At Long Meadow we are aiming to improve the diversity and population of our wildflowers. The key to this is reducing the high nutrient levels currently experienced. We aim to do this through a programme of mechanical cutting of the grass.

It helps us enormously if all dog faeces are removed. The presence of faeces means we cannot sell the hay for animal feed - it is known that faeces can cause miscarriages for in-lamb ewes. There is also the risk of small bits of plastic being ingested by the livestock, caused where people have bagged the dog faeces and left it behind. Secondly, the nutrients increase the fertility of the meadow – exactly the opposite of what we are paying money out to achieve (over a year we will pay more for cutting the grass than we get in income from hay sales). For more information, see this link .

Also please be aware that sometimes there are sheep grazing nearby on Abbey Farm. In early 2022 a dog ran off from its walker on Long Meadow to break through the fencing and savage a sheep, much to the distress of everyone involved.

A final thought. Experts from the Wildlife Trust BCN tell us the best way to achieve the desired profusion of wildflowers would be to graze sheep and cattle on the meadow. Given the meadow is so popular with dog walkers, this is not practical. The necessary fencing would cost thousands of pounds and the ambience of the wide-open meadow would change.