What kind of place is High Braythorne Farm?
Location
High Braythorne Farm lies in the Lower Washburn Valley between Harrogate and Otley. It sits at 164 metres (538 feet) above sea level with Wharfedale stretching to the northwest towards Skipton. The large conurbations of Leeds and Bradford lie to the south. The famous spa town of Harrogate is 15 minutes away over Briscoe Rigg to the north.
The land
The farm comprises 55 hectares (136 acres), most of which is grassland of various types. Improved grassland covering 34.5 hectares lies to the east of the beck. It is mostly ryegrass which in recent decades has been cut two or three times a year between May and September for silage production. Since the beginning of 2023, much of this area is in transition to species-rich grassland under a natural capital (Biodiversity Net Gain) scheme. We will also be creating some ponds here.
Grassland
To the west of the beck lie 15.8 hectares of wet grassland, traversed by drainage channels, the whole forming a catchment of water from Stainburn and Lindley Moor. This is grazed through the summer by a neighbour’s dairy heifers at low stocking density to promote diverse grass species and enhance the habitat for upland wader birds, including lapwing, snipe and curlew.
Gayle Farm
To the south of the farm buildings there are 4.7 hectares of old, unimproved grassland (classified as acidic lowland meadow.) This area was home base for our flock of 50 Whitefaced Woodland sheep. They are a hardy native breed, popular in South Yorkshire and the Pennines.
Ancient woodland
West Beck runs from north to south through the farm and is surrounded by ancient woodland in what is known as a ghyll (or gill) – steep sided banks covered in trees (also known as clough woodland.)
We are very lucky to have the ancient woodland running through the farm. As well as being very beautiful, it contains many indicator species of plants. There are also badger setts, foxes, an array of birds and the occasional browsing deer passes through.
A family farm
Family Arnold
Rupert and Fiona Arnold moved to Braythorn in 2012 following in the footsteps of Rupert's parents, whose Yorkshire roots go back generations.
Rupert's career began as a land manager for Chartered Surveyors, Strutt and Parker, but he soon moved into the horseracing industry where he still holds various charity, consultancy and regulatory roles.
After a variety of occupations including recruitment and career coaching, Fiona is a now professional basket maker. Read more about her amazing creative talents on the Basket making page
Georgia is an NHS physiotherapist based in Otley and Leeds. She is often at the farm at weekends to help with sheep and check up on her favourite pet lamb, George (not so much a lamb anymore!) We are excited to welcome her fiance Toby to the family in December.
Edd is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. We discuss the farm with him regularly via video calls and he often has innovative ideas. Whenever he comes home his priority is spending time working on the farm.
Our two beautiful labradors, seen with us here, are Clary and Rolig.
