Rural Sussex – Toovey’s Blog

Stewarding the Sussex Landscape

Frank Wootton’s oil on canvas ‘A Passing Storm, Windover Hill, Sussex’ © Toovey’s 2021

The South Downs have for centuries been shaped by farming. The ancient, managed chalk grasslands are still maintained on some of the steep downland slopes. The rich biodiversity of birds, fauna and insects predate on those that eat the crops. In the valleys and open fields mixed farming ensures that the fertility of the soil is improved and maintained by the under planting of cereal crops with rich clovers and grass grazed by sheep and cattle in seven year crop rotations to limit disease. Some of the most balanced and sustainable farming practice in the country is to be found in the leas of the South Downs.

The oil painting titled ‘A Passing Storm, Windover Hill, Sussex’ by the Sussex artist Frank Wootton. OBE (1911-1998) depicts a rural idyll with grazing cattle beneath the majesty of the Sussex Downs. It sold at Toovey’s for £2600. You sense the heat in the tone and palette of the scene. The storm casts its shadow, moving quickly across the landscape as the rain falls. It is this quality of landscape which speaks into the very identity of our nation. What the Shipley poet Hilaire Belloc described as ‘The great hills of the South Country, They stand along the sea’.
Frank Wootton studied at The Eastbourne College of Art under Eric Ravilious and Arthur Reeves-Fowkes. Whilst his landscapes and equestrian scenes are celebrated Wootton is perhaps most famous for his aeronautical paintings.
In the late 19th and 20th centuries many of Britain’s leading artists were inspired to leave London, our towns and cities for the country. For some it was to escape the effects of the industrial revolution and for others the wars

And here’s the thing, that sense of the rural idyll remains alive in popular culture and the public’s imagination. In contrast we have become more and more removed from the reality of country life even though the debate around farming in this country is entering into our national conversation.

The overwhelming majority of the farmers here in Sussex work constantly to achieve a balance between maintaining the fertility of the land, producing food in a sustainable way for the nation with close attention to the preservation of nature.

In a mixed agricultural response to the challenges of climate change it is vital that we seek to restore our soils and feed the nation through mixed agriculture. Local food supply chains, balanced mixed farming, and working with nature must surely have a dramatically reduced carbon footprint over the alternative of importing our food on hugely polluting ships and planes.

Our farmer’s continue to steward the landscapes which have inspired artists and musicians over the centuries and never more so than in Sussex in the 20th century. In our hearts and minds the countryside with its generous communities connected with the seasons and the abundance of the land have provided hope against the back drop and grind of urbanisation.

Walking with nature and in conversation with those we love is a great blessing. Our countryside, maintained by our farmers, is the perfect place for a day’s holiday-after all Sussex has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. And we must do our best to support our Sussex farmers as we shop.

Angmering Park Estate

The view as you look towards the sea from the Downs at the back of Storrington is remarkable. It is this quality of landscape which speaks into the very identity of our nation.

This land is stewarded by the forward looking Angmering Park Estate team who have just received two awards from the West Grinstead & District Ploughing Match & Agricultural Society for “2019 Best Farm over 500 Acres”, and “2019 Best Farm for Conservation”.

I have enormous respect for the work of Nigel Draffan, the Savills Resident Managing Agent, who has managed the estate for many years.
I ask Nigel about his views on the current debates about farming. He says “Since the war farmers have been encouraged by the government to increase yields which have almost doubled since the 1970s and this has led to a perception that food will always be plentiful with little discussion of the carbon footprint of importing food to this country.”

Nigel Draffan on the Angmering Park Estate with Dominic Gardner

Nigel explains that at Angmering Park they are working constantly to achieve a balance between maintaining the fertility of the land and producing food with close attention to the preservation of nature. He says “We have become increasingly sophisticated in analysing the environment in our fields and in the nature corridors of woodland and hedgerows which we are continuing to create.”

This becomes immediately apparent when we drive up into the estate where we meet with the farm manager Dominic Gardner. Nigel says “With the aid of GPS we can analyse where there are natural deficiencies in the soil or other problems in a part of the field. Rather than applying a blanket application of nitrogen phosphates and potash, or herbicides and pesticides to the whole estate we can be much more targeted only spraying the areas within fields that need it.” Dominic adds “We use satellite navigation which we plug into the tractor’s computer. It’s only a matter of time before the computer will be able to turn just a few nozzles on for just five yards. The spraying will become even more topical which is so important for insect life, birds and nature to flourish.”

