbury Registers at Newcastle Library, showing a great many local names, and listing one Baptism in February at Crag End of Geo fil. Robt.Lighton. More great history about the farm as it shows that people where living here in the 1600's. ...

Hand made furnishings at Cragend Grange and East Cottage: The blinds, bedcovers and curtains are all handmade, with the cushions by local cushion maker Velvet Thistle. Fabrics are mainly William Morris or Vanessa Arbuthnot. ...

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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