Trevean Farm, a National Trust owned and managed farm near Morvah, have had their corn drilled on the traditional way – using a team of horses.

Robert Eddy, who has recently been using his horses to help replace a bridge for the Trust on the inaccessible costal path near Treveal, Zennor, was again working his horses to help drill 5.5 acres of National Trust land.

“It is important to the National Trust to keep traditional skills and practices alive.” Guy Clegg, the Farm Conservation Manager for Trevean Farm said, “These ancient field systems will have been worked in a similar way for hundreds of years, it would be a tragedy to lose the beautiful spectacle of well trained horses at work in the fields, in little more than a generation.”

In 2008, the National Trust, with the help of the Tubney Charitable Trust, acquired Trevean Farm - a coastal farm with strong nature conservation potential, consisting of 73 hectares of marginal farmland. By managing the farm in-hand for the benefit of wildlife, animal welfare and biodiversity, whilst attempting to maximise economic returns, the Trust hopes to learn much about the true cost of conservation management.

In addition to restoring the health of its natural and semi-natural habitats, Trevean Farm aims to be run sustainably. In keeping with the National Trust’s aims to reduce carbon emissions and reduce dependency on fossil fuels, Trevean Farm hopes to point the way forward, reducing energy consumption and external farm inputs, and investing in renewable energy technologies such as the recently installed Solar Borehole Pump System which will provide water for the whole farm.

“Not many farms have the resources to experiment with expensive alternative technologies, or have the time and access to traditional skills such as those required to run a team of horses. It is for charitable bodies such as the National Trust to experiment on the farmer’s behalf and to help hold on to our valuable traditions,” says Guy. “Running an energy efficient enterprise, selling and buying locally, investing in renewable technologies and learning from the self-sufficient practices of the past may be the key to our farmers’ survival as oil prices continue to rise well into the foreseeable future,” he added.