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Cat Frampton

@catframpton.bsky.social
1.1K followers 363 following 690 posts

Dartmoor based artist and Farmer who believes land layering is possible - She/her - Team waxcap/dung beetle/nature - it’s always more complicated than that!

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Reposted by Cat Frampton
Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A new article Playing the SFI Blame Game “This was always going to be some sort of mess because nature and land management are not funded well. Without enough cash to match the ambition none of this sustainable stuff works.” sidecountry.co.uk/playing-the-...
sidecountry.co.uk
Playing the SFI Blame Game - SideCountry
Firstly, a little catch up for those out of the loop. The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is a government scheme, where farmers and other landowners, or
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A new article Playing the SFI Blame Game “This was always going to be some sort of mess because nature and land management are not funded well. Without enough cash to match the ambition none of this sustainable stuff works.” sidecountry.co.uk/playing-the-...
sidecountry.co.uk
Playing the SFI Blame Game - SideCountry
Firstly, a little catch up for those out of the loop. The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is a government scheme, where farmers and other landowners, or
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Dyslexia strikes again!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
@britishmyology.bsky.social considering it’s spreading but also probably still pretty unusual should we report Favolaschia Claudopus / Orange Porecap if found? And if so how and where? Devon, East Dartmoor.
Tiny orange fungiSmall orange fungi Small orange fungi
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ha! If only the waxcapists were in charge! Is that the right word or is it waxcapies? Waxcappers? Waxcapetts?
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The farming minister visited on Monday, I swore on social media on Tuesday, was interviewed by farming today on Wednesday and was therefore on the radio on Thursday…. what a week of ‘telling folk my opinions’ I am having huh? www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The farming minister and me… and some scones we gave him as ‘car snacks’ for his journey home.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Did you sketch???? Also, that’s my patch! Isn’t it bliss it’s finally getting damp again!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
“in a world where ‘nature recovery’ has big financial teeth, the story that is told about land matters” What are the stories you are being told? Who’s telling them? And why?
A black and white photo of a bleak bit of Dartmoor Same place but colour photo. Blue sky, less bleak!
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Reposted by Cat Frampton
Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I wrote a piece about pictures, land use and lies (or half truths) And the power a photo has in our ‘scroll on past’ social media world. sidecountry.co.uk/is-a-picture...
sidecountry.co.uk
Is a picture worth a thousand words? - SideCountry
I paused briefly on my way off the hill the other day and took a quick photo. It’s not my best work, I may be an artist but photos really aren’t my medium,
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I’m eyes down already but yet to see any!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I wrote a piece about pictures, land use and lies (or half truths) And the power a photo has in our ‘scroll on past’ social media world. sidecountry.co.uk/is-a-picture...
sidecountry.co.uk
Is a picture worth a thousand words? - SideCountry
I paused briefly on my way off the hill the other day and took a quick photo. It’s not my best work, I may be an artist but photos really aren’t my medium,
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Its a Geotrupes Mutator Not that common, sadly, but we still have them here on our bit of Dartmoor.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Exhibit a - why it’s vital we keep livestock out on Dartmoor* in number all year. It’s not all about the plants you know… (If you are into counting striae on dung beetles you’ll know it’s an extra special beetle…) (*and farmland)
A shinny dung beetle. 9 stripes on its wing case means it’s a mutator dung beetles which is a bit rare A shinny dung beetle. Lying in its back and showing off its green metallic looking legs A shinny dung beetle. 9 stripes on its wing case means it’s a mutator dung beetles which is a bit rare
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
If you think you won’t do it, pay me to run a one to one class for you. Yes that’s a cheeky ask but… seriously… if you did you’d have skin in the game, feel that you’re being proactive and have a time set to do it! (And I’d have £25!)
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Yep. Feeling a bit flat artistically. May I suggest taking some trash paper and charcoal up onto the moor (dry and less than a gale force wind is helpful but not essential) and draw the lines of the land Draw them without expectation. Get the feel of the hills back, the shape and the darkness.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Here - the new link to this nonsense… sidecountry.co.uk/nature-the-w...
sidecountry.co.uk
Nature - the word - A proposal - SideCountry
I propose we stop using the word Nature.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The new link to this old (yet sadly still relevant) article about waxcap fungi (it’s so very nearly waxcap time again! I cannot wait!!!) sidecountry.co.uk/waxcaps-old-...
sidecountry.co.uk
Waxcaps: Old pastures and the Brave New World - SideCountry
It’s autumn, and autumn means for me not just leaves in gutters and sorting the sheep, but walking my land, slowly, with careful footsteps, eyes down, playing
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
New link to the above article here - all about sheep and the moors and my sheep and moor in particular! Enjoy. sidecountry.co.uk/should-ewe-s...
sidecountry.co.uk
Should ewe stay or should ewe go now - SideCountry
Should I keep the sheep? Today the answer is easy, those sheep can go.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
New link to this article here - sidecountry.co.uk/we-have-mess...
sidecountry.co.uk
We have messed up by being far too tidy - SideCountry
I think we have got ourselves in a mess, and it is all because we want to be far too tidy…
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
New link to the article - sidecountry.co.uk/a-small-sad-...
sidecountry.co.uk
A small sad cry from a special habitat - SideCountry
We have all heard, I presume, that our meadows are in danger. A 97% decline in wildflower meadows since the 1930s. Seed packets sold in National Trust shops
