Lower Sharpham Farm
River Dart Osprey Breeding Project
South Devon National Landscape
Follaton House, Plymouth Road,
Totnes TQ9 5NE
River Dart Osprey Breeding Project
Farm/site name: Lower Sharpham Farm
Town/ward: Ashprington
Description: Build and install 4 artificial osprey nest platforms on the Sharpham Estate (2 at Lower Sharpham and 2 at the main House), to attract nesting pairs. An additional nesting site will be installed at ground level as a training/teaching aid for community groups including United Response (adults with learning difficulties). Additional equipment is for installation and monitoring.
Items funded:
5 x Osprey Artificial Nest base plates; ladder to access nests; Ladder safety training for 3; 6 x Binoculars; Educational Access visits x 3
Grant awarded: £4719.43
Project value: £ –
Start date: May 2024
End date: Jan 2025
Ashprington Point Linhay restoration
Farm/site name: The Sharpham Trust
Town/ward: Ashprington
Description:
Architect fees for the Linhay at Ashprington point to allow for a larger restoration project.
Items funded:
Management plan for roof works, preparation of schedule of work, and drawings and detailing of repairs.
Grant awarded: £4740
Project value: £4740
Start date: April 2024
End date: Jan 25
Bird Survey Report
Farm/site name: Carswell Farm
Town/ward: Noss Mayo
Description:
Funding for four rounds of bird surveys (two in spring and two in winter) to create a winter report. A press release will be created to share the results of the report and how conservation practices have complimented a successful organic dairy business.
Items funded:
Ecologists time (16 days plus report writing) and press release.
Grant awarded: £8,365.20
Project value: : £9,858
Start date: April 2024
End date: October 2025
Bowden Reservoir Sunken Walled Garden
Farm/site name: Bowden Springs Farm
Town/ward: Totnes
Description:
Work to repurpose a roofed reservoir into a sunken walled garden for community use.
Items Funded:
Removal of reservoir roof, crushing of concrete in base of reservoir, and topping with soil once drainage has been installed.
Grant awarded: £32,592
Project value: £46,560
Start date: May 2024
End date: Sept 2024
Bolt Tail Archaeological investigation
Farm/Site name: South Devon National Landscape
Town/village: Hope Cove
Description:
A community archaeological excavation on Bolt Tail Promontory Fort supervised by trained archaeologists to investigate 2 erosion scars across the ramparts on the scheduled monument – to ensure uncontrolled erosion does not lead to the loss of heritage artefacts. Any finds will be recorded, and stored in Plymouth museum. The sites will then be stabilised to avoid further erosion.
Items funded: Costs largely are to cover the time of the trained archaeologists.
Grant awarded: £13,716
Project value: £17,605
Start date: April 2024
End date: June 2024
Eco camping improvements Project
Farm/site name: Woodhouse Farm
Town/ward: West Charleton
Description:
Improving facilities on a pop-up campsite to attract more visitors to a stunning location, which provides affordable, accessible, and sustainable accommodation for all.
Items funded:
Bell tents with ground mats, off-grid shower unit, and composting toilet.
Grant awarded: £3,065.20
Project value: £5,358
Start date: May 2024
End date: July 2024
Composting Toilets for the Vineyards
Farm/site name: Bantham Estate
Town/ward: Bantham
Description: Composting toilets provide essential hygiene facilities for vineyard workers and visitors, with no alternatives available nearby.
Items funded:
2 X composting toilets.
Grant awarded: £1,595
Project value: £3,190
Start date: July 2024
End date: Sept 2024
Beach friendly wheelchair for disabled users
Farm/site name : Bantham Estate
Town/ward: Bantham
Description:
Wheelchair purchased with large wide tyres, which will allow all visitors to enjoy Bantham beach, where the wheelchair will be held. The wheelchair’s unique wheels will allow the user to travel over soft sands easily. The equipment is free to use.
Items funded:
1 X specialised wheelchair
Grant awarded: £1,624.32
Project value: £1,804.80
Start date: July 2024
End date: Sept 2024
Invasive Species Control Programme
Farm/site name: YEM Wildlife Group
Town/ward: Yealm catchment area
Description:
Invasive non-native species (INNS) control – a pilot for a five-year programme to control the spread of Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed, Skunk Cabbage and other INNS along the length of the river Yealm, from Dartmoor to the Estuary.
Items funded:
Funding will allow Parklife (an ecological contractor) to supervise volunteer groups for 9 pulling days.
