[john and helen]

A property has come to my attention…  that sounds  posh 

anyway.. i mean land… its quite steep, but would still give me 5-6 acres of flattish land . which is facing south westwards ..so to speak…. it has good access and not that far from a main road … 1/4 mile

but it does have about 10-11 acres of steepish … land..i would have said made for sheep … and i guess the odd goat don't mind it steep…..  a quad or tractor would go up it easily

any of you have steep slopes… any advice ?

[shygirl]

we have a really steep hill on one side and it is ace for sledging! its also very good for getting your legs fit, ha

we have had most types of livestock and whilst no-one is fenced onto the steep slope, they happily use it, both for grazing and shelter. ponies will make big skid marks though when its wet.
sheep do like to run up the hill rather than down when herding them up, so that would be worth considering when making/locating a pen (unless you have a dog)

also worth considering is what the drainage is like at the bottom. we had a lady living at the bottom of our hill and she kicked up hell for years until we put in drains at the bottom to stop her garden flooding. flaming pest she was.

[john and helen]

  been thinking about the drainage… i may pop down tomorrow to have a look…with the amount of rain we have had over the last 4 months..should give me a good indication

[goosepimple]

our last place was at the top of a hill so it sloped down quite steeply in all directions.  To be honest it got on my nerves quite quickly, slippy down hills in winter and always feeling like you are walking uphill in a wind or when you're carrying something heavy. 


If you have some flat land there though that's good.  Maybe grow a vineyard?  Or terrace some of it if its not too big a project.

[john and helen]

the project wouldn't be to big ..i like that idea of a vineyard… 

[Daisys Mum]

The majority of my land is on a slope and a couple of acres are really steep, we have found this bit to be ideal for a few Shetland sheep. The benefit of being on a hill is that it may get muddy in places but it doesn't flood!

[john and helen]

I will book a viewing in the morning …..

[Lesley Silvester]

Good luck.

[cloddopper]

the project wouldn't be to big ..i like that idea of a vineyard… 

 Check the rules for them they might have changed in your favour since I looked into things in 1996 .
If turns out to be a real good prospect run the vines north to south where possible so the rows get even sunlight on each side to ripen the grapes .
 Look for someone to process them for you initially as that is the cheapest option when you start up .
Mr& Mrs   HMCR will also be very interested in your venture.

My pal Paul demanded we plant his east to west despite me advising him otherwise when we helped him plant 4,000 vines .. at his second harvest time he couldn't understand why the grapes on the north side were almost non existent .

Paul contacted a French vineyard after making on line enquiries about red & white grafted cuttings 7 drove to the vineyard to collect them as this was the quickest surest method of delivery . I heeled the cuttings into damp sharp sand as soon as they arrived at the small holding as him and his lass were totally knackered after the round trip drive.

 It took three days to plant all the vines and a darn sight longer to erect the suport posts and straining wires.

He should have set the posts and wires long before he got the grafts and have used a two man power auger to make the holes for the posts as  each post was dug in by hand .
 Whilst he'd taken the turf off the rows he failed to rotovate them so each cutting had to be dug in 11 inches deep by hand the hard way .
 

[renee]

It looks as if it can be done with a lot of determination http://www.google.com/imgres?start=144&sa=X&hl=en&biw=990&bih=573&tbm=isch&tbnid=0-py7jGlWc7IbM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcolinmunro.photoshelter.com%2Fimage%2FI0000hMmNr1PSpeY&docid=G9sLjxe-K4YtbM&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.c.photoshelter.com%2Fimg-get2%2FI0000hMmNr1PSpeY%2Ffit%253D1000x750%2FMBI001180-3872px.jpg&w=1000&h=669&ei=sxIYU7-tIMe4hAfCjoHoAg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=2015&page=14&ndsp=11&ved=0CJ8BEK0DMDM4ZA

[john and helen]

  i think that puts things into perspective renee 


Thanks for the tips dave  did some interesting reading last night on vineyards… looks like there are a few down here in devon and cornwall

[Marches Farmer]

If you do decide on sheep probably worth setting up a pen in a dry spot and feed them cake there occasionally - it'll make loading them much easier. All of our land slopes to some degree, and has a stream running along the lower part, which is a free source of water for livestock.  Sheep thrive on it and you have to remember that every time you walk uphill you'll walk downhill for the same length.  Makes for very strong calf muscles after a few years.

[Womble]

any of you have steep slopes… any advice ?

Don't take a heavy landrover down to the bottom of the slope after three months of solid rain. It turns out it's very hard to get it back up again.
 
Please don't ask me how I know this  .

[ellied]

Sounds perfect timing - if you don't have drainage problems there now you never will!  And I agree on ideal landscape for sheep and native ponies, but work out where to feed, load, handle and have them hanging about for shelter, and how you'll get to that in the dark/worst weather etc when one is in need of immediate attention, or when the one spot you can't see from a vantage that shows you every other square inch, is the one place your blasted stock prefer to stand and you just HAVE to go and reassure yourself they're there and upright..

I used to rent hill fields for preference for my highlands, first at Bridge of Earn, then by Auchtermuchty and they're ideal for the stock aswell as personal fitness training   Just check the state of the fencing and take that into account when you offer, as hill fencing is more expensive to replace for obvious reasons

I'm always on the lookout for a decent hill field even now, can't beat them.  I've got gently sloping pasture with a neighbours house at the bottom that nearly got flooded when the field above mine overflowed from a natural dip - and I had to fork out for the JCB but they're still looking out their kitchen at mud and muck and dirty ponies and I'm sure they don't like it as much as the grass and pretty ponies they had in summer for a view.. 

[goosepimple]

One thing I would add is that if you are looking for a new place, a water source is invaluable - even if it's just a small burn, you can dig out an area to let it flow in and out and if you secure it you could have wildfowl and fresh drinking water for livestock. 


We have a river and a mill pond which is a loop off the river so flows through and stays fresh and we keep geese and loads of ducks, it feeds the ponies and the sheep and goats.   I wouldn't move anywhere now where there wasn't a nearby water source.