A few miles outside  Rhayader, in Mid-Wales, nestled between the Elan valley and the river Wye, is Nannerth Fawr farm, home to Andre and Alison Gallagher. The farm house is one field from the 2 mile river frontage and the land stretches from the river to the common hill land. It’s diverse ground and the 200 acre farm includes 103 acres of grassland, including wetland areas, 62 acres of wood pasture, and 30 acres of woodland, in 9 separate enclosures. The couple currently farm 200 sheep, keep a few horses and poultry, as well as Boer goats for meat. 

Andre and Alison bought the farm over 30 years ago, by sealed tender. With no previous experience in farming the couple embarked on a steep learning curve. Alison recalls: “The farm was in a derelict state when it was bought. We didn’t know we were going to be successful until the day we took it over and it was a bit of a shock as lambing started the following day here on the farm. We were plunged straight into outdoor lambing but managed reasonably well I think. It helped a lot having friends and neighbours for farming advice and support.”

As well as improving the farm and renovating the farm buildings and house, the couple have worked to maintain diverse habitats and support biodiversity on the farm. When they bought the farm a lot of woodland already existed, which they fenced off, as well as creating further woodland over the years. The existing ancient woodlands, with mainly oaks, were therefore protected and in 2013 the couple planted another hectare of native species on a small plot of land. 

In 2014 they planted a further 3.5 hectares of native species and enclosed some existing oak woodland which together made 10 hectares. “We left little glades and pathways so the woodland is not too dense.  Altogether that’s 10,000 trees. We’ve also done a lot of hedge restoration,” says Alison.