The Farmers Mart Jun/Jul 2015 - Issue 40 | Page 18

Stirley Community Farm

Stirley Community Farm
– a total transformation
»»Ian Wilkinson braved
the rain to meet another Ian –
Ian Smart of Stirley Community
Farm in Newsome, to find out
more about the transformation
that has taken place here,
the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s
gateway site for West
Yorkshire.
The Trust chose Stirley
Community Farm as their
gateway site for West Yorkshire

as it is typical of the local
countryside and a great place
to showcase how wildlifefriendly farming methods can
benefit the landscape, involve
the community and support a
sustainable farm business.
Ian has overseen and
driven the reconstruction and
development of what was in
2011 three derelict dairy farms
left to decay by the council
and covering some 240 acres.
Today, it is now home to a
growing herd of beef shorthorn
cattle, well-established foodgrowing training gardens, a
small orchard, beehives and the
stunning main eco-friendly barn
and education centre.
Ian’s pedigree is equally
impressive: a carpenter and
builder in his 20s, he then

18 Jun/Jul 2015 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

went to university to study
environmental science and has
subsequently been involved in
conservation and farming for
the past 15 years as a nature
reserve and livestock farm
manager down in Dorset.
The Stirley development
was tough to start with, he told
me. It meant living in cabins
with portaloos everywhere,
it was freezing cold, there
were old sheds to demolish
and a lot of rubbish and old
vegetation to clear. But the
results are amazing. Already
the farm looks stunning:
there has been a massive
renovation of the old barn
which needed underpinning
and rebuilding of half the
walls and the installation of a
sizeable recyclable heating

system. This building is now
the centre of the farm and has
full education and restaurant
facilities. The old farmhouse
has also been tastefully
restored to provide much
needed office space and
many paths and walkways
h ]