Editor,

It was uplifting to read the two page article Farming in trust(Cambrian News, 4 Nov) about a young couple embracing food production and conservation at a National Trust (NT) farm in North Wales.

Sadly, it will ring a hollow note for many Ceredigion readers.

Llanerchaeron, our own National Trust property, which put Ceredigion on the map for many visitors, seems in the process of being emasculated by some recent management measures.

A unique survival, Llanerchaeron demonstrates in amicrocosm the interdependent elements of a small country estate before the days of supermarkets and pharmacies. The Nash house with its well-appointed service courtyard, the productive kitchen gardens and the model farmyard, with not only animal accommodation but forgotten facilities such as a saw-pit and rick-stands, have provided an unparalleled attraction bringing the past to life for thousands of visitors.

Local food production? Recently ‘mistrust’ at NT central office overrode local health authority certification for the sale of our own meat (as well as bottled juice from the apples in the garden). A major source of income has been lost and many faithful customers disappointed.

More recently the Welsh Black cattle and the pedigree herd of Llanwenog sheep have disappeared and no longer graze and fertilise the fields and parkland.The absence of this vital living element that contributed so much to the spirit of place has turned a great part of the property into an empty museum. Visiting children ask: ‘Where are the animals?’

I feel that the national remit of the NT is in danger of losing touch with the particular needs and qualities of some of its properties. The term ‘trust’ implies caring, allowing a degree of responsibility and autonomy, and respect for local conditions.

The North Wales farm described provides many ecological challenges: its species-rich floodplain meadows require special ‘conservation grazing’ to provide ‘a mosaic of habitats’. The picture is different here down south, where modest family farms prevail. Between the well-wooded slopes of the Aeron valley, generations of farmers have created fields for their stock wherever the contours are not too steep.Tick-box tree-planting in precious grasslands may be less appropriate in this landscape than grazing regimes that have stood the test of time.

I write as a long-term garden volunteer at Llanerchaeron.I am deeply committed to its well being, but, like others, feel that with the departure of the livestock, a light illuminating a special part of this special place has been extinguished.

Penny David Lampeter

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