Cheviot : Monitoring and Results

Luing CowThe stock monitoring results for Cheviot showed that the cattle spent the majority of their time on the flat land below the Hen Hole, or up on the eastern side of the College Burn. They did not spend much time on the summit areas of Cheviot, so did not cause damage to the areas of sensitive habitat types such as the blanket bog or montane heath.  As the grazing period progressed into late October, the cattle began to venture a little further, moving up onto the Border Ridge to the west of the College Burn.

Vegetation monitoring on the site was in the form of walkovers of the site and visual observations, as at Redpath, which showed that the cattle had selectively grazed areas of molinia.

There were problems with moving the cattle off Cheviot. Important lessons have been learnt with respect to cattle movement and management on a site such as Cheviot which is large and open and with steep terrain.