Grant awarded: £3,600
Project value: £3,600
Start date: May 2024
End date: August 2024
Habitat creation and water infrastructure project
Farm/site name: Holsome Park
Town/ward name: Diptford – Beesands
Description:
Improving the water and grazing infrastructure on the coastal grassland to allow wildflowers to flourish. Habitat improvements in an area of wetland. The installation of water infrastructure on a new parcel of pasture, to allow herbal leys to be properly managed.
Items Funded:
Coppicing, hedge bank restoration, gapping up, fencing, bankside trees, troughs, pipework, gateways, and two days excavation.
Grant awarded: £20,308.91
Project value: £21,007.91
Start date: April 2024
End date: Dec 2024
Orchard maintenance, wildflower project and display boards.
Farm/site name: Hunts Cider
Location: Stoke Gabriel
Description:
Project providing essential equipment to allow Hunts cider to manage local commercial orchards in a sustainable manor. The equipment will be available for other farmers to use, and its hoped other farmers in South Devon will install commercial orchards – to provide a sustainable income, but also valuable habitat. Reversing the trend whereby 95% of orchards across South Devon have been lost over the last century
Items funded:
Orchard maintenance / harvesting equipment, display boards and Wildflower Project
Grant awarded: £18,161.63
Project value: £33,501.23
Start date: May 2024
End date: Nov 2024
Trailer and commercial kitchen to allow “farm to fork” engagement.
Farm/site name: South Devon Food Hub
Town/ward: Aish, Totnes
Description:
A Farm to Fork project, allowing the public to engage in the process of creating food. From excursions on the pedestrian trailer, to engaging with the local processors on site, as well as allowing visitors to utilise the commercial kitchen to produce food from raw ingredients. The commercial kitchen and pedestrian trailer will also be a valuable tool for our processors when engaging with customers – both wholesale and the wider public.
Items funded:
Pedestrian Trailer and installation of new commercial kitchen.
Grant awarded: £31,473.48
Project value: £63,489.90
Start date: June 2024
End date: Dec 2024
Farming on the Edge, Food at its Heart
Farm/site name: Mount Folly Farm
Town/Ward: Bigbury
Description:
Creation of on-farm micro dairy (20-30 cows) to provide a separate enterprise for the next generation; and increase the resilience of the organic farm which is a key vegetable producer for Riverford. Milk products will be processed into high value products to add value – including ice cream and milkshakes from vending machines. Farm to Fork transparency is a key part of the project.
Items funded:
On-farm micro dairy, processing equipment, vending machines, soil analysis, farm walks, interpretation signage and social media coverage, water troughs and pipework, flower seed.
Grant awarded: £111,611.32
Project value: £263,715.52
Start date: June 2024
End date: March 2025
Point Field Linhay Restoration
Farm/site name: The Sharpham Trust
Town/Ward: Ashprington
Description:
Restoration of a Devon Bank Linhay located in an important visual setting overlooking the River Dart and adjacent to the historic Sharpham Park. The project has been developed and endorsed in collaboration with the South Hams Heritage planning officers.
Items Funded:
Trees and tree guards; pollarding of trees, reinstating track of access; re-roofing and restoring barn, field gates.
Grant awarded: £91,192.85
Project value: £117,345.82
Start date: Sept 2024
End date: Jan 2025
Countryside Access Improvements
Farm/site name: National Trust
Town/Ward: East Soar
Description:
A series of projects to improve both physical access and visitors enjoyment of the more accessible sites around the South Devon Countryside Area.
Items funded:
This includes easy-use trombone latches for pedestrian gates, oak pedestrian gates, 2 bespoke Viewpoint benches, Bespoke Aircraft bench, Accessible picnic benches, and resurfacing 310m of the Bolberry Down accessible path.
Grant awarded: £6,052
Project value: £7,565
Start date: August 2024
End date: Nov 2024
Footpath Access & Sheep Fencing
Farm/site name: R&D Rossiter
Town/Ward: Hope Cove
Description: Protection of lambing sheep from dog hassling along a footpath with a high footfall as a result of the honey pot location; whilst improving the access of the path through the provision of a wide pathway with fewer gateways. Allowing the public and livestock to coexist.
Items Funded:
Fencing FG2 totalling 1500m including the removal of 5 gateways along the path and 9 substitute gateways installed for field access, and the installation of 20 shelterbelt trees.
