Future looks bright despite virus as Lord works towards 100-year plan
Given the size of the Bradford Estates, it might be surprising it’s been relatively unscathed during Covid-19.
The 12,000 acres that fall under its umbrella have continued to function successfully since the spring. The man overseeing them is Alexander, Viscount Newport, the son of The Earl of Bradford and heir to the Bradford Estates.
Lord Newport returned to the region a year ago, having spent two decades building an impressive portfolio of skills and experiences, which equipped him for the task.
“Agriculture is a big element of our business and that really has continued reasonably unaffected," he said.
"People have taken precautions. We farm ourselves and we rent land to tenants. Largely, agriculture has been unaffected. There have been some issues with specialist markets, like milk to the catering industry, but that’s been unaffected.”
In terms of residential tenants, the Government put the furlough scheme in place, which helped a lot of people to keep on paying the bills. Where tenants ran into issues, Lord Newport’s team were sympathetic and agreed payment plans. In one instance that included a self-employed tenant who wasn’t able to access furlough but was able to provide skills to benefit the Estate, so he was able to work and keep control of his rent.
The effects of Covid, however, have illustrated some of the opportunities available to the vast Estates.
Lord Newport said: “There’s a lot of opportunities for the Estates in the future because people are doing more home working.
"People won’t want to travel to the cities and will want to work from home. Whenever we go through this type of economic problem, people look towards SMEs. We have lots of commercial buildings converted to support them. There’s more of a move with people looking to more outside space.”
Strategy is all important and Lord Newport is looking to create a 100-year landscape plan, which looks at the Estates as a whole. That work will focus on where trees are planted and how agricultural buildings fit into the pattern, so that the landscape is treated sympathetically.
“We look at things from the eco-system of the whole estate, for instance, on where we can bring in renewable energy opportunities on the estate," he added.
Fabric
"We want to move our farming to a more regenerative system, working with the soil rather than too much intensive cultivation practices. We want to look at how we bring livestock into the system to displace synthetic fertilisers. We want to look at cover crops, green manure, to bring more organic matter into the soil. The general convention of farming over the past 40 years has been intensive cultivation. That leaves the soils tired so we need to build them up again.”
The work includes the restoration of Victorian water management infrastructures, like ditches and reservoirs, to mitigate flooding, and much work is planned with Severn Trent. Electric vehicle charging points are another way that the Estates will future-proof themselves as global warming speeds up.
The Estates are a huge concern and include 1,200 acres of forestry in a total of 12,000 acres. A new forestry manager has been appointed and wood fuel systems may be introduced.
“We are also looking at soil survey on the estate to look at where is best to grow the right crops. If land is marginal for crops, we’ll look at rewilding or planting more trees,” he said.
Such work is in Lord Newport’s DNA. His family has had a significant impact on the landscape, supporting landscape design over the years, for instance, commissioning the work of Capability Brown, who designed the park at Weston.
“We’ve got a rich family history in Shropshire. Our family dates back 800 years and there are other areas of Shropshire where we have estates or had estates. So we very much see ourselves as knitted into the fabric of Shropshire.”
For the full interview, pick up a copy of October’s Shropshire Magazine.
