Summer 2025 Newsletter

^{Welcome to our Summer Newsletter}

It has been another busy quarter at Courteenhall and our sister estate Gawdy Hall. We’re incredibly proud to have won an award for our sustainable farming work and we’ve showcased our farm to a number of groups interested in the work we’re doing.

Find out about a gold ring which made international headlines, why we had so many bumper sized lambs this year and which rare bird has been spotted by one of our team.

^{Recognition for our regenerative farming approach}

We're proud to be the first land manager in Northamptonshire, and one of only five nationally, to receive Wildlife Farms & Estates England and Wales Level Two accreditation. The accreditation is a gold standard label of excellence in championing the enhancement of wildlife and biodiversity through independent assessment and has involved a lot of hard work from all the team.

^{Cranfield venture day}

Johnny was invited to be the keynote speaker at this year’s Cranfield venture day.

^{Treasure found}

A gold mourning ring linked to an ancestor of Gawdy Hall has been declared treasure – and the story of it made headlines around the world including the pages of The Times, The Independent, the Daily Mail and newspapers in the USA as well as the BBC. The Gawdy ring, which is in a very good condition, includes a depiction of a tiny skull, a symbol of mortality.

^{Shortlisted in two awards}

We are excited to have been shortlisted for the Nature-Friendly Farm category in the Schöffel Countryside Awards. We’ve had a visit from the judges and will find out at the awards in November how we got on.

We have also made the shortlist for Regenerative Farmer of the Year in this year's British Farming Awards.

^{Our bird counts}

Every three months we carry out surveys of our bird life on the Estate and it’s a great opportunity to keep an eye on the various species here. It also allows us to target our environmental work to support those less common birds that we find.

In our latest bird survey of our wooded areas and field edges – with the help of the Merlin app - we saw or heard four species which are on the Birds of Conservation Concern Red list: Greenfinch, Mistle Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher and Swift. We also spotted numerous species on the Birds of Conservation Concern Amber list, including Song thrush, Stock Dove and Tree Creeper.

We also take part in the annual Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust's Big Farmland Bird Count which encourages farmers and landowners to go out and count the species and number of birds on their land during a two-week window in February. A total of 358,913 birds belonging to 125 species were recorded across almost 700,000 acres of farmland by 1,369 farmers, land managers or their helpers this year.

Exciting news from our sister estate. Turtle Doves have been spotted by our Estate Manager Mark Mayhew. They’re extremely rare with only 2,000 mating pairs in the UK.

^{Love British food visit}

Good to welcome a group from Love British Food to Courteenhall for a farm-based sustainability day.

We’re keen to promote healthy eating and a connection with food and where it comes from by providing tangible example of how responsible land stewardship, sustainability, and holistic living can be seamlessly integrated into daily life.

The Love British Food on-farm event is for public sector food professionals, showcasing how sustainable British produce can enhance nutrition, meet procurement standards, and support local economies.

^{Local nature recovery scheme bus tour}

We also gave a farm tour to a team from the Local Nature Recovery Scheme team and discussed lots of things we’re doing on the Estate. Every area of the country has to come up with its own plan for nature recovery, which will include improving the wider living environment with nature-based solutions, expanding and connecting existing wildlife areas and creating more spaces for nature.

What is decided in this is going to be important for Northants. Courteenhall was first on the list of the bus tour of a number of key sites in the area.

^{Primary school visit to Gawdy}

A group of children from Beccles Primary Academy in Suffolk visited our sister Estate Gawdy Hall in South Norfolk, to learn all about nature, food and farming. The trip was organised by The Country Trust, an educational charity which connects children who are least likely to have access to the countryside with real farms and the land that sustains us all.

^{Pink Ladies tractor road run}

We were once again delighted to be involved with the annual Pink Ladies Tractor Road Run, in aid of Cancer Research UK. This brilliant annual event, which has raised over £1 million for Breast Cancer Research, takes in Gawdy Hall meadow where we're proud to host their picnic lunch.

^{Our growing herd of sheep}

A number of larger than normal lambs were delivered at Gawdy Hall this lambing season. The average weight of a newborn lamb is 4-5kg but our shepherdess Hannah Murrell has been helping to bring 10kg lambs into the world.

^{Courteenhall wildlife}

It’s a perfect time of year to spot wildlife on the Estate. Over the last few months we’ve spotted deer in the meadow, freshly hatched ducklings, a young hare and owls. Our Barn Owls are breeding very late this year due to a lack of prey over the wet Spring months. We’re keeping a gentle eye on them with a monitoring camera in a nesting box.

Three Red Kite chicks have been successfully ringed and are in great health. They all had their primary flight feathers and will soon be flying high over the estate on their graceful wings.

^{Our orchids}

Orchids are popping up everywhere at Courteenhall in places we’ve never knowingly had them before, which is great, and Mark at Gawdy has also reported Bee Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids.

^{Our new annual CSR report}

^{At Courteenhall Farms, our commitment to responsible stewardship, sustainability and community well-being continues to guide every decision we make. Over the past year, we’ve taken significant steps to strengthen our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy - deepening our environmental practices, expanding educational partnerships, and enhancing biodiversity across our estate. Key highlights from this year include:}

• Expanding regenerative farming methods to improve soil health and biodiversity
• Hosting over 300 students and young people through our educational access programmes
• Planting over 2,000 trees and introducing new pollinator habitats
• Reducing synthetic input use while maintaining crop yield and quality
• Developing our new local farm shop and restaurant to support local producers and local communities, ready for launch Spring 2026

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^{The power of nature in education}

We’ve welcomed two New Leaf Learning schools for the second Summer term and hosted several school visits. We’re delighted that New Leaf Learning is now fully booked for the whole of the next academic year. The demand is really strong, despite the huge challenges in school funding, and we’re currently looking at how we can carefully expand what the charity is able to offer.

^{Blakesley show farm tour}

Rosie and Johnny hosted a farm tour for the Blakesley Show members. They were a lovely group to host and they had to cap the numbers at 50, saying they’d never had to cap before!

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