Grant awarded: £23,912.15
Project value: £35,645.56
Start date: Sept 2024
End date: Oct 2024
Grade ii listed barn restoration project
Farm/site name: A&L Farming
Town/Ward: South Pool
Description:
Safeguard and weatherproof the existing barn structure and repair as much of the existing roof structure as possible within the period and budget of the grant funding. The roof has been collapsing in recent years at an alarming rate, and if action is not taken the barn will collapse due to weather exposure.
Items funded:
Building repairs predominantly consisting of 4.5months of building fees, and a complex external and internal temporary scaffolding frame.
Grant awarded: £280,000
Project value: £360,000
Start date: May 2024
End date: March 2025
Orchard Restoration and FEC Equipment
Farm/site name: Ramsland Farm
Town/Ward: Yealmpton
Description:
1; The restoration of Traditional Orchard at Ramsland Farm. Work will include the planting of 30 fruit trees and a further 10 grafted rootstocks.
2; The purchase of a FEC Kit & training to reduce anthelmintic resistance being built up in livestock parasites at Ramsland Farm.
Items funded:
cactus guards x80, spiral guards x 40, FEC Kit x 1, FEC training, tree stakes x 40, tree ties x 40.
Grant awarded: £2,996.60
Project value: £3.086.60
Start date: Feb 2025
End date: March 2025
Strengthening connections between citizens, nature and food production in and adjacent to the South Devon National Landscape.
Farm/site name: Food in Community CIC
Town/Ward: Farms across South Devon and outlets in Totnes
Description:
Description: Provision of equipment to allow more efficient processing of vegetables for community pay what you feel café. In addition funds will engage recipients of food parcels in gleaning events, and understand the benefits of organic vegetable production for soils.
Items Funded:
Events; Soil Food Web staff training; Veg prep machine; Stainless steel table with upstand x2; Mini Microscope for field work; Stereo Microscope; Araven Polypropylene Gastronorm; Food storage Containers; 6 months Rent on additional room for produce prep; Small equipment (hand lenses, quadrats, identification books).
Grant awarded: £8,817.69
Project value: £11,022.71
Start date: Sept 2024
End date: March 2025
Improving Soil Structure, reducing erosion, and protecting water quality of Croft Farm and Kingsbridge Estuary
Farm/site name: Croft Farm
Town/Ward: East Charleton
Description:
Cultivation equipment to enable a change of system over 300ha to allow the rapid shallow cultivation of fields in order to reduce runoff and erosion into the Kingsbridge Salcombe Estuary SSSI, aided by the option to rapidly establish catch/cover crops. Agricultural nutrients and erosion being identified as one of the factors contributing to the unfavourable SSSI status.
Items Funded:
Items Funded: 5m Vaderstad Carrier with cross cutter discs for reduced working soil depth; Vaderstad Bio Drill
Grant awarded: £18,290
Project value: £54,000
Start date: August 2024
End date: Oct 2024
Priority Habitat Meadow Restoration Project in collaboration with the Bat Conservation Trust.
Farm/site name: Ramsland Farm
Town/Ward: Holbeton
Description:
Project to restore 26ha of Grassland to a mixture of Rush Pasture Priority Habitat (10.7ha) and Lowland Meadow Priority Habitat (15.3ha). Equipment purchased will help manage the species rich grassland in a manor which will allow the farm to expand the species rich grassland across the farm – ATV bale unroller will allow wildflower hay to be fed out in the winter, in a way which reduces soil erosion/damage.
Items funded:
Rush Pasture and Lowland Meadow Bespoke Seed Mix; Collection & return of flail mower by tractor. Use of Cut & collect flail mower; Use of Power Harrow x 2; Grassland drum rolling x 2; Broadcast seeding. Bale Unroller; 25mm MDPE Water Pipe x 500m; Drag Trough x2; Double cactus Tree Guards x20; £1500 Meadow
Grant awarded: £15,535.82
Project value: £18,159.27
Start date: August 2024
End date: Oct 2024
Ensuring future business resilience by expanding the deer park
Farm/site name: Kingston Farm
Town/Ward: Kingswear
Description:
Provide resilience to the deer enterprise to help support the family farm, by providing funding to expand the operation by another field. This will allow stock to be rotated, reducing the need for medicine use whilst also enhancing the habitat and quality of the landscape through the installation of monteray pines, and providing a location for Devon Rural Skills to practice hedge laying.
