A new nature trail
Northumberland Wildlife trust is offering Northumbrians the opportunity to shake off the winter blues from all the rain we have had recently, this February half-term with Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s free nature trail around a popular nature site.
The trust has announced that from Saturday 14 February until Sunday 22 February, between 10:00am and 3:00pm, there will be the opportunity for outdoor explorers of all ages to find out more about life on Weetslade Country Park, by using a free downloadable self-guided trail.
The trail, made possible thanks to support from The Land Trust, includes ten stopping points detailing interesting and intriguing facts about the site, which, at this time of year, is alive with the song of dozens of resident birds and skylarks flying around in search of a mate.
The nature reserve, is a former colliery site, which has been extensively landscaped over the years by Northumberland Wildlife Trust on behalf of the Land Trust.
The park lies on a strategic wildlife corridor between Dudley and Wideopen and makes for a wonderful wildlife haven with habitats including reed bed, grassland scrub, wildflower meadows, and woodland areas. These attract a variety of wildlife including otters, grey partridges, and kingfishers. The Seaton Burn runs close by and the Weetslade reed beds, are home to dragonflies, common blue damselflies, and birds such as reed buntings. The reed beds also provide important winter roost sites for pied wagtails. Around the edges, small pockets of willow carr have been planted and they provide a habitat for great crested newts and Daubenton’s bats.
From the hilltop, with a prominent drill head sculpture reminiscent of the site’s mining past, it is possible to view the Cheviots, the North Sea, and Newcastle City Centre.
Nextdoor Nature Northumberland Project
Meanwhile, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Nextdoor Nature Northumberland Project has ended, having seen interactions with thousands of people across the region.
The project was funded by the UK Government partly through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the North East Combined Authority Investment Fund with the North East Combined Authority as the lead authority, since July 2024. The members of the project worked tirelessly to provide communities with advice and support they need to help nature thrive on their doorsteps in Northumberland from Amble to Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north of the county.
The team connected with more than 2,500 people over a period of 18 months including members of the public attending 120 events, project activities, and training sessions and those involved with twelve community projects. .
31,000 square metres of land in Amble, was cleaned up due to community litter picks with volunteers supporting the #2MinuteLitterPick national campaign, and bringing together local people from all walks of life.
Amble group at Border Links initiated the project. They are a community enterprise supporting economic and social inclusion for people with learning disabilities. Passers-by were encouraged to take part in their own #2MinuteLitterPick. with funding allowing the group to become custodians of a litter picking station.
1,600 square metres of space was improved across the project area., This resulted in nature. Improvements including sowing 4kg of native wildflower seed to improve gardens, meadows, and roadside verges across Northumberland and planting five thousand native spring bulbs across Hauxley Parish with the help of councillors and residents. A pollinator friendly garden was created with the Berwick branch of the Northumberland Recovery College as a memorial garden.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Biodiversity Project
Two short films have been produced by Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Biodiversity Project about the project for nature lovers to watch at their leisure. The £750,000 Biodiversity Boost Project was made possible by a grant from the Species Survival Fund, in partnership with Defra and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to increase and enhance habitats across the wildlife charity’s Hauxley, East Chevington and West Chevington reserves over the last 18 months.
Both films, produced by Brian Cosgrove and his team from Collingwood Arts and Media College in Morpeth and Helen Walsh, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Biodiversity Boost Officer, can be accessed via YouTube
The first film offers an overview of one of the wildlife charity’s most ambitious lowland recovery sites in the north of England – the West Chevington reserve – that forms an integral part of the Trust’s fight against climate change. The former opencast mine site consists of conifers, mixed woodland, grassland, and arable land.
Grazing is the focus of the second film which gives a potted history of grazing across the natural Druridge Bay landscape before coming right up to date with details of several of the wildlife charity’s Flexigraze conservation projects.
More films about the project are on the Trust’s Biodiversity Boost website page Biodiversity Boost | Northumberland Wildlife Trust
This article is based on media releases from Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
