Appleby fallen stock collection is upland work, and it is a different proposition from a collection off flat in-bye ground. Holdings around Appleby run from riverside pasture on the Eden up onto fell allotments where an animal can lie for a day or more before it is found, and where getting a vehicle to it is often the harder half of the job. Martlands provides licensed fallen stock and ABP collection to farms across the historic county of Westmorland and the wider Eden Valley, working to the same DEFRA approved standard on a fell allotment above Murton as on a dairy unit in the lowlands.
What the Regulations Require of Eden Valley Livestock Keepers
Under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 the keeper carries a duty of care to have fallen stock collected by an approved operator without undue delay, which in working terms means arranging removal within twenty four hours of discovery. Burial and burning on the holding have been unlawful since 2003. The exceptions written into the legislation for designated remote areas are narrow and specific, and they do not extend to Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, Brough or the surrounding parishes. Fell ground being difficult to reach is not the same thing in law as ground being designated remote, and an assumption otherwise is one of the more expensive mistakes an upland holding can make at inspection.
What the Regulations do accept is that discovery and collection are two separate moments. The clock runs from when the animal is found, not from when it died. A ewe lost on the fell and located on a gather three days later is not a breach, provided the collection is arranged promptly once she is found and the holding record reflects the actual sequence. Keeping that record honestly is worth more at an audit than a tidy set of dates that does not match the ground.
The Ground an Appleby Collection Actually Covers
Appleby-in-Westmorland sits in the Eden Valley with the North Pennines rising to the east and the Lake District fells to the west, and the farming reflects that split. The valley floor and the lower slopes carry dairy and improved grassland, while the ground climbing towards Murton, Hilton, Dufton and Warcop is hill sheep country running Swaledale and Rough Fell ewes, with suckler beef on the better in-bye. Collections here work off the A66 across the tops and the M6 at Tebay and Penrith, and the same rounds take in Tebay, Bampton, Patterdale and the holdings scattered along the Eden between Appleby and Kirkby Stephen.
Distance is the reason so many upland keepers end up relying on whoever will come rather than whoever is right. Martlands has served this ground for a long time as part of the Westmorland fallen stock collection round, and the practical detail of working these holdings, from access tracks that are impassable in the wet to gates that need a keeper present, is set out further in our guidance on how fallen stock collection services support upland and remote farms.
The Losses That Come With Fell Ground
Upland losses arrive in patterns a lowland unit never sees. Hefted flocks are spread across open allotments, so mortality is found on a gather rather than on a daily walk round. Tup losses cluster after tupping. Weather losses come in hard, sometimes several animals at once when a storm catches stock on exposed ground, and a keeper who has lost four ewes in a night has a very different collection problem from one who has lost a single animal. Bad weather also closes the very tracks a collection vehicle needs.
The practical answer is almost always to bring the animal down to an accessible point rather than expect a wagon onto the fell. Where that can be done with a quad and a trailer it should be, moving the carcass to hard standing near a gate or a yard, off watercourses and covered. Where several animals are involved, tell us the number when the booking is made so the right vehicle is sent first time. Getting that detail right at the point of booking is what prevents a wasted journey and a second day of delay on ground that is already difficult.
Getting the Category Right on a Mixed Upland Holding
Most Appleby holdings run more than one species, and the categories differ. Fallen cattle, sheep and goats are handled as Category 1 ABP collection, because ruminant carcasses fall under the specified risk material controls in the TSE rules. Fallen horses and pigs are ordinarily Category 2 ABP collection, as animals that died other than by slaughter for human consumption. Martlands holds licences for all three ABP categories, so a holding running sheep, cattle and a few horses does not need separate arrangements for each.
The exception applies wherever a vet has been involved. An animal euthanised with barbiturates becomes Category 1 whatever the species, because the carcass carries residues of a prohibited substance, and that has to be declared when the collection is booked. On a holding that has just had a difficult decision taken about a horse or an old cow, this is easily forgotten in the moment. It changes the disposal route the carcass may lawfully take, so it needs saying at the time.
Equine Losses Around Appleby
Horses are kept in this area in numbers that are unusual for a rural district of its size, and Appleby has a long standing equine association through the annual fair held under a charter dating from the seventeenth century. That density means equine fallen stock is a routine part of the work here rather than an occasional exception. A horse that dies of natural causes or is destroyed by humane slaughter is Category 2 material. A horse euthanised chemically is Category 1. In either case the passport should be available at collection so the identification can be recorded properly and the document returned or retained as required, and the collection paperwork will show which route the animal took.
BSE Sampling for Fallen Cattle Over Forty Eight Months
Fallen cattle over forty eight months of age require BSE testing, and Martlands operates as a DEFRA approved sampling and processing facility for exactly that purpose. Sampling is carried out under licence at the Burscough site and submissions go to APHA, which means an Eden Valley holding losing an older cow does not need to arrange testing through a third party or send the animal on a separate journey. The site operates under Animal By-Products Licence APB/CCN21/373/8002, Waste Carrier Licence CB/QE5406MT and Site Licence EAWML/100236, and collections are booked through the KoLeCt system.
Records That Survive an Inspection
Every collection produces a Commercial Document, with a Waste Transfer Note where one applies, and these are the only proof a holding has that fallen stock left by a lawful route. They are checked at Red Tractor assurance visits, they support ISO 14001 certification and sustainability reporting, and they need to reconcile with the holding register. Upland holdings tend to be scrutinised more closely on this point rather than less, because the physical difficulty of the ground makes assessors alert to the possibility that animals were dealt with on the farm instead. A complete and consistent set of collection documents is the answer to that question before it is asked. Martlands is a member of the National Fallen Stock Company, so scheme members can have collections handled through their existing arrangements.
Booking a Collection From an Appleby Holding
Appleby sits within the wider Cumbria fallen stock collection coverage operated from Burscough, and the rounds are planned so that upland holdings are not left waiting for a route to fill. To arrange a collection, report a loss or set up a regular arrangement for a larger unit, call 01704 776977 and give the location, the species and the number of animals involved. You can also contact us through the website where the situation is not urgent, and the farm and fallen stock collection page sets out the full scope of what the service covers.