At Angmering Park Dominic has combined minimum tillage methods with areas specifically put aside to increase worms and their activity. A rotation of grazing sheep preserves and enhances the fertility of the soil. There are positive economic consequences as well as environmental ones to reducing the use of agro-chemicals to where they are really needed as they are very expensive.
As we drive back Nigel explains “We produce food for the nation on the productive land but as you go up the higher slopes we leave it to grass, grazing sheep amongst a patchwork of forestry. And if you can’t farm it sustainably and commercially give it to nature.” Both Nigel and Dominic are keen to stress the importance of being profitable and operating from a strong base as it enables the levels of investment necessary for long-term balanced stewardship producing food whilst working with and being attentive to nature.
Central to the maintenance of the natural landscape are the resources provided by seasonal ethical shooting.

They have reversed the decline in natural flora and fauna with the return of rare species like Turtle Doves and native fritillaries whilst remaining profitable and productive.

I ask Nigel what word he would like to be used to describe the future of farming in the UK and he replies “Balance. If you look at a farm map of the UK we should be farming in a balanced and sustainable way all grade 1, 2 and the best of 3 land – and there is an argument that poor [grade] 3 or 4 land could revert to wilding.”
There is a diversity of approach at Angmering Park which balances our need for food production with the needs of the land and nature. Their long-term stewardship deserves our thanks.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

Celebrating Sustainable Farming at Applesham Farm

Hugh and Christopher Passmore at Applesham Farm with Rowan Allan

This week I am visiting Christopher, Hugh and Sara Passmore in my role as President of the West Grinstead & District Ploughing & Agricultural Society with the society’s Hon. Secretary Rowan Allan.

As we leave H. J. Burt, Rowan’s offices in Steyning, for their farm he describes how the Passmore’s and their team have been practising sustainable farming at Applesham long before it became fashionable.

We arrive at Applesham Farm amongst the flint and tile workshops and are met by Christopher and Hugh. They point out how these units have gained new life and are being occupied by craftspeople in a similar way to the estate workers who used them when they were first built.

Hugh’s wife, Sara, joins us as we gather in their farmhouse kitchen. Christopher explains how his Grandfather came to Applesham in 1901 as a tenant of the Petworth and Leconfield Estate. He says “My Grandfather subsequently bought the farm. Before he came it had been empty for 18 months. We still farm 850 acres of that land today.”

The importance of continuity and long-term stewardship quickly becomes apparent. But while there is a willingness to embrace the best of traditional farming practice their approach is very modern analysing each season and allowing the facts to inform their decisions.

Changes at Applesham Farm are processional rather than revolutionary as Hugh and Christopher apply science and their deep experience and understanding of their land to their farming.

Hugh Passmore and his herd of Limousin cattle

Today the farm combines arable with sheep and beef which is key to Hugh and Christopher’s approach. Hugh explains “We employ a traditional seven year crop rotation with the last cereal crop undersown with grass and clovers. We graze sheep and cattle on the new grass leys once the cereal crop has been harvested. The fresh grass and clover is highly nutritious, bringing fat lambs on from ten weeks.”

Hugh highlights how the sheep and cattle replenish the soil with natural manure saying “We have thin chalk soils so we must feed it constantly”. This natural approach blesses the soil with a high organic matter content.
Hugh regularly walks the cereal crops, keeping spraying to a minimum. Christopher says “We don’t use any insecticide in the summer because we would take out a lot of the beneficial predatory insects which feed on the problem insects, they are the natural pest controllers.”

As we drive out onto the farm we come across the Limousin cattle with their bull, grazing alongside the Lleyn and Texel cross sheep.

The farm sits in a bowl and the steep escarpments are nutrient poor but species rich. Hugh and Christopher maintain it as chalk grassland, occasionally grazing it to maintain the wild-flowers. There are an abundance of butterflies, birds and insects once common to our land and some 140 species of plants.
The farm has won awards for Best Farm and Conservation across the South East and Christopher was awarded an OBE for services to nature, conservation and agriculture.

Their balanced approach has created a productive, profitable farm working in balance with nature. Applesham Farm is rightly celebrated and will be hosting the West Grinstead & District & Agricultural Society annual ploughing match on Saturday 21st September 2019. Save the date!

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.