Tower and Town, February 2020

  (view the full edition)

Pedigree Herefords Moooove Into Savernake Forest

Savernake Forest is currently home to sixteen Pedigree Herefords along with eighteen calves who are busy helping to restore ancient woodland pasture. The new fencing is there to keep them in, not to keep people out.

Forestry England writes:

Ancient wood pasture is best described as being open space between copses of trees or large Ancient and veteran trees.

Savernake Forest is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest partly due to its wood pasture areas and the associated nationally rare fungi and lichen species.

Through natural browsing and trampling, the cattle will help to reduce bracken and scrub and increase the life span of the veteran trees for which Savernake Forest is most notable.

Cattle will be onsite from spring until the acorns fall in early October; they will then be moved to other grazing locations for the winter.