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The main farm is
centred at Burnham Deepdale with the fields both sides of the main
coast road. To the
north is reclaimed marshland.
All the land can be
divided into three sections.
Reclaimed Marsh
Land - Heavy Clay
The
reclaimed marsh land was drained in 1822,
when they built the seawall, which is now the Norfolk Coast Path (There is a good view from the top of the bank down over the
reclaimed marsh land and across Brancaster Staithe harbour and Scolt
Head Island). This heavy land is ideal for winter wheat that
is then sold for biscuit flour or even bread flour if the harvested
grain is of good enough quality. The correct timing of farming
operations such as ploughing, drilling seed, fertilizer application
and spraying are vital to get the best yield without doing damage to
the land that can get very muddy if not treated properly. The
biggest problem on this area is that the good young plants are a
very attractive feeding ground for Pinkfeet, Brent and Wigeon if
they are given half a chance to land.
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We built a
wind pump in 2000, replacing a noisy and smelly diesel pump that required
twice daily maintenance. The
wind pump, though expensive to install, only requires a grease about
once a year and incurs no fuel cost.
We are amazed how little wind is required to make it turn.
The objective is to reduce the water level in the general drainage
ditches by pumping it into the slightly (1metre) higher sea pound.
This higher water level forces the sea sluice open sooner
when the tide goes out. |
Coast Road Section - Loamy Sand The strip of land each side of the coast road is good quality loamy
sand. Traditionally
this area was used to grow winter barley and sugar beet.
The area of barley has had to be reduced, as it is no longer
profitable, even taking into account the subsidy from the EU.
With the availability of naturally rising springs of good
quality water just over the road on the reclaimed marsh, this area
is excellent for growing carrots and potatoes, with wheat, barley
and sugar beet as break crops. The whole farm is served by an extensive system of undergound
water pipes for the irrigation that we have installed over the last
20 years.
 Deepdale
Hill - Sandy Gravel
Within one mile of the coast the land rises to 200 feet (60
metres) above sea level. The upper land is excellent malting barley growing land, the
traditional crop for this part of coastal Norfolk. This barley is
beautiful bold and golden and goes to make beer. It is not advisable
to grow more that about three barley crops in successive years, due
to a build up of diseases and weeds. So we grow sugar beet as an
alternative. This goes
to be sliced and processed to extract the sugar.
Due to the good sunny days we get here, our sugar beet
contains about 19% sugar compared with the national average of about
16.5%.
We
are now the third and fourth generation to run Deepdale Farm.
We have always had a very caring policy for the environment.
For example, we retain hedges and we estimate that we have over
20,000 metres (8 miles) of them. One
man spends at least 4 weeks a year looking after the hedges.
We plan the hedge cutting programme very carefully so that where
possible except for safety reasons, some parts of the hedge are only
cut twice in 5 years. This means that there should be more seeds
such as brambles available for wild birds but does mean that the
hedge can look a little untidy when we do cut it after such a long
interval.
Where possible
we try to leave cereal stubble fields undisturbed over the winter to
provide feed for wild birds. We have developed 2 circular
permissive walks
round the farm, which give excellent views from Deepdale Hill
looking down over the village and out to sea and Scolt Head Island.
Click here for more information
Alister Borthwick gives geography
lectures to schools and interested groups. If you are
interested then please do contact us.
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