At 9,500 acres, the Rothbury Estate is the biggest single parcel of land to be sold off in England in the past 30 years.
The Percy family pile – Alnwick Castle – still dominates the skyline of this handsome stone-built market town in Northumberland. Built by the Normans, it’s home to the Duke of Northumberland and has been for the past 700 years. It’s also known to millions as the setting for several Harry Potter films and more than 40 other TV and film productions.
It is magnificent countryside. The River Coquet, with its trout and salmon, flows through it. There are forests, there are peat bogs. There are heather clad fells, on which grouse shooting will end – which few seem to regret. Well, we’ve been digging into this and talked not just to these worried men, but also to other farmers who take a different view. Neighbouring this estate is John Cresswell who farms 2,500 acres and is a total enthusiast for the Trusts’ venture.
No farmer will speak openly on the estate of course, in the middle of a land sale, that would be foolish. But the Trusts maintain that several have been in touch to say how enthusiastic they are about the scheme. They say they are already practising what’s known as regenerative farming.
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