The Farmyard was bathed in glorious sunshine, and the tubs of geraniums displayed in front of the house looked magnificent as we gathered for our tour of Barton Hill Farm.

We were met by the Shaw family, Brian and Gerry his wife and their daughter Whizz (Isabel) and provided with drinks and doughnuts before the tour began. Only seven members of the club were present but the numbers were swelled by the families and friends who came along.

Brian gave us a mini talk about the crops grown on the farm in advance of the tour to give us some background showing us a range of products which rely on their main crops of wheat and barley. The farm has some 6,000 acres also grows rape and beans.

Before we got on the trailer we were shown some of the farm machinery, huge shining powerful beasts which were certainly impressive.

We all climbed into the trailer and sat upon hay bales whilst Whizz drove the tractor which pulled us along. Brian the farmer conducted the tour and we stopped at strategic points along the route for him to point out the environmental initiatives which the farm undertakes.

There is certainly more to the country side stewardship than one imagines. They try and protect all the wildlife to maintain the right ecological balance including insects, mammals and birds. This is helped by the improvement of their hedgerows. These are cut two years out of five maintain food and provide nesting for the wild birds. They are kept at 2 and half metres high to protect from foxes, weasels and stoats. Farmer Shaw was proud to point out the skylarks, Plovers, Yellowhammers British Partridge and Hares along the way which have all increased under his stewardship.

At one point we stopped and alighted from the trailer to observe the rich diversity of wild flowers some of which are quite rare. We saw two species of orchid including the Pyramid orchid which is a brilliant pink in colour, also Field scabious, scarlet Pimpernel, Vetch and many more, sadly the Pasque flower is less in evidence than in past times. This particular area of the farm is the responsibility of Brian‘s daughter Whizz and she manages the area which includes leaving wide strips of land around the fields to enable walkers and riders to pass along without damaging crops. Throughout the tour we enjoyed magnificent scenery, particularly one stretch looking across the valley to the Barton Hills.  There is evidence of man made terraces made by the Romans for their grape vines.

Some of the land is chalk downs and this has now become woodland for shoots. They have recently put 10 Hectares to grass land which will eventually link Sharpenhoe and Pegsdon Hills thereby closing the gap in the Chiltern Hills. The Wild life Trust is harvesting the grass verges between Lilley and the farm and will bag then sow the 10 hectares so that the habitat becomes the same throughout.

Other points of interest were the skylark plots left unsown in the field to help their nesting. Although it is unsure whether they use them what is evident is that these areas are proving useful to the hare population. The day was so full of interest this is only a percentage of what we learned on the trip round.

At the end of the visit a number of us retired to the Raven and enjoyed good company and a superb lunch. For those who didn't attend a future  trip is thoroughly recommended.