A Week on the Estate: Conservation Club, Damian’s Snaps & Moving Out
We know we ought to be careful what we wish for but we’re certainly glad of a bit of dry weather. Given the copious rain left on saturated ground by Storm Henk and its predecessors, the water table needs time to drop before the next low-pressure system finds us. The outlook for the week to come is cold and dry, with highs of 2C, lows of -3C and biting north-westerly winds.
It’s hard to imagine at the time of writing but globally 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded, beating the pre-industrial baseline by an unignorable margin of 1.48C. While an outgoing El Niño system in the Pacific played its part, we look set to wear out the word ‘unprecedented’ this year and for years to come. We’ll keep doing our part to roll with the changes and make our farming model resilient, sustainable and nature-friendly. To that end, read on for a chance to get involved with hands-on conservation.
This month, we’re asking some key players on the Estate team what they’re looking forward to in 2024. Here’s Estate Photographer Damian Furlong: “It’s always exciting to see what develops around the Estate from year to year. I’m looking forward to the ongoing show-and-tell through photographs. I’m really keen to get involved with plans to boost rural tourism.”
Thanks as ever to Damian for capturing images of day-to-day life on the Estate. He recently snapped the Hall looking decidedly bare. We’ve temporarily moved into the Old Rectory with the expert assistance of Barnes of Lincoln so that the Hall can get some TLC and future-proofing. We’ll be comprehensively updating the electrics and making the heating and hot water as efficient as possible. Substantial work was done in 2021 to reinforce one floor but there are two more to go! We’ll also be returning the roof to its original, intended shape.