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Just a quick announcement… I’ve moved most of my writing to SideCountry. It’s free to read, they are not asking for your info to access stuff and while it may not be to everyone’s taste it’s now home for my rants about land, ecology, farming and the moors sidecountry.co.uk/people/cat-f...
sidecountry.co.uk
Cat Frampton - SideCountry
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Obligatory colander eclipse photo
Shadows of grasses and a colander cast over paper. The holes in the colander show the partial eclipse of the sun.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Thank you Lots to think about. Bit I’m all about the fire breaks. Big bold fire breaks. It’s such a worry atm.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Thank you. How do you keep (or make) the vegetation right? Is it all about the sphagnum? And if the vegetation is right is the drench drought cycle ok? Or do you need to keep the ground damp in the drought bit to recover the stuff? Sorry to bombard, feel free to ignore me!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Thank you. I’ve been wondering how we re wet in such dry summers. It’s a worry. But it’s not my world so… looking for advice!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I have a question If anyone can help please do! What happens with ‘sloped’ (rather than bog) peatland restoration when it’s as dry as it has been this year? Can the peat still form? And will the inevitable downpour to follow damage or restore?
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Can it rain please? Waiting - oil/mixed media 30cmx21cm For sale (when it’s dried)
A oil painting of a crow on a post in a hot dry field under a hot dry sky. Very yellow, very dark shadows. A oil painting of a crow on a post in a hot dry field under a hot dry sky. Very yellow, very dark shadows. Close up of the birds head.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
(And considering they will have designed the machines that scan the books they could have insisted they didn’t destroy the books during the process. But they didn’t care enough to do that.)
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Apart from the sheer vandalism there is a large expensive mistake with this model… They could sell those rare books again and make money… But no. Destruction of physical objects and control of information is the point.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Pre peat map so you’re all good. (The NE peat map is a mess though. And it’s starting to get embedded into other gov’ maps. Which is ‘fine…’)
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
As long as you’re not using data from the Natural England ‘New England peat map’… because that map is not 100% accurate… (for example it’s mapping late afternoon shadows as bare peat, which is ‘fun’ in a terrible science way!)
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
We got nowt. I am a little bit afraid the rain gods have a 3-6 month delay on requests atm, and are dealing with the backlog of ‘please less of this’ by some sort of torturous admin that collates requesting into a bulk order…
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Blocking upland meadow land drains is a win win tbh. Yes it’s wet as hell in winter But the livestock don’t come in here in winter and it’s just wonderful in the hot dry we’ve been having. Raises the water table for the rest of the field too! This one was blocked by roots a few years back.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Well winter in Kintyre is pretty special on the ‘light on sea’ front!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
A recent commission. Now all framed up and handed over. Egrets, Kildonan dun, Kintyre. To celebrate a special place and time. The shimmer in the gold ink is wonderful in real life, just catches the light as you move past the painting. The birds are (as ever) tiny.
A ink painting of the sea, some rocky foreshore and some distant punk hills. Two sketched birds fly across the sea.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Screenshot screenshot screenshot as you attempt so you have proof?!!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Kind of like getting popular gig tickets… 9am on the trigger, website will crash… good luck!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Words/phrases that aren’t in the uk labour governments new ‘Farming Roadmap’ Hunger Food poverty Healthy food Society Community Words that do Private investment -mentioned on 9 pages Private finance -also on 9 pages This makes me a bit twitchy tbh assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a354f...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
I will need to do mine with a acidic grassland list, but it looks very straightforward which is what I’m after, I’m in a potential LRA so if we could do our own monitoring it would be helpful.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
My afternoon wander wasn’t too bad either…
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Thanks I hope the funeral was ok in the end!
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Reposted by Cat Frampton
Dr Adrian Colston @dartmoorac.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
theconversation.com/claims-of-da...
theconversation.com
Claims of Dartmoor pony cull reignite row over how to save Britain’s moorlands
Semi-wild ponies are valuable for habitat restoration, yet policy changes may threaten their survival.
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Oh that sounds interesting, what’s the methodology? I’d love something as straightforward as the basic waxcap score (colour and broad east to understand types) so I could get others looking down a bit more!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I hope the footpath doesn’t mean too many dogs, or even the sheep may become unviable. It’s a tricky balancing act at times! Bet it’s loud with insects and birds atm!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I bet there are! What’s the grazing regime?
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Thats one good looking meadow! It looks like it’s got everything!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Thank you! A new one for my (very non expert) list of butterflies I’ve seen on the farm, so that’s great!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Hi guys A butterfly question. Is this a small heath? It was small. It had an orange upper wing that was very tricky to see as it rested with wings firmly closed. Dartmoor. Devon. On knapweed. Near ‘everything’ inc trees, bracken, species rich pasture et al! Thanks!
A small grey and orange butterfly A small grey and orange butterfly
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Enjoy!
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Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
The new Tricky stuff is great. Very Bristol. Very late night.
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