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Merry Christmas! 2019 has been an amazing year at Cragend Farm. Our holiday accommodation business is up and running and we now have a flock of Cheviot sheep and a small herd of Rare Breed Whitebred Shorthorn cattle to look after as well as our chickens, peacocks and dogs. Our new arrival, Dax, a Border Collie dog, is now 1 year old, and training to be our trusty sheep do ...

Booking is now open for 2020 at Cragend Farm! Booking availability for East Cottage Short Breaks off-peak (4 days min) Friday-Friday weekly rates £500-£800 B&B in 'The Armstrong Wing' & 'The West Room' £128 p.n. Please ask for availability and rates before booking. ...

Booking available for East Cottage from 25th October for short breaks of 4 days or more. Dog Friendly Country walks Cosy Fire. Eco-friendly ...

Well Hello Dolly! This is Dolly, a rescue dog who came to visit us with her owners from Liverpool. She used to live with an elderly lady and has now been re-homed. She was a very sweet girl, and great at posing for a photo once she saw the treat on my knee! Apparently she has her hair done every 9 weeks and she much prefers this style to others she has had in the past! ...

This is Orla a gorgeous labrador from Surrey who came to stay with her owners this week. She is a wonder dog as she had to have a blood transfusion to save her life when she was 2 - she is now 6! She was very much at home @cragend and we thought we might have to kidnap her so she would stay! Her owners were visiting a relative @PortofBlyth @Maersk # dogfriendly ...

The Renwick & Geddes family #team doing some Historic Buildings #volunteer work @cragend @Historic_Houses @JohnDeere  helping us to remove the RSJ from the Silo. It had been used to secure the turbine with straps whilst we repaired the floors. ...

Last minute availability is often found by using Google and finding out if we have had a last minute cancellation and can fit in a guest at short notice. Use your search engine to find us and we may be able to help you. The Armstrong Wing sleeps a couple or a family of four and has ensuite bath and shower room. The West Room sleeps a couple  and has ensuite shower room. ...

This is George, a splendid Working Cocker Spaniel who came to stay with his owners from Yorkshire. They stayed in The Armstrong Wing which has its own outside door making it so easy to go for walks around the farm,  day and night. ...

This is the critical moment when we get our cows ready for the artificial insemination programme that will hopefully give us 3 more rare breed whitebred shorthorn cattle. Our Breeding programme is in its 2nd year and we are hoping that our beautiful girls will be pregnant and calf in May 2020. ...

Family Accommodation During the holiday's we are happy to have families of 4 in The Armstrong Wing. It is a large room with ensuite bath ands shower, and we can make sure you are all together rather than being split into two rooms, as in most hotels.  Family breakfast with lots of fruit in season and cereals, and full English for those wanting a great start to their day! C ...

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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