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This is John our very brilliant joiner for the Silo repair work. He has been very helpful in thinking through what has been required for us to get the woodwork right for this historic listed building. He is looking particularly pleased with himself! The joys of working in a 4m x 4m tower. in this photograph, as he stands  on the scaffolding, in between the joist he is try ...

Every summer we have to shear the sheep and this year Shaun was there with his shears again to clip the sheep.  This year we have some video of the action, and although not winning any prizes for speed or fleece, Shaun is very careful and gentle with the sheep in order not to stress them. There is also a cameo appearance by Dax our new sheep dog. ...

Artefacts found: The clearing out of the Silo continues as the repair work starts in earnest. These items were amongst many found whilst clearing out the window on the south side. Over the years it had been stuffed with barbed wire and metal, we thought, as a way to stop the animals (sheep, cows) getting to close to this window, but once we started to clear the larger debris, ...

Dog Friendly Accommodation this summer East Cottage sleeps 4 and has plenty of beautiful views of the surrounding countryside in Northumberland. Dog Friendly self-catering accommodation  with plenty of walks on and  around the f arm. Cragside National Trust property is near by, as is Wallington House, Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle and Belsay Castle. The Armstrong Wing ...

Rhododendrons at Cragside National Trust Property The Rhododendrons are still flowering at Cragside in Rothbury Northumberland and we have Bed and Breakfast rooms available for those wishing to walk or drive to see them. Stay at Cragend Grange, once part of the Cragside Estate and enjoy a relaxing visit with added information and history. ...

The floor boards  The top floor of the Silo Tower was rotten, with wood worm, water damaged and falling apart, and we removed what was left of it, to replace it with new joists and floor boards. The scaffolding now has to be removed to the lower level so we can start to replace the second floor. When the rain finally stops work will resume. ...

Ben and Tia came to visit with their owners from Scotland for a few days, and they loved all the walks at Cragend Farm. It was tricky to get them to slow down to get a photograph for the Rogues Gallery but we just about managed it. ...

Our thanks to Marjorie Davy, who suggested we plant this - Cerinthe Major or Honeywort. The bees love it and it has the most beautiful delicate colour of green and blue grey in the garden. It is a Mediterranean plant originally and likes a sunny spot. ...

Work has started to replace the joists in the Silo Tower at Cragend Farm. They are 4.3m long (14 feet x 11 inches x 4 inches imperial) long, heavy wooden beams to support the floors. There are 11 on each floor. Above you can also see the inside of the roof that was replaced in 2012. Our thanks to the Historic Houses Foundation for all their support. ...

Hard Graft - but worth it! It took 50 yellow buckets of debris (mainly pigeon poo and rotten wood) to fill the tractor bucket. Each bucket took 20 pulls on the rope to hoist it from the ba se of the Silo Tower to the maine entrance. Shaun dug out all the muck and Lou pulled the bucket to the surface and emptied it into the bucket. We had 2 tractor buckets full of metal, 4 of ...

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.

Award Winning Accommodation