Family take over Britain's most southerly farm (From This is The West Country)

Family take over Britain's most southerly farm

7:00am Sunday 20th January 2013 in Cornwall

A family of seven has taken over as tenants of Britain's most southerly farm, at The Lizard.

Rona and Nevil Amiss, together with their five children, have been given a 20-year tenancy of Tregullas Farm, which has been owned by the National Trust since the early 1990s.

Situated either side of the footpath to Lizard Point, hundreds of thousands of visitors pass through the farm on their way to the most southerly point.

It is also a feeding ground for the first breeding pair of Cornish choughs in the county.

Alastair Cameron, property manager for the National Trust on the Lizard, said: “We are delighted with the response we received from the Lizard community and for their interest in their local environment, and also with the hundreds of applications and responses we received from the farming community.

“We are really pleased that Rona and Nevil will be taking on the tenancy at Tregullas and think that they will do a fantastic job in farming at this amazing place.”

When the previous tenant at Tregullas Farm left, the National Trust consulted widely with the community on the Lizard Peninsula to ask what they wanted from the farm.

People responded that a working farm was vital and that local food, wildlife, access to walks and views were important too.

A number of community groups were formed to develop ideas. One looked at new uses for old buildings, another at a community food enterprise and a third at how wildlife could be allowed to thrive on the farm. These were all drawn together to form the basis of the new tenancy.

With large numbers of visitors making their way to Lizard Point each year, straight through the middle of the farm, new farmer was going to need to be keen on sharing the farm with many others.

The Amiss family has been farming at Higher Fingle Farm in Devon for the past eight years and have developed a varied business in cattle, sheep, duck eggs and goat meat, selling both locally and further afield.

They intend to continue this business but also launch into new enterprises that will suit the new farm, working with the community and making the place more enjoyable to visitors, with farm open days and other events planned.

Rona Amiss said: “We are really excited to be coming to the Lizard later this year. We are looking forward to working with the local community to look after Tregullas and to make the most of what it has to offer.

“We think it is a fantastic opportunity to develop what we have been doing at Higher Fingle Farm into something bigger and better and we hope to achieve a lot of what the village said was important to them.”