Cumbria farmer trades cows for squirrels and luxury lodge park
A Cumbria farmer has traded his herd of dairy cows for red squirrels. Mark Towers, together with his wife Helen, is creating a conservation area on former grazing land in Aldingham, on the south coast of Cumbria, which will see the endangered native red squirrel, English grey partridge and roe deer breed in abundance on the land.
After spending 25 years farming dairy cattle, Mark and Helen decided to sell their herd of 400 Canadian Holstein cows, which they had imported as embryos from Canada, and follow their dream of creating a nature conservation area and park for luxury lodge holiday homes. A passionate conservationist, Mark was keen to ensure that his land provided a haven for rare and indigenous wildlife, and selling the rare breed of dairy cows enabled the couple to raise enough money to start work.
"Farming has been in my family for generations, and I continue to breed beef cattle," explains Mark. "But we have 250 acres of grassland with an amazing panoramic view of Morecambe Bay, and Helen and I have always longed to be able to share that with people from across the world – and not just Canadian cows! With the dairy cows gone, we had a huge expanse of grassland that was ripe for planting a whole range of indigenous plant life that would encourage the already prolific wildlife to settle here, as well as enable us to introduce the red squirrel."
So Mark and Helen sold their herd of Holsteins and invested the money into creating Doe Wood Lodges, a lodge park for luxury holiday homes that would allow them to share their idyllic views of Morecambe Bay and their country lifestyle, as well as creating the woodland conservation area that is already home to a wide range of wildlife including roe deer, sparrow hawks and hares, and, thanks to its coastal location, a huge range of sea birds.
"I’ve lived here all my life and my father’s lived here all his life, and although I obviously have to make a living, I wanted to ensure that I could do it in a way that would enhance the community," says Mark. "The community and parish council are fully behind me in the lodge park and conservation area, and we’ve gone to incredible lengths and made a massive investment to make sure that the lodge park is in keeping with the surroundings and that the conservation area enhances the wildlife that is already present in the area – roe deer, stoats, foxes, snipe, wood cock, pheasant, partridge, sparrow hawks, and a full food chain of bird life. We also have a big hare population amongst the lodges which we’re very happy about as there was a huge reduction of hares during the 1990s."
So far, Mark and Helen have made 10,000 plantings of indigenous species such as birch, beech, hazel, common hawthorn, holly, pine, wild cherry, oak, mountain ash, yew, lime, conifers and ivy, with another 10,000 planned, and are creating a full woodland area with walkways, trails and leisure areas. As soon as the woodland areas are established, the couple will introduce the red squirrel to the area.
"There is no woodland touching us, we are in open grassland," says Mark. "So when our woodland is established we will introduce the red squirrel, which we will do through the correct conservation bodies, and it will be completely safe from the North American grey squirrel which is endangering the red squirrel population of the UK."
"We’re also encouraging the development of grey partridge, which is already present in the area, and are creating a massive wildlife habitat that will continue to grow and include wetlands to create a totally different environment to the one we have now. We have amazing panoramic views over Morecambe Bay, and it’s a wonderfully quiet and unspoilt part of south Cumbria. By creating a space in and around the lodge park that will enhance the natural habitat, we are giving everyone the opportunity to not only live alongside an amazing array of wildlife, but also to own their own area of beauty, peace and tranquility. We are very excited about sharing our view."
