The conference centre is located in the Stable Yard and measures 17.5 m. long and 5.5 m. wide. It is a light, airy, high-ceilinged room with an attractive natural wooden floor, overhead beams and dramatic fireplaces at both ends. It can seat a maximum of 60 people. The restaurant/kitchen is adjacent to the conference room with overhead Scots Pine beams and staffed catering can be arranged to suit all kinds of events except weddings. The hire charge for all the facilities is £150 per day.

In terms of the specie mix of Broadleaf trees on the Estate: – Common, Red & Turkey oak, Common & Chilean beech, Ash, Rowan, Alder, Silver & Downy birch, Willow, Poplar, Aspen, Lime, Spanish & Horse chestnut, Crab apple, Sycamore, Norway maple, Cherry & Whitebeam.
In September 2001 Baronscourt Estate started a management conversion of its forest to “Continuous Cover Forestry” (CCF).  The aim of this conversion is to enhance the stability within the forest structure from wind, soil erosion, and climate mitigation. We believe that a multi-age (uneven) and multi-specie forest structure has significant economic,  environmental, and social benefits in comparison to standard plantation forestry.  The more experience we learn about CCF and its conversion the more sure that we are doing the right thing!

In 2003 the Estate was awarded the prestigious Royal Forestry Society’s ‘Duke of Cornwall’s Award’ for their efforts toward forestry and conservation management.

All the Estates’ comercial forestry is FSC certified and the majority of the timber is sold to local sawmills such as Balcas Limited www.balcas.com , which is based in the neighbouring County Fermanagh.  We sell high quality seasoned firewood to the local market, and also can supply good quality woodchip either via a heat supply contract or long terms supply arrangement.

We are members of the ConFor (Confederation of Forest Industries) www.confor.org.uk , The Royal Forestry Society www.rfs.org.uk , and are members of Prosilva Ireland, which advocates and promotes CCF, www.prosilvaireland.org , in Ireland.

Christmas trees

We specialise in town centre / municipal christmas trees and can supply these up to 14m (45 ft) in height. These trees have been shaped to provide excellent quality trees specifically for the Christmas tree market.  Trees up to 6m (16ft) high are mainly Nordman Fir and trees over 6m are mostly Norway Spruce.

Prices:

4-4.9m            £ 95

5-5.9m           £125

6-6.9m           £165

7-7.9m           £210

8-8.9m          £245

9-9.9m          £295

10-10.9m      £350

11-11.9m      £400

12-12.9m      £450

13-13.9m      £500

Bessy Bell wind farm is located on Bessy Bell mountain, part of the Baronscourt Estate. The development is situated at 320 m. above sea-level on a hillside adjacent to forestry land. It consists of ten 500kW turbines capable of an output of five megawatts, enough electricity to supply the needs of approximately 5-6,000 homes.

Wind energy is clean and efficient and because wind is a renewable source, it will never run out. Wind energy is now a successful and rapidly expanding world-wide industry. Conventional power stations burn fossil fuels which produce emissions of carbon dioxide (a contributor to global warming) as well as nitrogen oxides (linked to acid rain). Wind farms contribute none of these emissions to the environment and therefore help to reduce the environmental impact of generating electricity.

Bessy Bell wind farm is owned by Scottish and Southern Electricity PLC and all the electricity produced is sold to Northern Ireland Electricity.

In 2002/03 the Creative Writing Competition was replaced by the pilot Awards Programme. This initiative still retains creative writing as the central core of activity but this is supplemented in participating schools by at least one other creative art form and exploration of the environment. Thus the programme extends participation and meets the needs of further elements in the curriculum, north and south, while encouraging natural cross-curricular activity. Two hundred children and one hundred adults attended the Awards Day in June at Baronscourt, to celebrate their year long participation and success in the project. This new non-competitive programme, with awards for achievement for all, has proved highly successful among children and teachers alike and is being run for a second pilot year in 2003/2004. The Trust also runs an annual Summer School in Creative Writing for Teachers at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annamakarrig, Co. Monaghan.

The Baronscourt Estate is the venue for a large proportion of Pushkin residential activities and for aspects of the Awards Programme. The ‘Baronscourt Days’ initiative began in 1999 and twenty-six took place in 2003. In a given day, up to eighty children and their teachers came to Baronscourt to participate in an environmental and creative exploration under the guidance of professionals. A variety of indoor locations are used for artistic activities and environmental workshops take place in the gardens, grounds and surrounding woodlands. The Summer Camp of the Imagination is an annual event that takes place in August. This residential event is a five-day extended version of the Baronscourt Day and is also held on the Baronscourt Estate. Approximately sixty children from a variety of schools participating in the programme attend with their parents and teachers. Finally, the Partners in Education Programme, now in its fourth year, caters for all seven Teacher Training Colleges throughout Ireland. This includes a residential weekend on the Baronscourt estate, where student teachers and their lecturers come together for an intensive exploration of individual creativity and environmental awareness. The Estate is the crucial sustaining element of the activities of the Pushkin Trust and home also to the Pushkin office.