Backsbottom Farm is not a blank canvas. It is a living landscape, shaped by more than four decades of careful, principled work, and it is looking for someone who can receive that inheritance with both hands.

Tucked into the steep valley of the River Roeburn in North Lancashire, on the edge of the Forest of Bowland National Landscape, Backsbottom is a deeply characterful place. Ancient semi-natural woodland rises on both sides of the valley. Herb-rich meadows and inbye pasture slope down to the river. Recovering blanket bog, traditional orchards — with around 250 apple varieties — a forest garden and extensive foraging ground fill out a farm of remarkable ecological diversity and depth.

Rod Everett began farming here in 1980. Over more than four decades, he and Jane, and the many people who have passed through this place, have built something unusual: an organic, permaculture-influenced holding that is also a centre for practical learning, community connection and quiet ecological experiment. The farm is Soil Association certified and a LAND permaculture demonstration site. Apple cider vinegar is the main existing enterprise. Natural flood management work — check dams, swales, attenuation ponds, in-river rock placement — has been underway for years.

Now, Rod and Jane are ready to step back. The farm is being gifted into the Biodynamic Land Trust to secure its long-term future. The BDLT is seeking a Farm Tenant to take on the whole holding — to coordinate farming, orchard care, woodland work, education and community, in service of the land and its vision.

This is not an easy opportunity. The land is steep, the context is complex, and the farm already holds people, memories, enterprises, habitats and relationships. The right person will work with what is here — patiently, imaginatively, practically — rather than imposing something upon it.

But for the right person, this is a rare thing: a long-term, secure tenancy on 100 hectares of one of northern England’s most ecologically rich farm landscapes, backed by an established vision, a generous community, and Rod’s deep and freely offered knowledge.

The Landscape

Few farms in England can claim this breadth of ecological significance in a single holding.

Backsbottom sits within the Forest of Bowland National Landscape — one of England’s designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty — and adjoins Roeburndale Woods SSSI, a nationally protected ancient woodland site. It is also part of the Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy Area, a designation that may unlock significant future funding for landscape recovery, nature-based projects and conservation partnerships. The detail on that is still emerging, but the positioning is strong.

Within the farm boundary itself, there are no fewer than seven distinct priority habitat types:

– Deciduous woodland
– Blanket bog
– Semi-improved grassland
– Traditional orchards
– Lowland dry acid grassland
– Upland heathland
– Lowland meadows

This is not background scenery. It is the farm’s core asset — ecologically, financially and in terms of the kind of stewardship it calls for. Agri-environment schemes, natural capital markets, landscape recovery grants and conservation partnerships are all made significantly more accessible by this ecological foundation. The right tenant will understand that managing this landscape well is both the responsibility and the opportunity.

The values of the farm

Backsbottom Farm is guided by following principles:

• Ecology first — Farming, enterprise and community activity are all carried out in service of the land: its soils, habitats, water, woodland and wildlife.
• Organic now, biodynamic in aspiration — The farm is organic certified and committed to remaining so. Under BDLT’s custodianship, the ambition is to achieve Demeter certification in time. Organic, regenerative and permaculture principles guide all decisions.
• Stacked enterprise — No single income stream will sustain this farm. The vision is a carefully coordinated model combining farming, grants, orchard products, education, woodland work and appropriate community enterprise.
• People and land in the right relationship — Rod and Jane’s legacy is respected. Residents, Middlewood Trust, BDLT and the incoming tenant work within shared purpose and clear agreements.
• Long-term stewardship — This is not a short-term project. The right tenant is one who sees themselves at the beginning of a long chapter.

Farm Facts

Country	England
Region	Lancashire
Farm size (ha)	98
Land types	Ancient semi-natural woodland, pasture, blanket bog, traditional orchards, forest garden
Current operations	Apple cider vinegar production, apple orchards (c.250 varieties), small sheep flock (Lleyn/Cheviot cross), forestry & woodland craft, permaculture & ecology courses, natural flood management
Current team	Rod Everett, with Middlewood Trust and existing farm community on site
Customers	Information to follow

Opportunity Facts

Enterprise	Whole-farm tenancy: orchard care & processing, livestock, woodland management, education & courses, horticulture, community enterprise
Land available (ha)	Most of the farm, but area will need to be confirmed.
Likely scale	Welcoming proposals
Stock available	For discussion (there are only a few sheep)
Infrastructure available	Infrastructure available, however, more investment is antitipated being needed.
Farming principles	Organic / Biodynamic / Permaculture / Regenerative
Agreement type	A long-term Farm Business Tenancy
Accommodation	There is a farmhouse plus several temporary options
Market access	Existing apple cider vinegar enterprise and customer base; established courses and community networks; connections to Middlewood Trust's educational programme.

What you can expect

• A long-term, secure tenancy on a nationally significant ecological landscape
• A rich starting point: established orchards, existing enterprises, an engaged farm community and deep soil knowledge already in place
• The support of BDLT as a professional, values-aligned custodian landlord
• Rod and Jane’s willingness to share their knowledge and remain appropriately connected
• Significant grant funding potential through agri-environment schemes, natural capital markets and landscape recovery partnerships
• A community of residents, learners and collaborators already on the land
• A place that draws people with purpose — volunteers, craftspeople, conservationists, educators — who want to contribute

Who we’re looking for

The ideal person, or team, for this opportunity:

• Has a deep commitment to organic and regenerative principles, and understands what “soil first” really means in practice. An affinity for biodynamic thinking is a real plus.
• Can hold a whole-farm perspective: coordinating enterprises, managing people, caring for land and running a viable business at the same time
• Has practical livestock experience and ideally some knowledge of orchard management, woodland work or food processing
• Understands that financial sustainability here will come from stacking enterprises carefully — not from one large or intensive operation
• Is at a stage in life where a long-term project feels exciting rather than daunting
• Can work respectfully alongside Rod and Jane, Middlewood Trust, existing residents and BDLT — holding complexity with patience and clarity
• Has the entrepreneurial drive and business competence to build a livelihood from what this land can genuinely offer
• Brings a personal philosophy aligned with interconnectedness: of people, land, community and nature

Could this be you?

Photos from the farm

Farm Location