We have been working with West Berks Council to improve the access for walkers in three of our paddocks that are crossed by a footpath. West Berks have installed a combination of kissing and latch gates but the work required removal of sections of old barbed wire fencing that needed replacing to secure the perimeter. This is the last area of the farm requiring major fencing improvements and we spent the day pulling out old barbed wire fencing that had collapsed, hanging gates and installing new post and plain wire fencing in all the gaps in the hedge lines.
We need to fit one more gate and install a water trough but apart from that it is ready to use. This area of the farm has previously been a bit tricky to access but we have reinstated an overgrown track that leads from the yard to the fields so we now have about another 8 acres easily accessible from the yard.
Despite the cold it was a beautifully sunny day and the job was completed without too much swearing.