I was fortunate to visit Horton quarry on another beautiful sunny day. This time I met with Georgina, who is an ecologist and is principal landscape architect responsible for the quarry and the grazier whose sheep will be grazing as part of the experiment. It was a really good meeting, it was really helpful to learn the history of the site and the management of the surrounding area which is a mix of privately owned land and land owned by Natural England.

The grazier came up with an excellent idea for how to overcome the challenge of putting sheep-proof grazing exclosures in such a rocky habitat. This is a genuine challenge because not only is it very hard to put fencing in place when you have little or no soil but the rock in limestone pavement is protected by law and we must not damage it. The area of pavement is part of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and so must be protected for this reason too. This means that we cannot drill into the stone or remove it to make way for fence posts. The enclosures also needs to be removable so that we can remove them to test the effect of either summer or winter grazing and yet it must be sturdy enough to keep curious sheep out. This seemed a difficult challenge so I was really grateful for the suggestion to use field gates joined together to form a square. This will be both sturdy and portable and, because it will rest on top of the rock, there is no risk of causing damage. We also had to think about the existing fencing for the plot and how we can keep the sheep safe and secure. This meant some new gates are needed together with a repair to a wall. Water is another important consideration for animal welfare but fortunately there are springs already in use for providing water for sheep nearby.

My initial focus has been on the limestone pavement and that is still the case but limestone pavements are often found within grassland and they must be managed together. With such easily constructed and installed grazing exclosures we will hopefully also be able to put some in the limestone grassland. The grassland is dominated by blue moor grass (Sesleria caerulea). While this is a common species in the Yorkshire dales it is much less common in the rest of the country so understanding how this dominant grass interacts with other species and grazing animals is important.

It is really exciting to be starting to plan the experiment and thinking about making it a reality. I am hoping to visit next month to plan out exactly where the exclosures will go.

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