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Community and culture

Supporting local communities in work to conserve, enhance and celebrate our natural beauty is one of our most important roles.   

There has been an increase this year in our work with local people to help them interpret what's special about where they live. We have continued to support local community projects through our Sustainable Development Fund.

Highlights:

  • £50,000 was given in Sustainable Development Fund grants to 10 projects with a total value of more than £600,000
  • More than 400 volunteers took part in our project work
  • We created The Friends of the North Pennines, a new charity for people who care about the conservation, protection and improvement of the AONB

Some of our achievements this year:

  • Sustainable Development Fund and Small Grants Fund - examples of projects supported include: a new micro-museum attached to a The Garden Station cafe at Langley, Northumberland; a youth group recycling scheme in Middleton-in-Teesdale; a new wood burning stove for Cromer House Camping Barn in Weardale; and a hydropower assessment project by the Tyne Rivers Trust
  • More and more local people are volunteering with us. The launch of our Altogether Archaeology project in July 2010 was attended by 150 volunteers; by March 2011, that number had grown to more than 300. Our volunteer botanists surveyed 11 hay meadows and more than 130 hay meadow plants - grown by volunteer seed collectors - were planted out in five meadows. We also trained 23 volunteers in water vole survey and identification
  • Heritage Open Days – once again we ran a series of events in association with the Mid-Tees Partnership which included historic bus tours around Teesdale and the Upper Derwent area around Blanchland
  • Our Quarrymen Oral History Project recorded the memories of those who have worked in the local quarry industry over the years. This will lead to a CD and booklet and an archive of the recordings
  • We worked with the John Martin Heritage Group of Haydon Bridge to help them win a grant of £48,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a two-year festival of celebratory and educational events about the artist and engraver
  • We ran Hay Time History Roadshows for 19 local community groups across the North Pennines and beyond
  • We facilitated and hosted a visit by poet Simon Armitage CBE to Langdon Beck as part of his Pennine Way journey. More than 60 people attended a Poems and Pints event at the Langdon Beck Hotel
  • For the third year in succession we held a family Woodland Myth and Magic event at Bowlees in Upper Teesdale. Activities included a tree-top rope walk, crafts and storytelling
  • We continued to provide volunteer and school tree planting days at several locations including Blanchland in Northumberland and Warcop in Cumbria
  • Local knowledge was recorded for posterity by local groups we worked with. An archiving project in Teesdale has seen some 3,000 images scanned by volunteers and Lunedale's heritage has been remembered in a 170-page hardback book
  • We worked with residents in Upper Weardale to help them manage the impact of flooding in their properties. With funds from the Environment Agency, we installed barriers and flood-proof air bricks at six properties
The Garden Station