The Trust has been looking for a base in the north of Cumbria for several years, and so we were delighted to receive an offer from Susan Aglionby of a gift of 36 acres of organic farmland, which currently forms part of The Croft farm in Houghton.

The transfer of ownership will take place over the next couple of years, although Susan Aglionby retains the right to tenant farm the land for up to 15 years, and will be keeping the farmhouse itself as well as the orchard and two of the fields.

The land that the Trust has received is called Gosling Sike Farm, after a small tributary of the River Eden that originates on the farm, and will continue to be farmed organically with longhorn cattle.

Susan is continuing her successful education programme, which has allowed 980 children in the last year to have the chance to visit and learn from the farm. The temporary building erected in April 2009 is mainly for the use of Susan during these school visits but also hosts the Trust’s northern office.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust sees Gosling Sike Farm as a wonderful opportunity to help even more wildlife in Cumbria. It also provides a chance to increase our knowledge of organic farming and enable us to engage more with the farming community.

In the longer term, the Trust will need a base from which to manage the land. We would like to investigate the possibility of building more permanent office accommodation and perhaps a visitors’ centre in one of the paddocks off Houghton Road.  Such a base will also mean that we can represent better the interests of wildlife and our members in the north of the county.

If you would like to find out more about the plans for Gosling Sike Farm, or have any other questions relating to the Trust's involvement here, please contact Kay Foster on 01931 711022 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Click the links in the left hand menu to find out more and see some images of the farm.