Items Funded:
6ft high deer fencing; 158m of hedge laying; 2 x Farm visits; 2 x deer gates 8 x parkland trees (Monterey pines); Interpretation board
Grant awarded: £16,224.04
Project value: £16,266.87
Start date: Sept 2024
End date: March 2025
Biodiversity project and local wildlife and historic land use interpretation at Newlands
Farm/site name: Newlands Farm
Town/Ward: Slapton
Description:
Provision of sites for Devon Rural Skills Trust to undertake hedge laying. The campsite wishes to manage the hedges on site in a more sustainable manor to provide a range of habitats of varying maturity. Signage and nature trail artwork will allow campers to appreciate the nature available from the campsite, and encourage children to appreciate the landscape.
Items Funded:
Hedge Laying; Gapping Up; Dibond Signage; Chalk Board; Signposts and Fixings; Nature Trail and Flora / Fauna Artwork
Grant awarded: £6,044.20
Project value: £6,369.67
Start date: August 2024
End date: March 2025
Habitat Creation and Improved Camp Site Facilities
Farm/site name: Manor Farm
Town/Ward: North Huish
Description:
Create a hedge bank, with a hedge planted on top, fenced each side, between the camping field level part and the hill part of river field. The hedge will follow the route of the original South Brent to Kingsbridge railway line which was closed down and taken up as part of the Beeching cuts in 1963. Installation of 4 owl boxes. We installed 3 boxes in trees in 2022 and 2 are already occupied but we have seen owls around the barns so feel there is a need to make provision within the barns.
Items funded:
hedge bank creation 248m, hedgerow planting 248m, fencing 596m, hedgerow
trees x 10, picnic benches x 2, owl boxes x 4, interpretation panel x 1, wildflower seed 1220m2, gates x 2.
Grant awarded: £16,753.04
Project value: £16,753.04
Start date: Feb 2025
End date: March 2025
Osprey nesting platform
Farm/site name: Slapton Field Centre
Town/Ward: Slapton
Description:
Aid local effort to improve nesting opportunities for osprey. 2 nesting platforms will be constructed on telegraph poles which will be installed in fields overlooking the Ley.
Items Funded:
Osprey nesting platforms X2 Cameras, telegraph poles, timber, screws, digger hire and tractor driver.
Grant awarded: £1000
Project value: £1000
Start date: Feb 2025
End date: March 2025
Stone walling feature and habitat creation
Farm/site name: Hillside Farm
Town/Ward: Tuckenhay
Description:
Supporting Devon Rural Skills Trust through the provision of 3 stone walling sites for the trainees and volunteers to practice the heritage skill. Whilst enhancing the farm habitat.
Items funded:
Gateway stone quoin creation x 2. 10m of bank restoration. Contractor time to move stone for the bank works. 80m of sheep netting to replace the fencing damaged by the quoin installation.
Grant awarded: £3757.02
Project value: £3853.02
Start date: May 2024
End date: Jan 2025
Farm Tours
Farm/site name: South Devon Arable Group
Town/Ward: 8 farms across South Devon
Description:
Study tour for 8 South Devon arable farmers to 2 farms up country. This included a tour of Ed Horton’s farm, a farm which implements many sustainable practices, and allowed an in person follow up to Ed Horton’s South Devon presentation in February.
Items Funded:
Transport funding – 2 drivers at 45p/mile – with each trip being 434 miles; Evening meal for 9 people; Hotel accommodation for 8 individuals (4 twin rooms); Lunch with host farmer Ed Horton for 9 people
Grant awarded: £1,039.81
Project value: £1,197
Start date: June 2024
End date: August 2024
Water security and learning opportunities
Farm/site name: Common Flora
Town/Ward: Diptford
Description:
Lining a 12m x 9.5m x 1m pond, installing pipe to pond for harvested rainwater, refurbishing a yurt to become an outdoor classroom – Diptford school is keen to visit the CIC for educational purposes
Grant awarded: £3,856.54
Project value: £6,427.57
Start date: Oct 2024
End date: March 2025
Living with Nature
Farm/site name: Paignton Zoo
Town/Ward: Paignton
Description:
Establishment of wildflower meadow to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Paignton Zoo, created by Herbert Whitley. A Blue wildflower meadow is to be established to celebrate his life which included the protection of Slapton Ley, and conservation efforts with significant links to the South Devon National Landscape.
Items funded:
1.8kg of Perennial wildflower seed mix (moody blues) over 900m2; Coir logs 2.9m x30cm X10; Chestnut fencing 142 metres; 8 interpretation boards
Grant awarded: £3,019.20
Project value: £3,261.93
Start date: Sept 2024
End date: Jan 2025
