Adrian Shepherd: Land Management across the Yorkshire Dales

It’s a dreary day when we meet Adrian Shepherd but at least it’s not raining. We stroll along the lower flanks of Winder on Brant Fell Common. Gorse covers the steep rise to our left. To our right, there’s the fell wall, fields, and the land falling away towards Sedbergh. It’s a good vantage point for a conversation about the commons in the Yorkshire Dales, with a focus on this area of the Howgills.

“We need to work for the commons, because that’s where the most important fells of northern England are: they’re on common land.”

Adrian has been working with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) for thirty years, and for the last twelve of those years, as Head of Land Management; in this time the size of his team has doubled to 29. The Land Management Section works with farmers across the Dales, and with private landowners and people from organisations such as National Trust and Natural England. ‘We own less than 1% of the national park, and stakeholders like the National Trust own roughly 5%. The rest is in private ownership.’

Land management and environmental schemes

With this spread of ownership, the YDNPA land management team has to work with private landowners as well as farmers and government agencies, and this collaboration includes working together to secure agri-environment schemes. These schemes were introduced in the 1980s to replace post-war ‘headage’ payments that awarded farmers per head of sheep: an approach that was part of a nationwide drive to increase food production. Farmers were incentivised to have more sheep, but in some areas, excessive grazing pressure on the land had a detrimental environmental impact. New schemes have been designed to reduce stock numbers and bring environmental benefits. Over the years, the details of schemes have been refined, and the latest iteration - ELM or Environmental Land Management – is currently being finalised, with a significant announcement made by Defra at the Oxford Farming Conference in January 2024. ‘I’ve seen schemes come and go,’ says Adrian. ‘Some better, some worse than others. And all that time, I’ve been working with farmers.’

Working together on commons

Common land accounts for 26% of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. ‘We couldn't manage all these areas - the drystone walls, the scrub, the grasslands - without the farmers. I know that farmers are often blamed for what’s been done to commons by overgrazing, but without them and their skills, the commons can't continue. And neither can land management expertise that enables a better future: people are integral. We feel passionate that there should be more on offer for the graziers on Brant Fell to enable them to deliver more public goods and, importantly, get paid properly for doing that and for producing good quality sheep.’

“We couldn’t manage all these areas - the drystone walls, the scrub, the grasslands - without the farmers ... without them and their skills, the commons can’t continue. And neither can land management expertise that enables a better future: people are integral. ”

View across Brant Fell, from the west, on a much colder day. The light is falling on the inbye fields and the fell wall - that separates the fields from the common - is clearly visible.

Spotlight on the Howgills, and Brant Fell Common

Adrian talks about what’s happening here. Winder is part of Brant Fell common, which covers around 6600 acres of the Howgills and adjoins other commons including Tebay, Langdale and Ravenstonedale. It’s distinct from the rest of the Yorkshire Dales. ‘The Howgills are underlined by different rocks, and therefore the habitats are different. It's often been underplayed and seen as an area that's been grazed too heavily for a long time – but alongside the acidic grasslands, there are a lot of interesting habitats.’ Adrian talks about blanket bog on the tops of the fells, and bilberry and heather, which thrive in the ghylls where there’s less access for grazing.

Milkwort is one of the specialist heathland plants that thrives out here

There’s a significant amount of gorse, which is an important habitat for yellowhammers, bullfinches and linnets. A bird survey carried out in 2022 was the first to be done on Brant Fell. While the numbers were disappointing, Adrian admits, there is now a baseline for reference in years to come. There’s also work underway, including training commoners to use a new robotic bracken cutter, to tackle excessive bracken on some of the steeper slopes, where it overwhelms dry heath, another important habitat.

“There’s a lot to gain on this common. And people are now working together more.”

‘There's a lot to gain on this common. And people are now working together more. Claire, the Our Upland Commons project officer, has been to all the commoners individually and met them as groups. And the Foundation for Common Land is doing good work, to help commoners access Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) schemes with moorland and rough grazing options. These will hopefully lead into Environmental Land Management scheme agreements.’

Steps forward in Natural Flood Management

Land management on Brant Fell has an increasing focus on reducing flooding downstream. Since the devastation caused by Storm Desmond in 2015, when Sedbergh was badly affected, flow meters have been installed and Natural Flood Management measures have been introduced, including leaky dams, hedges, and fences along gills to encourage tree growth. Ongoing research is shared with graziers, so that mutually agreed land management approaches such as improvements to scrub, more areas of longer grass, and additional tree planting can be built into future plans. ‘There's a whole community benefit,’ says Adrian, ‘It's a huge common, with water flowing down into the Lune, The Rawthey and Sedbergh.’

