This welcoming green space provides all of the necessary facilities to encourage all members of the community to come along and experience the new site.
The farmland was gifted to Cumbria Wildlife Trust by organic farmer, Susan Aglionby OBE, who continues to farm on the land, rearing rare longhorn cattle.
At the moment, the site is still a work in progress, but in time, as flowers start to grow and more wildlife begins to emerge, the land will become rich with wildflowers, hay meadows, wetlands, orchards, and vegetable gardens. Development manager, Helen Duxbury, discussed the plans for Gosling Sike Farm. “There’s a lot to do outside, but hopefully we will see it gradually grow and develop, so that in another three years, it will look completely different again.”
The Cumbria Wildlife Trust intend to work alongside volunteers and various community groups to create the envisioned areas, including the sensory garden, pergola, and wildlife pond.
Inside the building, there are tidy offices and spacious rooms, ideal for educational, training, and function spaces. There is even talk for a potential self-serve coffee bar!
The newly constructed Gosling Sike Farm has allocated parking spaces for the public, and there are wheelchair accessible paths across the site; in addition to the Farm Trail that leads to the Tarraby community woodland.
Explore, learn, and grow at Gosling Sike Farm, located on Houghton Road, Houghton, Carlisle, CA3 0LD. The gates will remain open for the public and dogs on leads to access the Farm Trail, and visitors are very welcome to come in and use the toilet facilities when the building is staffed.
If you would like to find out more, come along to the site’s third open day between 11am to 6pm on Wednesday 18th October.
Emily Dodd 
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