Bramham International Horse Trials takes conservation of the environment seriously.

This horse trials has been ‘zero to landfill’ for many years, thanks to the great efforts of our specialist waste contractors, Wetherby Skip Services, who collect all waste from site and take it to their local sorting facility. All recyclable materials are separated and sent for reuse and anything that cannot be recycled is taken to a local incineration plant, producing electricity for the national grid.

We have stopped printing physical programmes and moved all the event information on-line. Whist this has not been universally popular and has suffered from some patchy mobile network coverage, it is the modern way and saves the carbon from all the few thousand unsold copies each year.

In 2019 plastic water bottles were no longer sold on site and a plant based product was trialled, with some success. However, from last year the switch to aluminium cans was made, which we’re repeating this year. Free water bottle refill points were also introduced at around the site and visitors encouraged to bring their own refillable water bottles.

Our wonderful outdoor caterers, Food Hall Farms, will only serve food on biodegradable products, there will be no plastic plates, cutlery, coffee cup lids etc. In many cases these are also compostable.

We continually review our power requirements to see if we can use fewer or smaller generators, reducing our use of diesel. There is almost no getting away from generator use at a greenfield site, but every little helps.

Wherever possible, we work with other local businesses:

• Coopers Marquees are based near York.
• Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream are based in Skipton.
• Generator Power, who supply all of our modern fuel-efficient generators, have a depot 16 miles away.
• WG Search, who supply toilets, cabins, golf buggies and showers are based in Leeds.
• Wetherby Skip Services are obviously in Wetherby.
• Yorkshire Sound Services, who supply our radios and PA equipment, rent space to store their equipment year-round on the Estate.
• Mark Brake Contracting, who are responsible for the high-quality groundscare of the Park, cross-country courses and arenas are employed year round by the Estate. They maintain the Park, manage the gardens and the home farming operation. Their staff and equipment are based at Bramham all year.
• It is not always possible to source locally, but we are very lucky to have so many great firms on our doorstep.

How you can help:

• Bring your refillable water bottles and top-up at our free water stations.
• Please remember to bring your own reusable shopping bags.
• Consider car-sharing.

Bramham Park Estate

The 300-year continuity of management and emphasis on the ‘look of the place’ have both contributed to the unspoiled nature of the Bramham Park Estate. The Family’s management decisions have always been tempered with a keen sense of responsibility for the Estate’s natural environment and wildlife. Despite lying only five miles from the edge of Leeds and having the A1(M) motorway running through it, the Estate is a haven for wildlife. In addition to foxes, badgers, hares, weasels etc. the Estate is home to populations of roe deer, red kites and buzzards.Since Bramham lies in the Southern Magnesian Limestone National Character Area, it is also home to many important calcareous grassland plants.  The survival of these has been helped by the Estate’s consistent management of its land.

In late 2015 the Estate completed the construction of an anaerobic digestion plant. This generates green electricity, for sale to the National Grid, fuelled by silage grown on the in-hand farm. At full-power we generate 1.2MW of electricity, 24 hours a day: enough to supply 1,500 homes, whatever the weather. The spent fuel, or digestate, is spread back on the land as fertilizer, almost removing the need for industrially produced fertilisers. The plant also produces as much heat as electricity and we capture this to dry wood-chip, which is used as fuel elsewhere, often in schools and hospitals.