Land Registry

Land Registry details have been updated with a new title number, but they managed to get part of my home address incorrect, so that'll need changing.

Down at the meadow, the twiggier branches of the overhanging willows went through the shredder - over a tonne done so far.
The A-road alongside has a couple of underpasses - one for an established old track-way / footpath and ditch to the east and another at the west from when the land was a much larger meadow alongside the river until the road was constructed in the 1980s. Every now and then it looks like a few kids hang about in the underpasses and yesterday sometime they've pulled a few of the neighbouring fence rails off to make a bench in the underpass. Whether it's part of the same group or not, halfway along the west boundary where I'd cut back some nettles, thistles, docks and long patchy grass - some cheeky sod had discarded a condom and it's wrapper - potentially a problem for when there may be grazing animals on the land.

I finished the evening off with a few buckets of crushed limestone put into pot-holes on the trackway.

Orchard?

Back home after a relaxed weekend down south in scorching sunshine.
The main purpose was an Orchard planning course organised from the Orangepippin website. It was a course of good information and structure and some handy practical exercises too.
Although I'm going to try a small / discrete 'naturalistic' orchard with heritage varieties and experimental hybrids, the ability of apple trees to survive some standing water in the dormant winter months during river floods will be a test. (The 'bargain' fruit trees from Wilkinsons will be the first to go in to see how they cope).

Driving long distances, I can't help but cast an eye over the landscape as I go. At Ashford, one village had a community woodland of old trees and some recent plantings and information boards. Between Oxford and Banbury, the M40 had carved through a few fields leaving odd field parcels not unlike the one I'm now custodian of. Near Stafford there were interesting similarities and contrasts in the low-lying land - a smaller water-course, but looking as if the land is wetter for longer periods through the year.
The soil here at Farndon is far from waterlogged and mature trees and hedgerows would suggest the seasonal winter floods aren't too much of a detriment.

clearing

Being as the purchase 'completion' had been quite prompt (13 days from the hammer falling at auction) I've made some headway at clearing around the north boundary fence that is against a main road (approx 150 metres long).
This is massively overgrown on the other side of the fence with self-set willows in a culvert and overhanging and growing through the fencing with large areas of nettles and weeds.
As the fencing needs repairing, I went into the nettles with a brush cutter and also took a few of the lower overhanging branches out the last few afternoons.

make hay while the sun shines...

After a weekend away (ironically stopping at Frampton Court overlooking a vast fine meadow beneath my room window), I went down to the meadow and had missed two fields up being mown and baled over the weekend - would have been handy if they'd have been interested in some extra acreage this year (I'd let the previous owner know too that I'd be happy for someone to take the crop away).

fencing and bills

I had the fencing order delivered to home, as it'll take a while to put it all in. I also gave the gate and posts an extra dose of darker wood preservative to help it 'blend in' a bit better.

The Solicitor's bill arrived in the post, so a stroll into Chester to pay that and a relaxed long light lunch looking up a bit more info on small woodland and conservation scheme planting on the WiFi in the cafe.

behind the scenes

A letter from the Solicitors regarding a breakdown of their fees and charges and an email sent to The Forestry Commission regarding the English Woodland Grant Scheme (worth a try for the proposed small copse at the east boundary). I also enquired about opportunities for Black Poplar and integration with any local BAPs (biodiversity action plans).
It would be handy if I could utilise a fair amount of the young trees I have at home as a nursery stock and ultimately small scale coppicing. I also have several black poplar saplings and young trees to put as specimens in the meadow.
With the heatwave we are having at the moment, the trees in pots at home are getting some additional watering every other evening.

field visit and workscopes

A check-up on measurements down at the field and a load of post and rail fencing ordered for patching up and making live-stock proof, together with a new gate and posts from Ringwood Fencing.

Natural England phoned in response to last week's email query about land designation and neighbouring an SSSI area. Although of biodiversity interest in it's present state, the relatively small size of the field would tend to exclude them from any influence on appropriate 'agricultural' activities on the land.

I made some enquiries locally about taking a hay-crop off - although a bit short notice and the number of machine operations involved would make it costly. Due to a high concentration of buttercups and docks and a few thistle patches, I'll probably end up topping it this year.

more legalities

Back to the Solicitors to pay the final balance on the land and to sign the Land Registry Transfer documents.

The NFU Mutual 'land away' scheme would seem best suited for public liability cover...

Legalities

After paying a 10% deposit at last night's auction, it was round to Ellis & Co. Solicitors by Chester Castle, to progress the purchase legalities, give formal I.D. and go through the sales contract.

I also looked into the important area of Public Liability Insurance. From the web, the most appropriate seems to narrow down to Rural Arbor Products or NFU Mutual and their 'land away' addition to a household policy.

Sold...

Thursday evening was spent at the property auction. For nearly a week I'd been going over the sales and legal details and DEFRA and Natural England designations of a small agricultural plot and a few site visits.
By a couple of weeks time from now, contracts will have been exchanged and I'll become custodian of 0.83 ha (2 acres) of traditional lowland meadow. Cheap (relatively), because it's part of the River Dee flood plain - interesting in it's present form (a triangular slice of a previously much larger meadow, annexed by a mid 1980s road bypass scheme).

From June 2010

Of particular interest to me, is that it's potentially ideal habitat for planting up a few of the relatively rare black poplar trees, yet still remaining large enough and useful for grazing / hay and with bio-diversely rich hedgerows (mainly hawthorn, with bramble, blackthorn, dog-rose and 10 large ash trees). A shadier narrow eastern side could be ideal for a small native species copse and room for a small experimental orchard wouldn't be too much out of place.
The other side of the east boundary has the Long Distance Path The Marches Way.
Near-by there is a small ruined castle, a mediaeval bridge across the River Dee to Wales and across the fields, the site of a Roman Villa...
An hour and a half after hammer-fall, I dropped by on the way home and a middle aged couple had parked up on the access track and part way up the hedgerow had set up a picnic rug!

For Sale

I've made a few diversions on my travels recently, to nosey at a small meadow that has come up for sale...

From June 2010

Part of an originally larger flood-plain carved up by a raised section of by-pass. No chance of building potential at all, but interesting from a conservation and biodiversity aspect (surrounded on 3 sides by Natural England's SSSI designation, it is part of the River Dee flood-plain and hasn't been intensively managed in living memory). A few evenings this week spent researching traditional meadow management (and black-poplar reintroduction) and the various administrative hurdles in agricultural land stewardship.