The Once and Future Land

When the United Kingdom left the European Union it also left its Common Agricultural Policy that has subsidised food production; transforming landscapes over 45 years. Farming is a devolved issue and each of the four nations are trying to establish what comes next. England's new Environmental Land Management Scheme or ELMs is being designed in Westminster; testing how farmers can instead be paid to restore nature. The atmosphere is heating and the web of life is dying. Land lies beneath these emergencies. This moment is said to be a historic opportunity. Some are optimistic. Others are deeply sceptical. Context and traditions matter. Values clash. The Lake District National Park holds UNESCO World Heritage Site status as ‘an unrivalled example of a northern European upland agro-pastoral system’. This is a system that is now being called on to change. A multiplicity of voices needs to be heard. The transition has begun. Credits: Produced by Louise Carver Charlie Gere Directed, Shot, and Edited by Oliver Bradley-Baker Contributors in order of appearance Ewan Allinson - Sculptor, PhD Researcher, Dry Stone Waller and member of the Uplands Alliance  Jim Lowther - Land Owner, Lowther and Lonsdale Estates John Dunning CBE - Founder of Westmorland Motorway Services John Atkinson - Farmer, Nibthwaite Farm Lee Schofield - RSPB Site Manager Haweswater Farm Tim Winder - Gaisgill Row Farm, Orton Fells Farmer Cluster Maria Benjamin - Dodgson Wood and Nibthwaite Farm Hannah Field - PHD Researcher University of Cumbria and Coordinator of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, Cumbria Julia Aglionby - Professor in Practice, University of Cumbria, Executive Director, Foundation for Common Land and Chair of the Uplands Alliance Karen Lloyd - Writer and Enviromental Activist Music  Harry McSwaine Sound Assistant Stella Gere With Thanks to Lancaster University - Faculty of Science and Technology Impact Award Lancaster University - Future Places Centre