Adrian can see a clear way ahead. ‘I think people are beginning to realise that there is another way of managing Commons and a lot of it has happened since the flooding events in 2015 and 2016.’ He mentions planting with wood pasture and scrub, in Ravenstonedale, Mallerstang and Crosby Ravensworth, and what has happened on Tebay Common. As well as restoring peat, blocking grips in areas of peat, and installing leaky dams, around 10% of Tebay common was planted with trees, in areas agreed with commoners so that grazing areas and gathering routes were not significantly impacted. The decision wasn’t wholly popular at the time – in part, Adrian thinks, because the planting area is very visible and ‘people generally don’t like change’ - but after ten years, positive impacts are clear. There is more stability of soil, and an increase in insects and birds; the farmers are still able to graze their sheep and some have become involved in contracting work such as fencing and tree planting. ‘I'm content with what happened on Tebay,’ says Adrian, ‘and the farmers who manage that land and helped design that scheme are content.’ Commoners are now sharing their experiences, and the lessons learnt, with one another.

On another day, on another fell: Adrian with commoner Will Dawson, heading up Ingleborough to gather in the sheep

Finding a balance

The hope, according to Adrian, is to find a balance. ‘Planting gills with new scrub woodland could take land out of out of grazing, but putting in leaky dams or gripping areas of peat could be beneficial for grazing.’ For Adrian, balance is key, rather than emphasis on a single goal.

“I think protecting these cultural landscapes is really important. We all face the threat of climate change, we all have to move, but what I would hate to see is a polarised situation.”

We discuss the range of views around rewilding as a case in point. ‘Some people in specialist conservation circles may suggest that it's only their view that matters. But it isn't, is it? I think protecting these cultural landscapes is really important. We all face the threat of climate change, we all have to move, but what I would hate to see is a polarised situation. That wouldn't work for any anyone. I used to be a farmer, and in the post-war years, we did move too far down the line of producing food at any cost. That was wrong - we have to learn from that. We can still produce quality food in the uplands, but without the environmental costs that we had. Bringing people together, having conversations and making change happen, together, is a challenge. But it's a challenge we are keen to take up in the National Park. The commoners are as well, but sometimes they are defensive, thinking everybody's against them. I think this Our Upland Commons project can help people understand why they don’t need to be against farming.’

Adrian catches up with Brant Fell commoner Roger Sedgwick

There’s no easy pathway though, and Adrian isn’t under any illusions. The current situation around funding for upland farmers is at a critical point, with the loss of BPS (Basic Payment Scheme) and lack of clarity around transition to the new Environmental Land Management scheme. I wonder, how optimistic is Adrian about farmers remaining part of the fabric of the uplands, within a collaborative system of commoning?

“Well, we have to be realistic: the next few years are going to be really difficult for all hill farmers, particularly those on commons ... but I’m very positive that there will be better opportunities going forward. ”

‘Well, we have to be realistic: the next few years are going to be really difficult for all hill farmers, particularly those on commons. It's always been more difficult for them to get their BPS and to get their agri-environment scheme payments. And we all know that farmers in the hills need those to survive. So, the farmers may have to change their attitudes around the opportunities they go for, and I'm very positive that there will be better opportunities going forward. We've all got to firmly believe that, and make it happen, or else potentially significant numbers of farmers in the Lakes and the Dales will sadly go from the farming sector in the next few years. But if they aren't able or they aren’t willing to engage with Environmental Land Management – and with all the uncertainties with future Agricultural policies and budgets we're not even sure that the budget will actually support farmers – those are the biggest threats. If Environmental Land Management doesn’t reward farmers in the right way, we all face a very bleak future, because the people, and the management, will disappear.’

Impacts of the Our Upland Commons project

Coming back to the Our Upland Commons project, Adrian emphasises its value. ‘It’s given us a huge opportunity to focus on the relationship between communities - particularly the visitors, but also local people, to get them to understand the significance of commons.’ Beyond the life of the project, the National Park authority will continue its legacy. ‘We're still going to be working with the commons, to help them have a better future.’ And it’s not just about the Yorkshire Dales. ‘All national parks are different, but we can support commons throughout the whole family of the 10 national parks in England. The commons mean a lot, and we have to work successfully in partnership.’

The National Park Authority needs to consider multiple factors, including protecting areas of special ecological significance, supporting communities linked with the commons, and caring for areas popular with tourists. That’s a challenge, perhaps something you wouldn’t stick at for three decades if you didn’t love the place. ‘It means a huge amount to me,’ says Adrian. ‘I’ve lived in the hills for a long time now, but I grew up in the lowlands, near the Lune estuary – and as a young lad I could see the fells of the Lake District, the western Dales and Bowland and was drawn to visit them, and now live in them. I just love the solitude, the different habitats, the dark skies, everything about them.’ Adrian is not the only one. The farmers who are committed to maintaining their lives there, others who work in tree planting, ecology, hydrology, forestry and archaeology, and the many millions who visit because they love walking in the high places. There’s a shared sense of love and strong feelings of connection. ‘We need to work for the commons, because that's where the most important fells of northern England are: they’re on common land.’

Looking towards Garsdale from the flanks of Winder, Brant Fell

Find out more about the Yorkshire Dales National Park here: https://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/

View from the Yorkshire Dales National Park, with Adrian Shepherd