Since summer 2018, a dedicated and remarkable team of volunteers have turned up, whatever the weather, to carry stakes, tubes and plants, over rivers and up hills to help the project team plant the trees that will eventually create the Kielder Wildwood.

However, the planting at the top of the hill which is rough unpredictable ground with wet sphagnum beds, thick heather and jungle like stands of bracken, was more than the hardly volunteers could manage and reinforcements had to be called in.

And so it was that over 18,000 stakes and 7,000 tree tubes were recently airlifted to the most inaccessible parts of the Wildwood site and dropped on site ready for next spring.

The decision to use a helicopter to transport the materials onto site was made based upon what the team has learned from working in the area over the past three years.

Steven Lipscombe, Kielder Wildwood Project Officer said: ”Balancing the aims of the project against the safety of our volunteers is paramount and the money spent to charter the helicopter will allow us to plant the trees we need, in a safe and effective way. Some may criticise our decision to do this but as the project’s tree planting is working to improve biodiversity, we felt the use of technology and machinery has a considered place in this process.”

For now, the quiet has returned to Wildwood. Winter engulfs the site in a solitude it has become used to during this year of lockdowns.

The work carried out by eight Northumberland Wildlife Trust staff, two helicopter crew and one helicopter means that quiet will only be disturbed again come spring when Steven and his volunteers venture out to pick up the stakes and tubes dropped from the sky and begin creating the Wildwood again.

The Kielderhead Wildwood project is a five-year Lottery Heritage Fund funded project that has been running since 2018.

Alongside the planting of the trees, the project is developing a monitoring protocol to collect data on how the tree planting will affect the ecology of the site. We also collect seed and grow the trees we plant on site. We work with volunteers on all of these activities and offer training in the techniques required. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact steven.lipscombe@northwt.org.uk or visit www.nwt.org.uk/wildwood for more information.