A Living Landscape
Farmed Landscapes
In terms of land cover agriculture is still the main land use in the Valley. 75% of farmland is under grass with cattle and sheep the main grazing animals. In general terms better land on the hilltops is used for intensive grass and crops, the slopes and marshy riverside land are used for grazing.
The landscape is dominated by a network of ancient hedges many of which could be up to 1000 years old. Hedges are mainly earth banks with a turf or stone facing and topped by trees and shrubs. They are an important wildlife habitat and provide corridors for species like bats to navigate through the landscape.
Orchards were once plentiful in the valley where apples and cherries were once a profitable crop. Many orchards have been lost and the land returned to commercial farming but some remain and many new orchards have been replanted in the lat 10 years in an effort to keep the local fruit varieties alive.
Green lanes cross the landscape and also provide a haven for wildlife. Some were access lanes to remote fields. Some were miners paths or packhorse routes and linked remote farms or led down to forgotten quays. All are important.
Working the Woods - Linking People and Trees
The Working the Woods project was part of an exciting national pilot, one of only four across the UK highlighting the links between protected landscapes and woodland. The Project ran from 2004-2008. You can download an evaluation of the project here.
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