A SNAPSHOT of farming in Teesdale has been captured by two French students.

Agricultural students Alix Gerardin, 23, and Emma Joseph-Oudin, 22, have been knocking on farmers’ doors throughout the dale as part of a six-month project in agricultural development.

The Parisian pupils are in their final year of university and working with the Countryside and Community Research Institute, at the University of Gloucestershire.

And in partnership with the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (North Pennines AONB) Partnership, the duo have been studying the hill farming systems in Teesdale by interviewing those who know it best.

The pair are currently in their final weeks of the project, which aims to analyse the economic efficiency of the agriculture, the history of the dale and public policies.

Their work was split into three parts. First they studied the geology of the area and the landscape, followed by the history of the agriculture in the Dale and lastly they looked into the economical farming systems.

They will submit a report for their degree back in Paris before returning to the Dale to share their findings with their subjects.

Miss Joseph-Oudin said: “We were amazed by the diversity we can find within a few kilometres.

“Common grazing is not usual in France so it was really interesting to learn about this, as well as the hefted sheep that we had never heard about.

“We were really interested by the link between the mining and agricultural activity in Teesdale.”

The duo said they have had many memorable moments during the project.

Miss Joseph-Oudin added: “All the people we have talked with were very welcoming and nice to us.

“We usually knock on the farms doors and introduce ourselves, asking if the farmers might have a moment to explain us how their farm work and how it used to be.

“We had almost only positive answers and we heard really good and funny stories about the history of the farms.”

Biodiversity lead for the North Pennines AONB, Rebecca Barrett, said the students had both put their all into the project.

She said: “I think this has been a really nice thing with the welcome they have had and people have really taken to them.

“They interview farmers about three times and they have spoken to retired farmers to get some of the history and then mixed in some of the younger farmers to ask questions about the future of the area – they have been really detailed so their findings will be interesting.”

Mrs Barrett added: “Upper Teesdale is a fantastic landscape with some extremely important habits and species up there which are dependent on appropriate farming.

“This is important from our point of view because it gives us an opportunity to think about the past and the future especially now with the potential changes in Europe.”