On clifftops overlooking the Solway and Irish Sea, the Roman frontier began with the fort of Alauna and ran to the Black Sea. Now part of the World Heritage Site better known in the UK for Hadrian’s Wall, Cultura’s Camp Farm includes the Roman site, a Victorian Model Farm and part of the Solway Coast AONB; this stunning cultural landscape has stories to tell and a special role. 2022 marked the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall with a year-long festival. We have recruited a local animateur with funding from Cumbria Community Foundation to manage engagement and access projects linking in with Maryport Heritage Action Zone and the Senhouse Roman Museum. Camp Farm has the potential to make a real contribution to climate action, including through renewable energy and biodiversity. As part of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund project, we have established a wildflower meadow to create a habitat for pollinators including the endangered small blue butterfly. With funding from Cumbria Community Forest and the help of volunteers and local schools we have also planted several areas with native trees including willow – all part of the learning and biodiversity plans which will help link people more closely with nature and their surroundings. Redeveloping the whole site will take many years, but involving the community in each step of the journey is an integral part of the project. You can watch the case study film produced by Raise Cumbria here https://www.raisecumbria.co.uk/camp-farm

Cultura has a Learning Plan, SDG Plan, Biodiversity Plan and Renewable Energy Plan all ready and awaiting the opportunity to transform this previously commercially farmed land into a twenty-first century model farm, delivering learning programmes and farming practices consistent with the SDGs.