The purchase of Low Beckside Farm by The Ernest Cook Trust is now complete, securing its future as a resource for land-based education for students in Cumbria.
The Ernest Cook Trust stepped in with an offer to buy Low Beckside â part of the now closed Newton Rigg agricultural college – to ensure it would remain a learning resource as well as an upland sheep farm.
The Ernest Cook Trust, based in Gloucestershire, is a UK-wide educational charity, creating outdoor experiences for children, young people and their families.
A landowner in six counties, it runs education programmes on its own estates, as well as with partnersâ estates, and offers grants for outdoor learning activities.
Dr. Victoria Edwards, OBE, chief executive of The Ernest Cook Trust said:
âWe are delighted that our purchase of Low Beckside Farm is now complete.
“This is a first for us, farming in our own right, as the rest of the Trustâs agricultural land is managed by our tenant farmers.
We now have some important work to do in scoping the potential of the farm to serve as a learning resource while furthering our understanding of how to farm in a nature friendly way.
âIn the meantime, the farm is already being used by students from Kendal College for Level One land based studies. Itâs great to have young people back on the farm again.â
