Last Sunday I had a fabulous afternoon celebrating local food and unique habitats at The Gather, Ennerdale alongside other folk interested in the environment.
Local farmers and commoners, the Rawlings were central to the event – with son Sam taking us on a field walk down to the River Ehen where he explained how they manage the land in sympathy with the river.
Louise and Will, Sam’s parents, spoke individually – Louise about how she sourced our delicious food using local (Cumbrian) produce where possible, and British when Cumbria cannot provide (sugar).
Growing Well, Egremont supplied the carrots and strawberries. A local smallholder supplied the eggs. A bowl of new potatoes came from Nansen’s in Wasdale.
Louise explained that a lot of supermarket own-brand cheese comes from the Aspatria dairy processing factory and these everyday cheeses were supplemented with some Appleby cheese.
Will, meanwhile gave a very informative talk about his farm which touched on points of history, politics and explained more about the role of Commoners in upland farming systems.
Will explained that the flocks are hefted to particular areas of the commons which meant farmers’ would have a fair idea of where to find their sheep. However, lower stocking levels, (part of government schemes to protect nature), mean that the hefting system is disintegrating.
The farm stretches across the fells from Ennerdale to Calderbridge and towards Wasdale. Some of his fields are named after monks that worked the land from Calder Abbey.
A representative from West Cumbria Rivers Trust was also there and spoke about the nationally significant population of Fresh Water Mussels that are found in the river Ehen. This population accounts for 90% of the national total. We walked down to the river and Helen from West Together, a network of environmentally-attuned folk, found an empty mussel shell on the shore., which I then modelled!
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