Members of the Court Leet have been preparing North Meadow for grazing in the last two weeks. This involves the installation of 2.5km of electric fencing and eight pasture pumps.
The electric fence is necessary to prevent the cattle pushing through the boundary hedge or entering the rivers and escaping onto adjoining land.
The pasture pumps provide the animals with water so they do not need to enter the rivers which creates sediment pollution and damages the river ecology.
North Meadow has been managed as Lammas land for hundreds of years which is why it supports 250 plant species. This type of grassland is now rare in the UK and grazing is critical to maintaining this biodiversity.
We expect 70 cattle to arrive in the next few days and stay in the meadow for about 12 weeks.