Tuesday 19 July – Fabulous Farmers
The history of the Downs is inextricably linked with the history of farming.
Bronze Age agriculturalists first cleared extensive tracts of woodland from the South Downs 6,000 years ago.
Medieval sheep farmers grazed the chalk grasslands, creating the conditions for wildflowers and butterflies to flourish.
Today, winemaking has become a steadily growing industry, with producers creating sparkling wines to rival those of Champagne.
Being a cultivated landscape brings both bounty and challenges.
It means our pubs and farmers’ markets are filled with fresh local produce, but there are places where dogs must be kept on a lead.
When it comes to ReNaturing, farmers play an outsized-role.
In some places farmers have returned their cattle to graze on heathland, giving wildflowers such as sundew a chance to flourish.
Elsewhere, projects like the South Downs Farmland Bird Initiative have enabled ground-nesting birds like grey partridge and lapwing to co-exist on farmers’ land.
As the tapestry of fields, villages, vineyards and pubs attest, the South Downs is very much a shared endeavour. It’s farming that holds it together.
What’s on
- 8am – Short film: Meet the Farmer. Find out about the Meet the Farmer project, which gives a unique insight into farming life in a protected landscape. Watch on the South Downs Facebook and YouTube channels.
- 10am – Short film: From Field, to Fork, to Lockdown. From the Novium Museum, an in-depth look at how farming has adapted to life after Covid, and how we can all play our part to avoid food waste. Watch on the South Downs Facebook and YouTube channels.
- 1pm – Meet the Farmer social media takeover. See how farmers produce our food and care for nature side-by-side as we see ‘a day in the farming life.’ Follow along on Instagram.