Centuries of farming have created the characteristic landscape of the Yorkshire Dales, defined by an intricate pattern of dry stone walls and field barns that cover the valley floors and hillsides. These structures are a legacy of upland hill farming and resulted in a unique historic landscape. Over 6,000 field barns were built between 1750-1850 to house cattle and store hay. National and EU agricultural policies and conservation schemes now provide grants to farmers to maintain the traditional farming methods and features that shaped the landscape. Environmental Stewardship and other schemes aim to protect the environment while supporting farmers financially to conserve walls, barns and meadows in the Dales.

1. Farming in the Yorkshire Dales “ Centuries of farming have created the characteristic landscape of the Dales” Swaledale in summer

2. Gordale two weeks ago….

3. Lynchets Evidence of cultivation in the past

4. followed by enclosure ……. Dry stone walls are an essential and much admired feature of the Yorkshire Dales landscape

5. Dry stone walls are a classic characteristic of the Dales landscape. They provide 7,500 km of field boundary. The National Park Authority undertook a sampling survey in 1991 which showed that 30 per cent of dry stone field boundary walling in the National Park was suffering severe neglect. The National Park Authority operates conservation schemes that extend to walls. The Barns and Walls Conservation Scheme has paid 80 per cent grant to support work on 10 per cent of established walling need in some areas of the National Park. Other schemes also include grants for walling: The Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme provides a grant of £14 per metre for walling on some 28,000 ha of land within the National Park whilst the Countryside Stewardship Scheme offers grants at £12 per metre.

6. Field barns in Swaledale

8. The defining characteristic of the Yorkshire Dales for many, is the intricate pattern of stone walls and field barns that leave no part of the valley floors and sides untouched. These are the legacy of upland hill farming which has formed a unique historic landscape. The barns were built in hay meadows , to house the annual crop. Cattle were then kept in the byre end of the barns over the winter months and fed on the hay, their manure being used to fertilise the hay-meadow to ensure a good crop the next year. And so the cycle continued year after year. This proved a more efficient way of farming than centralising it at the farmstead. A farm may have had up to ten barns in the fields and many farmers can still remember having to go to each twice daily to water the cows. The majority of the field barns were built between 1750 and 1850, although they continued to be built through the first decades of this century. A conservative guess of the number of field barns in the Yorkshire Dales must exceed 6,000 .

9. Valley floor meadow in summer High biodiversity

11. Redundant barns

12. … now a National Trust property

13. Cattle now overwinter in the farmsteads

14. Swaledales Dalesbred Hardy sheep

15. A ‘sheep creep’ or hogget hole

17. Upland Limestone Grassland

19. Pressures on farming in the Dales National and EU Policies (CAP) Tourism CROW Act (60% of YDNP is now access land) Declining livestock prices 30% of YDNP designated for environmental reasons Overhead costs increasing Intensification – more large farms, increased use of chemicals, removal of field boundaries Increase in part-time and seasonal farm work Outmigration of young people

20. Farming in the Dales owes much to national and international policy makers

21. Many parts of the Dales come under ……….

23. And for land outwith ESAs…….. N.B . Since 2005, there are no ‘new’ grants being given under Countryside Stewardship schemes. However, existing agreements still operate.

24. … . from spring 2005 Environmental Stewardship has a number of wide ranging objectives, which include:- Protection of water and soil Prevention of erosion and water pollution Flood management Wildlife conservation Protect archaeological sites and historic features Provide public access to the countryside Conserve rare traditional livestock breeds and varieties Environmental Stewardship is a new agri-environment scheme which provides funding to farmers and other land managers in England who deliver effective environmental management on their land. The scheme is intended to build on the recognised success of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas and Countryside Stewardship Schemes

25. The English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) is the Forestry Commission's suite of grants designed to develop the co-ordinated delivery of public benefits from England's woodlands. Some farmers in the Dales get grant subsidies from the scheme.

26. Over the last 50 years, a move to specialised sheep farming and a decline in cattle farming has led to the growth of rank grasses and a loss of species and structural diversity. The Limestone Country Project aims to restore this diversity on over 1500 hectares of habitat by encouraging farmers to return to mixed farming using traditional breeds of cattle such as Blue Greys and Belted Galloways that can survive the harsh winters living off the rough grasses and do not graze so intensively as sheep. http://www.limestone-country.org.uk

27. Belted Galloways Blue Greys

31. Other responses to change……… As well as supplementing farmers’ income through conservation grant schemes, the agricultural economy of the Dales is maintained in a number of other ways. Diversification Speciality products e.g. Dales lamb and beef and local cheese

32. spotted in Malham Two weeks ago!

33. And finally …..as you prepare for your exam……. www.highergeogblog.blogspot.com