North Yorkshire Council throws out plans to expand water bottling facility into a community woodland
Councillors recently rejected proposals put forward by Harrogate Spring Water (HSW) to extend its current operations in town, which would have resulted in the felling of hundreds of trees at a site known as Rotary Wood—a woodland planted by children two decades ago. Prior to the planning committee meeting, NYCC received more than 1,000 letters of objection, supported by high-profile outcries from Dame Judi Dench and Dame Joanna Lumley. Read more on Yorkshire Live.
20-year nature recovery plan underway in Cumbria
The Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery (UDLR) project is an ambitious 20-year plan to restore 2,800 hectares of woodland, peatlands and rivers in Cumbria’s Duddon Valley. Working with local farmers, rivers trusts, and researchers from the universities of Leeds and Cumbria, the project also aims to help the recovery of local wildlife, including tree pipit, pine marten and water vole. Paddy Deady, a tenant farmer involved in the project, said the initiative will allow him to continue in the tradition of fell farming while working towards nature recovery. Fourteen new jobs will also be created in the valley. Read more on BBC News
Castle Howard Estate plants more than 60,000 trees on the outskirts of York
More than 60,000 new trees have been planted as part of the Castle Howard Estate’s five-year plan to create 100 hectares of new woodland. Supported by the Forestry Commission’s England Woodland Creation Offer, all of the new saplings, which include oak, beech, hornbeam, blackthorn, and hazel, came from the Castle Howard Tree Nursery! Guy Thallon, head of natural environment at Castle Howard, said: “Woodland creation is a key pillar of Castle Howard’s Natural Environment strategy, extending the existing 1000 hectares of woodland managed by the Estate, and creating the ancient woodlands of the future.” Read more on York Live.
Crayfish hatchery success for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
The first young white-clawed crayfish raised in Yorkshire’s first ever crayfish hatchery site have been successfully released back into the wild by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. More than 182 juvenile crayfish were released into Haverdale Beck, North Yorkshire, where their pregnant mothers were collected back in summer 2025. Our only native crayfish species, the white-clawed crayfish are rapidly disappearing from Yorkshire’s waterways due to competition and disease brought into the country by invasive signal crayfish. It is hoped that this hatchery, set up at Flamingo Land, North York Moors, signals a turning point! Read more on The Northern Eco.
Northumberland’s Farne Islands named among UK’s best wildlife hotspots
Set just off the coast of Northumberland, the Farne Islands have been featured in a roundup of the UK’s best spring wildlife experiences by Simply Sea Views. Just a short boat trip from Seahouses on the mainland, the islands are known for their seabird colonies and marine life, being home to more than 40,000 puffins between May and July, with dolphins and grey seals occasionally spotted throughout the year. Matthew Fox, CEO of Simply Sea Views, said: “The UK coastline is genuinely world-class for wildlife, and spring is when it really comes into its own…you don’t need to travel abroad to have a truly extraordinary encounter with nature.” Read more on The Northern Echo.
Experts call for restrictions on pet flea treatments that harm UK songbirds
Conservationists have called for restrictions on pet flea treatments after research found songbird feathers widely contaminated with substances that can damage the birds’ brains and kill unborn chicks. Almost every feather sample tested from five common species of UK garden birds contained either permethrin, imidacloprid or fipronil–all insecticides that are banned for agricultural use but still common in pet tick and flea treatments. The findings come as dozens of veterinary professionals, wildlife charities and academics signed an open letter urging the government to address “systemic failures in the regulation of veterinary medicines”. Read more on The Guardian here.
Yorkshire Rewilding Network launches summer site visit programme
The Yorkshire Rewilding Network has just launched this year’s programme of visits to rewilding sites across the region, with several new places to explore alongside a handful of favourites (like the Cropton Beaver Project, Wild Ingleborough and Broughton Sanctuary). From neighbouring landowners rewilding together to a magical upland heath landscape and urban community gardens, it’s a great opportunity to explore rewilding in a variety of forms, meet other rewilders in person, and access places you wouldn’t be able to otherwise. View the full programme on Eventbrite here, where you can book your place (free with small donation); and YRN 2025 visits video here for an idea of what to expect.
