The new owners of a luxury Cumbrian property, on the market for £1.35million, are set to enjoy the fruits of a major conservation project.
The current owners of Hayton Holme Hall, near Great Asby in the Eden Valley, have recently planted more than 3,000 bulbs, including daffodils, anemones, snowdrops, bluebells and snake’s head fritillary.
In addition, about 1,000 trees have been planted during the last four years near the six-bedroom home, including birch, oak, scots pine and alder.
Hundreds of metres of farmland surround the house and some of the fields have been the subject of a hay meadow restoration scheme, which is paying dividends with 14 different species of grass now growing.
It has all been part of a major managed conservation and environmental landscape project, designed to encourage birds, wildlife and insects and was achieved with the help of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust and the Woodland Trust, as well as the Penrith & District Red Squirrel Group.
“The increase in birdlife on the estate has been dramatic over the past four years – really staggering,” said Nick Elgey, manager at the Penrith office of estate agents Hackney Leigh, who are jointly marketing Hayton Holme Hall with Jackson-Stops.
“There are dippers in the becks that run through the estate and lapwings, curlews, snipe, woodcock and a kingfisher have been spotted.
“Owls are also being seen because of the number of voles. A few years ago, there was no sign of hedgehogs on the estate – now you see them all the time. Hares have moved in and red squirrels are thriving.”
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