The evening of 15 May saw a 16 strong group of Grasslanders pay a visit to Gadr Farm, near Trelleck, home to Mr Alan Morgan and his family. The farm is a 160 acre holding of traditional livestock rearing pasture, now managed under the Glastir Scheme (Stewardship if you live east of Offa’s Dyke ) which encourages landowners to manage along conservation lines, and which until recently paid grant for educational visits.
Our visit had been billed as a chance to view the fabled Great Crested Newt and, in the many ponds and scrapes which Alan has created on his lower ground, we were able to get close and personal with both the Crested and Common varieties. Sarah Sawyer and Jon Eckert had joined us, bringing pond dipping nets with which to explore the wonders of the deep. On a reconnaissance visit earlier Ursula Williams and I were shown the difference between frogspawn (mounds of tapioca) and toadspawn (long thin strips of jelly with eggs dotted along them, looking like the ammunition some of us once used in cap pistols) The Great Crested was a surprise. Large, dry and scaly like a miniature Komodo Dragon, lying up in a “newt hotel” which Alan had built for the purpose. This was simply a pile of short cordwood stacked on dry land which gradually disintegrates, making ideal habitat for amphibians.
Hedge planting and hedge laying were all part of the great plan. Coppicing and pollarding of willows as well as the provision of owl nestboxes which had recently been tenanted by Tawnies were all included. One field of poorer pasture had been converted to woodland by planting mainly ash, with aspen, rowan, spindle and shrubby plants at the ride-sides.
Part of the holding consists of ancient woodland on the steep hillside that overlooks the farm. Here we saw a wealth of early purple orchids and some patches of herb paris, which most take to be an indicator of ancient woodland.
Alan had cleared a “coupe” within the wood to encourage coppice growth, and to protect the young regrowth from deer browsing had constructed an impressive “dead hedge”, a wall of dead branches and cut hazel which costs less than a 6ft deer fence but often fails to “do the business.” Alan’s Great Wall of China seemed to be very effective.
With Glastir grants and livestock sales forming the staple of the farm’s income, other sources are needed for a holding of this size, and Alan meets this need with a firewood business. Some timber is taken from the woodland but the bulk is brought in 20 tonne loads from a local timber merchant. This seasons for a while before being logged, split and delivered to local clients. Ingenuity and enthusiasm seem to be the hallmarks of management at Gadr Farm. We were therefore not surprised to find the owner among the conservation award winners at the Monmouthshire Show this year.