So what is Natures Rest Collective?

Natures Rest Collective is, to all intents and purposes more akin to a private nature reserve than a small holding or farm, and as the name suggests its a collection of entities that come together to the benefit of all.

So we've combined ecological land management with artisan small-batch food production and eco tourism. And as we believe the story is still being written at Natures Rest Collective, this is just the beginning of an amazing journey which we invite you to come and stay at and experience a little bit its magic.

The land had received very little commercial input since the second world war when it was drained by prisoners of war with traditional faggot drains to enable the growing of corn. Since then it has gradually, to a certain extent been allowed to re-wild by the previous owner who had a great respect for nature. But these tiny pockets were once ancient and now rare culm grassland and species rich flower meadows slowly being overtaken by rushes and trees. And left to re-wild completely these areas would no longer support a mass of wild flowers, which in turn support an immense number of butterflies, bees and other insects. One you have a natural balance of plant species and insects the next layer returns with the birds, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles which further support the higher level predators like fox, badger, stoats, weasels, owls and other species of birds of prey.

So how are we achieve this?

To enable this, the land needs to be grazed and managed in a way that restores balance that can't be replicated by machinery alone and we certainly didn't want to go down the chemical herbicide route!. And whilst the land supports both Roe and Red deer their grazing is not sufficient to knock back the rushes and restore the balance required.

So we introduced a small flock of sheep. The numbers are dictated by the amount of grazing required and not the numbers the acreage could support. So now with a regime of cutting and grazing we are seeing a significant return of the native plants whilst producing some of the best slow grown, low fat, pastured on flower meadow hogget you will find.

We've also fenced off an area against foxes and badgers and keep both egg and meat producing chickens. The way we manage this plot of just over an acre in size has this year shown its best mix of wild flowers and thistles drawing in a mass of bees, butterflies and Gold Finch feasting on the thistles! seeds.