A small traditional farmstead in a beautiful Lakeland Valley.
We have regular open farm days.
We also have alpaca knitwear for sale, and Fell Pony hooded sweatshirts, every purchase supports our work here on the farm.
Fell Ponies
The Cumbrian Fell Pony has lived on the fells of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire for centuries. They are believed to have been used by the Romans, who built a road through Rusland, and the monks of Furness Abbey who kept deer here. They would certainly have been used a means of transport for the farmers who lived in this farm from 1565, and our pony stables date from this time.
Fell ponies are famous for trotting happily for long distances and can be ridden by both children and adults up to 13 stone. All our fell ponies are registered with The Fell Pony Society. Fell Ponies in the Rusland Valley
Fell ponies have been used for centuries in the valley. Our farm was built in 1565 when the area was sold after the dissolution of the monasteries. Prior to this the Cistercian monks bred and used fell ponies in this area, grazing their ponies on Bethecar Moor. They favoured grey ponies and tried to breed as many grays as possible.
In the following centuries Rusland was a hive of industrial activity with iron smelting, charcoal burning and gunpowder making. All these activities required wood and the ponies were used to transport the wood out of the woodlands and to the industrial sites. Our farm was on a packhorse route and trains of up to 50 ponies would have been passing our house carrying wool to and from the market at Hawkshead. Brown and bay ponies were the most common colours at this time. |
Ponies yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Ponies were also used by farmers to shepherd their sheep and round up sheep that were heafed to Bethecar Moor and bring them into the in bye fields at lambing time.
More recently ponies have fallen out of use due to the arrival of tractors and mechanised farming in the valley. They are now used mainly for pleasure and the black pony is the desired fashionable colour as the Queen rides a black fell pony around her estate at Balmoral and the Duke of Edinburgh has a carriage with 4 black fell ponies that he used in driving trials.
There are less than 500 registered breeding mares nationwide, less than the amount of blue whales and otters. Fell Ponies are an endangered breed which we need to promote. The mosaic of different landscapes Cumbria offers needs Fell ponies, as unlike sheep Fell Ponies eat coarser grasses, sedges, rushes and woody species but will rarely eat heather, a plant in serious decline in the uplands due to overgrazing.
More recently ponies have fallen out of use due to the arrival of tractors and mechanised farming in the valley. They are now used mainly for pleasure and the black pony is the desired fashionable colour as the Queen rides a black fell pony around her estate at Balmoral and the Duke of Edinburgh has a carriage with 4 black fell ponies that he used in driving trials.
There are less than 500 registered breeding mares nationwide, less than the amount of blue whales and otters. Fell Ponies are an endangered breed which we need to promote. The mosaic of different landscapes Cumbria offers needs Fell ponies, as unlike sheep Fell Ponies eat coarser grasses, sedges, rushes and woody species but will rarely eat heather, a plant in serious decline in the uplands due to overgrazing.
Embroidered Bage
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Red Hoodie
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