kfpben
Member
- Location
- Mid Hampshire
I spent a week travelling through the Western Isles recently. Skye, Harris and Lewis. As a farmer you can’t help but see a place through an agricultural lense.
I found the crofting set up very interesting, endless small holdings of 2-15 acres, some with common grazing on the moor or hill ground. I believe most of these are rented off a landlord, rather than owned though I stand to be corrected. I couldn’t really get my head round the economics of it. 10 ewes and a couple of cows seemed normal. The fencing some of the moors alone went on for miles and must have cost tens of thousands of pounds. Fanks every couple of miles (though some are very old). Mowing fields of half an acre. Stacks of a dozen mini round bales.
How do folk justify it?
I mean even as a hobby surely it would be quite an expensive one. We’re not talking about pony paddocks in Surrey, these all seemed to be miniature farms.
On Skye the crofts seemed quite well presented, no doubt supported by the keen tourist trade on the island.
The north of Lewis however was a very different story. Very little tourist activity and a much poorer feel to the area. In parts it felt more like crofting for self sufficiency or survival, rather than as a business or a hobby. Abandoned crofts and houses were everywhere.
To those with more knowledge than me- what’s the future of crofting/farming in these areas?
I found the crofting set up very interesting, endless small holdings of 2-15 acres, some with common grazing on the moor or hill ground. I believe most of these are rented off a landlord, rather than owned though I stand to be corrected. I couldn’t really get my head round the economics of it. 10 ewes and a couple of cows seemed normal. The fencing some of the moors alone went on for miles and must have cost tens of thousands of pounds. Fanks every couple of miles (though some are very old). Mowing fields of half an acre. Stacks of a dozen mini round bales.
How do folk justify it?
I mean even as a hobby surely it would be quite an expensive one. We’re not talking about pony paddocks in Surrey, these all seemed to be miniature farms.
On Skye the crofts seemed quite well presented, no doubt supported by the keen tourist trade on the island.
The north of Lewis however was a very different story. Very little tourist activity and a much poorer feel to the area. In parts it felt more like crofting for self sufficiency or survival, rather than as a business or a hobby. Abandoned crofts and houses were everywhere.
To those with more knowledge than me- what’s the future of crofting/farming in these areas?