Sign up now for Hazel Brow Farm’s new Livestock & Landscape Summer Youth Club
Hazel Brow Farm, Low Row has just published details of its new, hands-on summer sessions for 11-16 year olds. Six fun sessions throughout the summer holidays will give young people the chance to get stuck into real farm life, from meeting and handling livestock, to planting and growing crops, and exploring the wildlife of the Dales. Sessions will run every Wednesday from 9am-12pm from the 22nd July to the 26th August. Bookings by email to info@hazelbrow.org.
GoFundMe campaign launched to Save Scorton Lakes
Just a few miles from the busy A1(M) and Scotch Corner, Scorton Lakes is a natural haven, with six miles of footpaths and bridleways, woodlands and wildflower meadows, and seven lakes attracting a wide range of wildlife. Despite the fact that the area is supposed to be protected for a period of 25 years (following the recent completion of quarrying activities), it is now under threat by a pending planning application for a large-scale holiday park complex, which campaigners say would cause irreparable damage. Find out more about the issue at https://scortonlakes.org/ and support their efforts via their GoFundMe page.
Join us on a ‘willow hunt’ in Keld with upland species expert Steve Heaton
Led by Steve Heaton from Natural England and Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT), this ‘willow hunt’ will see us take a walk through the Swaledale landscape around Keld, identifying upland willow species as we go. We’ll even do some seed collection (and then seed sowing) if we are lucky enough to time our visit with the short (and quite variable) willow seed collection window. When? 7th May, 10.30am-3.30pm. Book your place here.
Bankside tour of Himalayan Balsam in Swaledale, led by Steve McCormack from Reeth Angling Club
Join Steve McCormack, secretary of Reeth Angling Club and Martha McBarron, volunteer from the local rivers trusts for a bankside tour in Swaledale, identifying areas of the highly invasive Himalayan Balsam and learning how to map it. Following this the idea would be to arrange some joint pulling sessions. Provisionally scheduled for late May/early June, please email info@sustainableswaledale.org if this would be of interest. (NB This would be as an alternative to the Dalton session which we had initially discussed for 5/6th July).
Reeth Surgery tree nursery and veg beds
As everyone will no doubt know, the GP and practice manager are retiring at the end of May and the future of a GP service is Reeth is still under discussion. This means that the future of the tree nursery and veg beds is also up in the air. We have had offers to host the tree nursery if required but the veg beds will be more difficult to rehome. Watch this space!
Woodland Management Training Day with Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust
Many thanks to the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) Woodland team and Will Richardson, a local forestry consultant, who led a very useful woodland management training day for a number of Sustainable Swaledale members earlier this week.
With the group having planted 50 sites over the last 5 years, we are reaching a stage where the earlier sites need some planned maintenance going forwards. Over the day, we visited a number of sites of varying ages planted by YDMT and Sustainable Swaledale volunteers, to evaluate their condition and assess the support required to achieve their full ambition.
We looked at the impact of ground and climate conditions on tree survival rates; threats including pests and diseases; the need to restock or thin as the site matures; and how to handle appropriate tree guard removal (often against a background of heavy grazing by rabbits, sheep and deer).
We also received advice on how to improve survival rates of saplings within the first few years; explored options to rejuvenate woodland such as pollarding and coppicing; and how to maximise the biodiversity potential of a site through choice of tree species, differing shrub layers and not forgetting the importance of dead wood.
We took away some specific recommendations and action plans for various sites, along with an understanding that even the less ‘successful’ sites were still successful in the general sense, and had scope for improvement and further development.
Over the summer we shall be drawing up some new action plans based on our learnings, continuing our tree checking programme, and introducing some maintenance and restocking tasks into the winter programme. Watch this space!
We are very grateful to Eva for arranging the event and Will, the YDMT woodland team and Martin Wood-Weatherill who shared their knowledge and expertise with us over a very interesting few hours.
Group Meeting
The next group meeting is on Thursday 7th May, 7pm at The Vicarage in Reeth (end of Langhorne Drive). We will be discussing ideas for the Reeth Surgery tree nursery and veg beds, as well as our new woodland maintenance plans.