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Visit Bowlees Bowlees Visitor Centre is the gateway to the North Pennines AONB & UNESCO Global Geopark

Felt Curious Curious received an art bursary to deliver workshops to make felted geodes and a large piece of felt art wi...
14/01/2025

Felt Curious Curious received an art bursary to deliver workshops to make felted geodes and a large piece of felt art with communities in the North Pennines. The sessions were designed to engage people in looking at the history and geology of the area through an enticing and accessible craft. Read more: https://northpennines.org.uk/felted-geodes/
The community arts programme is part of the Land of Lead and Silver project, delivered by the North Pennines National Landscape team, is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.
Applications for the 2025 community arts bursaries will open in early January 2025.

Artist Daniel Weatheritt's arts sessions for the Land of Lead and Silver project were focused on illustration, using pho...
11/01/2025

Artist Daniel Weatheritt's arts sessions for the Land of Lead and Silver project were focused on illustration, using photos of mining heritage in the North Pennines and the spar boxes created by miners for inspiration. Blurring the lines between traditional and digital creative work, the illustrations created by all participants were collated into a video, showcasing the work through interesting visual overlaps and artwork transitions.
Daniel's arts activities were part of the Land of Lead and Silver project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.

Job opportunities to work on the Tees-Swale: Naturally Connected programme.Community Engagement Trainee - are you intere...
09/01/2025

Job opportunities to work on the Tees-Swale: Naturally Connected programme.
Community Engagement Trainee - are you interested in gaining skills to work in community engagement or heritage communication/ interpretation? Help deliver a varied and inspiring education, engagement and community event programme to hundreds of people, including young people, in and around Teesdale.
More details - bit.ly/40NPNLCET
Farming and Nature Trainee - We are looking for an individual who has a basic understanding of land management, countryside issues, agriculture, ecology or nature conservation. Help deliver a varied and ground-breaking selection of wildlife and nature projects, including upland hay meadow restoration and woodland creation in and around Teesdale.
More details - bit.ly/4NPNLFNT
https://bit.ly/NorthPenninesNationalLandscapejobs

Artist Abi Baker received an arts residency as part of the Land of Lead and Silver project's 2024 community arts program...
09/01/2025

Artist Abi Baker received an arts residency as part of the Land of Lead and Silver project's 2024 community arts programme.
The commission gave her the time to develop skills and creativity, from hand building ceramics to sewing a quilt to leading workshops, inspired by the lead mining heritage of the North Pennines. Read her blog: https://northpennines.org.uk/artist-residency/
The Land of Lead and Silver project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.

A recent community arts project explored the smelting history of the North Pennines and connected local communities thro...
07/01/2025

A recent community arts project explored the smelting history of the North Pennines and connected local communities through the shared experience of knitting. Artist Carole McCourt devised the smelters' shawl knitting project to be both a personal and collective creative tribute to the region’s industrial past. Read more: https://northpennines.org.uk/smelters-shawl-knitting/
Part of the 2024 community arts programme for the Land of Lead and Silver project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.

Our free guided walk for January starts at Dufton in Cumbria, at 10.30am on Saturday 25, finishing at approximately 12.3...
05/01/2025

Our free guided walk for January starts at Dufton in Cumbria, at 10.30am on Saturday 25, finishing at approximately 12.30pm.
Not more than 2-3 miles in length, our Saturday strolls are taken at a relaxed pace and suitable for any experience level and all ages. You are welcome to join us for free refreshments afterwards, finishing by 2pm. Optional donation – suggested amount £2.
Find out more and book your free place here: https://northpennines.org.uk/event/saturday-stroll-dufton-2/

On winter walks if you pass hedgerows with berries remaining, keep an eye out for our native thrushes such as mistle thr...
04/01/2025

On winter walks if you pass hedgerows with berries remaining, keep an eye out for our native thrushes such as mistle thrush, song thrush and blackbird, as well as winter visitors such as fieldfare and redwing. Hawthorn, rowan, rosehips and, of course, festive holly are important sources of food for these species, getting them through the long winter.

Invertebrates are few and far between at this time of year. The ten UK species of winter gnat, or winter cranefly (Trich...
02/01/2025

Invertebrates are few and far between at this time of year. The ten UK species of winter gnat, or winter cranefly (Trichoceridae), however, can commonly be seen in any available sunshine. The dancing swarms of mostly males can often be seen near woodland or riverbanks, their long legs and almost transparent wings making a distinctive show. This behaviour to attract mates is known as ‘lekking’, a term we associate more in the North Pennines with our rare and distinctive black grouse.
📷 Winter gnat image courtesy of Buglife

We might be very used to identifying trees from their leaves, flowers or fruit, but winter gives us the opportunity to i...
31/12/2024

We might be very used to identifying trees from their leaves, flowers or fruit, but winter gives us the opportunity to identify tree species by shape, form, bark and buds. Take a look at the trees near you when you are out walking this Christmas, and you’ll soon find that they are far from the uniform bare twiggy skeletons you might assume from first glance.
Read our blog about a tree that is easy to identify in winter:
https://northpennines.org.uk/alder/

When looking out for winter wildlife, keep an eye out for stoats in ermine, meaning that their coats turn partly or whol...
29/12/2024

When looking out for winter wildlife, keep an eye out for stoats in ermine, meaning that their coats turn partly or wholly white. Stoats will often turn white in winter, particularly here in the northern uplands where snow is more common. The black tip of the tail will always remain though.
The level of colour change is likely to be genetic, with the transformation being triggered by both temperature and the change in the amount of light during the days. While this white coat is warmer and gives colour camouflage during snowy weather, it will make the stoat stand out during years when we see less snowfall.

