Hay Time - North Pennines

This project aims to enhance and restore upland hay meadows at carefully selected sites within the North Pennines AONB by harvesting seed from species-rich meadows and spreading it on sites that have lost their special species.

We also aim to increase public awareness, enjoyment and understanding of this internationally important habitat.

Hay Time was launched in May 2006 and will run until October 2012.

Priority habitat

Upland hay meadows are a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority habitat and an Annex 1 habitat of the European Union Habitats Directive. They are now almost exclusively restricted to upland valleys of the North Pennines and North Yorkshire. The North Pennines, together with some of the Yorkshire Dales, are widely acknowledged to possess the finest concentration of upland hay meadows anywhere in the UK. This is one of the rarest grassland types in the UK with recent estimates indicating that there are less than 900ha in the UK, of which 350ha (around 40%) are in the North Pennines AONB. Through Hay Time, the North Pennines AONB Partnership restores and enhances hay meadows by harvesting seed from species-rich meadows and spreading it on sites that have lost their special species and by providing habitat management advice.

Surveying

In the early summer, between May and July, we carry out botanical surveys of upland hay meadows in the North Pennines. These surveys help us to identify sites that are suitable for restoration or enhancement, sites where seed can be harvested from and sites where we can provide habitat management advice. Between 2006 and 2011 we surveyed 1,094 fields and visited more than 250 farms to give hay meadow management advice.

Restoration and enhancement

Following these surveys, we identify and match a series of 'donor' and 'receptor' sites. 'Donor' sites are upland hay meadows which contain a good mix of typical upland hay meadow plants from which we can harvest seed. 'Receptor' sites are meadows where the conditions are suitable for restoration or enhancement through seed addition. Once the sites have been matched, specially designed machinery is used to harvest the seed-bearing top of the hay crop, or the entire crop, in July and August. Different machines are then used to spread this 'hay concentrate' or 'green hay' on sites to be restored. Between 2006 and 2011 we spread locally-harvested seed on 193ha of hay meadow in this way. The extract below from BBC2's programme 'Britain's Heritage Heroes' shows our machines in action.

Agri-environment schemes such as the Higher Level Stewardship are central to the operation of the Hay Time project. This scheme provides funding for contractors to operate the harvesting and spreading machinery and purchase of the seed from the 'donor' farmer.

After the first three years of the Hay Time project, we produced a 'step-by-step guide to upland hay meadow restoration in the North Pennines' which sets out in detail the approach we take. This can be downloaded below.

Awareness

We are developing a range of ways to inform and inspire farmers, local residents, young people and visitors about the management needs and special qualities of upland hay meadows. Since May 2006 we have produced a number of reports and publications which can be downloaded below:

an Identification Guide to Hay Meadow Plants
a set of three hay meadow walk leaflets
a book on the history of hay making in the North Pennines ('No 5 o'clock on our calendars')
a series of five Hay Time Annual Summary documents which give details of the progress of the project

Between 2009 and 2011 we ran a series of hay meadow events and activities for local communities. Through these we:

Trained a team of 12 volunteer botanists to enable them to monitor in detail meadows where seed has been spread
Worked with a team of volunteer seed collectors to gather seed from more unusual hay meadow plants from which they grew more than 400 'plug plants' which were planted out in 9 meadows
Ran a series of 20 hay meadow history roadshows for local community groups attended by more than 460 people
Provided a hands-on hay meadow education programme for 19 primary schools involving 577 children
Held a week-long exhibition celebrating hay meadows and their history attended by more than 330 children and members of the public
Worked with 8 volunteers to transcribe 20 oral history interviews with retired farmers

Collaboration

Hay Time – North Pennines is supported by a County Durham Environment Trust CDENT PREMIER Award under the Landfill Communities Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).