Raynes Farm Field Trip

Don Clement of the Conservation Commission gave me a tour of the Raynes property today. He even picked me up! See the silo, I climbed halfway up to peek inside, whoosh every pigeon in the county went by head, they know where to go when its freezing! A few house keeping items before I go off on this wonderful site.

We had a bit of trouble getting in, and Don had more keys than the night janitor. The problem was the big barn doors were secured from the inside by a drop rod. This meant going in the milking door and going up a ladder with 3 rungs to the main floor.

The main barn was my problem, it’s full of hay. We are being asked to spend money for a fire alarm. It was brought up in brief discussion at the Deliberative Session that storage of hay can be an ignition point. The hay has got to go, the tenant can continue to cut it but no storage. The Merrill’s have plenty of room on their farm for storage. Mrs Merrill is our new Agricultural Czar here in NH and has a farm in Stratham.

The barn is really going to need a community push if it ever is going to host any activities. It does require some repair, though the north sill, and cellar wall are done.

I think this could really be a wonderful interpretive site at some point. We locked up the barn.

We headed out back and over the hill(no snow) to a copse of trees that held a family grave site . It was the Wiggins family and the site is a bit scattered. Don said he has a Boy Scout interested in trying to set the place right. I suggested he look around for a ground penetrating radar. They have been used to locate old grave sites. Perhaps the State Police or UNH own one. Sometimes you can get something done as part of an exercise, read no charge. When we moved the cannon from the Rec Building over to Columbus ave, I suggested the National Guard. They brought a huge crane truck and a few guys and it was done.It would be good to put the headstone in the right spot.

I have driven past this Farm a long time. I had no idea how large the parcel truly is and very deep too. From the road you would never know. It goes on and on, to the Squamscott, too bad the RR tracks are right there. Growing up I spent alot of time around RR tracks, and if the train isn’t coming they do not pose an issue to safety or  outdoor experience. Walden Pond has a commuter rail at the back side very close to their loop trail. Here are a few pictures from down in the Northeast corner, where Sloanes Brook enters the Squamscott

Of a day I had rued.

Robert Frost

This is an old cow tunnel under the live tracks. It would have to be excavated to allow more head room and safe passage to the Squamscott River beyond. If my boys were still little I would keep this in my hip pocket for a fun quick ramble in Town. Parking is easy . On that note, the amount of time people are spending out in the woods is way down. Camping , hiking ,National Park visits all way down. The level of organized activities in my youth was little league. Other than that we were in the Town Forest or fishing or mucking about outside. I mention this because there has been voiced concern that kids literally are not in the dirt enough! All the good and bad is out there and that’s how we build resistance. If we are indeed turning away from Nature this may pose issues for Conservation funding in the future. So let’s use these wonderful spaces that have been set aside for our enjoyment.

The Raynes farm in my opinion needs a steward , it literally could be a full time job. The barn is important and should be protected at all costs . So I vote yes for the fire alarm, but get the hay out please. We took the kids on many field trips growing up. Name a Museum, beach, interesting trail, cave, alot of the National Parks, even Machu Picchu, we did it all. One of my favorites when they were little was Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA. If you haven’t been , go , anytime of the year, it’s great. I think the Raynes farm though much smaller at 50 acres versus 250 at Drumlin has potential in the future to be alot more than it is now.

Click on the link below for more information on Drumlin farm.

Regards,

Mike