📷 (c) Cameron Sharp

While there might seem to be less nature to observe in winter months, one group of plants that continue to provide inter...
27/12/2024

While there might seem to be less nature to observe in winter months, one group of plants that continue to provide interest are trees. Some even shed their bark to 'breathe', like those of the birch family. The outer, dead layers of bark are waterproof, but they are also gas proof. Trees need to transfer gases through their bark, and they use lens-shaped pores called lenticles to do this. Lenticles vary in size, they are tiny in some trees but much larger in others.
On birch trees they are the horizontal lines that you see on their bark, which can become clogged by algae and lichens. As they grow and stretch, they shed their outer bark layer, unblocking their lenticles, leaving the characteristic peeling stringy bark we see on downy and silver birch trees.

The robin has a sure-fire way of making sure he remains the quintessential symbol of nature at Christmas. Just when all ...
25/12/2024

The robin has a sure-fire way of making sure he remains the quintessential symbol of nature at Christmas. Just when all the other birds are quiet for the winter, except perhaps the ever-vocal wren, the robin begins to sing even more loudly as breeding season approaches.
The cheery call is really something to celebrate if you hear it – it also means the birds have built up enough fat reserves to survive the winter and establish their territory for breeding.

📷 (c) Dave Higgins

The latest phase of an innovative project to limit heavy metals polluting rivers in Upper Teesdale is complete. Over thr...
24/12/2024

The latest phase of an innovative project to limit heavy metals polluting rivers in Upper Teesdale is complete. Over three hectares of vegetation plots, created above Middleton-in-Teesdale, will limit heavy metals being washed out of abandoned mine sites on tributaries of the River Tees. Read more here: northpennines.org.uk/diffuse-metals/
The work was delivered as part of the Tees-Swale: naturally connected programme, which is funded primarily by National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
This project to limit metals polluting rivers was led by the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines (WAMM) programme, working with the Tees Rivers Trust. It is primarily funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) through the WAMM programme, a partnership with the Environment Agency and the Mining Remediation Authority.

There aren't as many invertebrates around for the wildlife spotter, but you may still see the aptly named December moth....
23/12/2024

There aren't as many invertebrates around for the wildlife spotter, but you may still see the aptly named December moth.
The flight time for this species actually starts a little earlier than its name suggests, from October, but this common species is one of the few still to be seen at this time of year. Often found in woodland and scrub, but also in gardens, the December moth is a fluffy moth that is much more resistant to cold than other species.

📷 Carol Inskipp

On the shortest day, spare a thought for the barn owl, with even less time to hunt. At this time of year, they are often...
21/12/2024

On the shortest day, spare a thought for the barn owl, with even less time to hunt. At this time of year, they are often seen out hunting during the day if rain, snow or other inclement weather has stopped their nocturnal flights. They are also keeping their calorie intake high to get through the winter - for the barn owl festively plump is a real advantage.
Look out for them in the lower valleys, particularly around farmland. They may be silent in flight, but a white wingspan of 100 to 125 centimetres is hard to miss.

📷 (c) Dave Higgins

Sunrise and sunset in the on the shortest day of the year. Sunrise at Kirkcarrion 📷 (c) Martin RogersSunset at Dufton...
21/12/2024

Sunrise and sunset in the on the shortest day of the year.
Sunrise at Kirkcarrion 📷 (c) Martin Rogers
Sunset at Dufton 📷 (c) North Pennines National Landscape

Job opportunity - Community Engagement Trainee.Looking for a traineeship to develop your own skills and knowledge to ena...
20/12/2024

Job opportunity - Community Engagement Trainee.
Looking for a traineeship to develop your own skills and knowledge to enable you to assist with the planning, preparation and delivery of community engagement and education projects across the North Pennines?
More information - bit.ly/NorthPenninesNationalLandscapejobs

It is the beginning of which marks the start of the annual tree planting season. We are planting trees and hedgerows o...
23/11/2024

It is the beginning of which marks the start of the annual tree planting season. We are planting trees and hedgerows on farms across Teesdale this winter to improve habitat connectivity and create more space for nature.

You can volunteer and help us on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 November, Tuesday 3, Friday 13 and Saturday 14 December, 10am to 3.30pm.
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/Teesdalehedgetreeplanting

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