Teenage farmer attacks National Trust over Lake District land purchase
I sometimes wonder about the way large charities operate. This story tells us……..
A teenage farmer has accused the National Trust of endangering farming for future generations by acquiring a piece of land in the Lake District, which has sparked an outcry in the area over fears it could end an agricultural tradition going back thousands of years.
Fifteen-year-old George Purcell, who began farming Herdwick sheep with his parents when he was 11, said the National Trust’s actions had put the future of farming in the Lake District in jeopardy.
Purcell moved to Kendal with his parents, William Purcell, a part-time English teacher, and Jenny Willis, when he was four. He joined an outcry in the area after the charity bought the land and sheep of Thorneythwaite farm, but not its farmhouse or outbuildings, last month.
The historic farm in Borrowdale, near Keswick, has a flock of 413 Herdwick sheep, a rare breed that the author Beatrix Potter once helped save from extinction. There were concerns about what would happen to the sheep, but the charity has insisted they will be saved.
This week the broadcaster Melvyn Bragg accused the National Trust of bullying. Lord Bragg, a Cumbrian, said the charity’s “mafia-style” tactics would destroy “centuries of what working men and women have created”.
The charity’s actions have upset residents of Borrowdale and farmers who had hoped to buy the house and land and keep it running as a working farm.