Waypoint 2 The farm in the landscape | Ranger Cadets guided walking trail
Take a look from this Waypoint at the valley spread out below us.
Some folk look at a view like this and think, "Ho hum, grass and trees, nothing much happening". But we know better, don't we?
First we're looking at Farmer Andy's place of work. That's Andy on the right. And that's his farm down below.
Our first stop was the Food Wood. But what we're looking at now are lots and lots of Food Fields. You can see wheat being grown for bread, oilseeds for cooking oil, barley for beer, or maybe whisky.
But that's not all you're looking at, by a long way. You're looking at the homes of birds, bees, bats, badgers, deer, hare, foxes, voles and mice.
If you could see under the soil, yo
u'd be looking at billions of insects, bacteria, earthworms, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. Not to mention a fair number of coins dropped by careless Romans long ago.
You're looking at ancient and modern woodlands, many planted by Andy and Rebecca, but some by farmers in the more distant past.
You're looking at fields - like the one right in front of you - that Andy manages to give farmland birds food and shelter in winter. (Deer, hares, rabbits and birds also enjoy this field.)
Other fields around Hill View provide extra food and habitat for the bees, butterflies and other insects that pollinate crops, plants and trees around the countryside.
Down below, you can see the solar panels that Andy installed harnessing energy, every single day, from the sun. Hill View Farm exports more than twice the electricity that it uses.
The land you're looking at is helping with climate change, by holding large amounts of carbon dioxide under the soil. (The word for that is sequestering.) Andy's food crops are doing their part, as their roots draw carbon into the soil. 'The trick is not to release it again,' Andy explains. Which is why he doesn't plough his soil.
You're looking at almost five kilometres of footpaths and bridleways which people can walk along, or even ride along, to help keep fit, active and healthy.
The jargon to describe all this, Andy tells us is a multifunctional landscape - which just means that it does lots of different things.
'A multifunctional landscape that provides ecosystem services, sustainability and resilience, and cultural and biodiversity enhancement,' Andy says and draws a great, big breath.
'Not to mention,' he adds with a smile, 'a cracking view!'
