Season's greetings
As 2024 draws to a close, we’ve been reflecting on what has been another busy year for the Barnston Estate team.
We wish to thank everyone we have worked with throughout the year for their tireless support.
We have a long-term commitment to enhance the estate, to engage in responsible farming and to nurture wildlife.
It has been an exceptionally busy year for our environmental work and we’ve completed a number of projects.
This includes a month-long environmental project in Churton to slow the flow of water on the Aldford Brook in low-lying wet areas. Work included creating new scrapes, clearing ponds and creating new ones and reprofiling ditches.
We also planted more than 8,500 trees in Farndon along the River Dee in our new woodland creation scheme in partnership with Natural England, Mersey Forest and the Forestry Commission.
We were proud to become the first estate in Cheshire to receive the prestigious Wildlife Farms & Estates Level Two accreditation.
The award is granted to farms and estates that provide evidence of holistic and sustainable environmental, economic and social land management practices and who recognise the multifunctional role of rural business and land use. WFE accreditation is the label of excellence in championing the enhancement of wildlife and biodiversity through independent assessment.
In the last few weeks we have submitted our plans to Cheshire West and Chester Council to transform Churton Hall Farm, one of the most historic properties on the Barnston Estate, in order to give it a new lease of life.
The highlight of the development would be the creation of a care farm to support those with physical and mental challenges. It would be run as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company and would become a community and educational resource.
We’re excited to see how this progresses.
We welcomed a number of new commercial tenants including newlyweds Anna and Felix Roseblade-Shore who opened the brilliant Restaurant 209 at our Top Farm premises in Farndon.
Another two of our tenants won national awards for their work, including Farndon fine art photographer Julie Herbert-Adams and interior design studio Lewis Knox.
We also worked with talented environmental artist Simon O’Rourke who transformed a 250-year-old oak tree, which had to be felled because it was rotten, into a piece of art based on the pheasant in our branding – and who appears on our annual Christmas message.
Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.
