Sustaining livelihoods and landscape at
Loweswater
Authors: Lisa Norton1, John Rockliffe2, Helen Bennion3, Angus Winchester4 and Nick Haycock5
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Lancaster, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancs, LA1 4AP, UK lrn@ceh.ac.uk; 2 Mitchell’s Auction Company Ltd, Cockermouth,
Cumbria 3 Dr Helen Bennion, Environmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, Pearson Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
hbennion@geog.ucl.ac.uk; Department of History, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG, UK a.winchester@lancaster.ac.uk; Haycock Associates Limited, Suite 1, Deer Park Business Centre,
Eckington, Pershore, Worcs, WR10 3DN; nehaycock@haycock-associates.co.uk
1
Background
This work forms part of a Rural Economy and
Land Use (RELU) project on Community
Catchment Management at Loweswater. The
project is focused on 1) understanding the
relationships between the community, land and
water at Loweswater and 2) investigating the
potential for the community to work alongside
other stakeholders in the management of the
catchment. The project arises out of and builds
on previous work in the Loweswater catchment
and the commitment shown by farmers in the
catchment towards improving lake water quality.
Loweswater catchment in brief (2010)
• In the Lake District National Park –
designated as a quiet valley
• Small catchment (~8km) and lake
(<1km)
•
•
•
8 sheep and cattle farmers (most with
land outside of catchment)
~ 50 permanent residents + visitors
Church and pub just outside of
catchment but no local school, shop, or
health provision
Landscape & agricultural management (2010)
Attractive mixed landscape
•
•
•
Fell 48%, In-bye 37%, Woodland 13% and
Buildings 2%
Small fields with152km of boundary features ,
over 450 individual trees
22 permanent dwellings
Many farmers have diversified into B&B etc, agricultural income ranges from 3258% of farm income, of the remainder, most is from the Single Payment Schemes
or agri-environment schemes.Total farming profit in the year of the survey was
comparable with that for NW farms of this type, on average £7k.
Despite similarities between enterprises, (largely beef and sheep), there is high
variability between the 8 farmers in the catchment in terms of ; farm size, field
size, stocking rate, boundary types and management, income and labour
6 farmers in the catchment are over 50 yrs old, 3 of those have potential inheritors
– one of whom already farms elsewhere in the catchment area
Linear features on farms in the catchment
Historical information
Marked land use change 1945-1965
8
7
6
Fence only
5
Wall only
4
Hedge
3
Lines of trees
Horses
Tractors
3-fold nitrate
Arable
Pastoral
increase ‘55-’72
2
1
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
70% of walls are in good condition, 30% show signs of deterioration
Research in the catchment
reveals that it has previously
been heavily mined as well as
farmed and retains historic
land use features including
raised becks and stone and
earth banks. Human
influence on the catchment is
set against a background of
ongoing geological change
influenced by climate.
In the mid nineteenth century liming and
tile draining dramatically changed the
landscape and lake
Date
Holdings
No. of
cows
No. of
sheep
1614
48
450
3700
1850
24
1941
22
362
4977
2009
8
194
1417
5500
What do we want from the catchment?
Ecosystem services may include; water, climate regulation, air quality, biodiversity, habitat
diversity, cultural identity, recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, inspirations, heritage etc.
Who is going to provide it?
Currently 8 farmers manage the landscape for very little net income.They manage in the most
cost/resource effective manner, capital works money from agri-environment schemes has resulted
in repaired walls and some hedge planting/maintenance. For some farmers these activities are too
labour intensive and not worth doing. Future management of the catchment is potentially in the
hands of still fewer farmers who will have more to do in terms of managing larger numbers of
stock.
What role tradition?
Back to horses and no fertiliser? Where will the farmers come from and what quality of life will
they expect?
Integrated science for our changing world
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