Northumberland restaurant bidding for third restaurant of the year winThe Old Boat House in Amble, Northumberland have been nominated for the prestigious title of ‘Coastal Fish Restaurant of the Year’ in the 2018 Fishing News Awards, having scooped the prize in both 2016 and 2017.The Awards celebrate outstanding achievements, expertise and innovation in the coastal and fishing industries. Last year the restaurant was commended for its use of local produce and friendly service and the owners are hoping to win the 2018 prize so they can continue to raise Amble’s profile and see it’s coastal community thrive. The Old Boat House Food group was founded in 2014 by husband and wife duo Martin and Ruth Charlton who now run four venues in Blyth and Amble, employing 32 staff. Their initial offering, The Old Boat House Amble has since become a nationally renowned destination for seafood fans. Mr Charlton believes this is partly due to their previous award wins.“Last year’s award gave us the confidence to open a new venue in Amble, La Famiglia creating a further 6 full time jobs. We also launched Northumberland Restaurant Week to give people far and wide a chance to experience what the region has to offer with great value deals. We hope this proves our continued support in growing the local economy and providing employment opportunities in the area”.To coincide with the award bid the food group plan to expand and modernise The Old Boat House which will create eight more jobs and draw more people to Amble Harbour Village, helping to further establish Amble as a growing tourist destination. Ruth Charlton added, “We’re dedicated to engaging with our local community in a number of ways; from supporting apprentices through Northumberland College to using a range of local suppliers and fisherman. We hope this commitment shines through when people are deciding whether to vote for us”.The restaurant group will be running a range of competitions and giveaways to celebrate the nomination and thank it’s customers for their support. For more info visit boathousefoodgroup.co.ukVoting in the Fishing News Awards 2018 closes on midnight Friday, 27th April 2018. Voting forms are available through the link tiny.cc/amble or via the Fishing News website fishingnews.co.uk/awards

Embargo Tuesday April 17thNew research reveals nature’s beauty increases happiness30 Days Wild connect peoples with natural beauty Northumberland Wildlife Trust13 April 2018The countdown has begun to The Wildlife Trusts’ annual nature challenge - 30 Days Wild which encourages people to do something wild every day for the month of June, and last year 250,000 people took part.This June’s 30 Days Wild challenge from The Wildlife Trusts will encourage thousands of people across the UK to make their neighbourhoods wilder - to help wildlife and get communities sharing the joy of the wild.Academics at the University of Derby who have monitored the challenge since it began in 2015 have discovered that spending time in nature makes us feel good. 30 Days Wild encourages people to notice nature on their doorsteps every single day and gives them a multitude of exciting and fun ways of doing it.The University’s evaluation* of 30 Days Wild 2017 included new measures and reveals that people’s perception of beauty in the natural world is a key ingredient to unlocking the benefits of well-being and happiness experienced by participants in the challenge.Dr Miles Richardson, Director of Psychology, University of Derby explains: “Over the past three years we’ve repeatedly found that taking part in 30 Days Wild improves health, happiness, nature connection and conservation behaviours. Now we have discovered that engagement with the beauty of nature is part of that story.“Tuning-in to the everyday beauty of nature becomes part of a journey which connects us more deeply to the natural world. As people’s appreciation of natural beauty increases, so does their happiness. We respond to beauty - it restores us and balances our emotions. This, in turn, encourages people to do more to help wildlife and take action for nature.” The latest set of results from the study of 30 Days Wild also confirms that the benefits of the challenge last well after the month has ended. There are indications that the beneficial impact of taking part could last an entire year.Mike Pratt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Chief Executive said: “Northumberland Wildlife Trust is urging everybody to do get behind 30 Days Wild which is a lovely way to get closer to nature and marvel at the everyday wildlife that lives all around you. Sit quietly and enjoy watching dragonflies dance over a pond or take a moment to sow a window box of wildflowers to help bees.“Get together with your neighbours to create hedgehog highways or sow front-garden meadows along the length of your street. No matter how small the action, it all counts!”Anybody interested in 30 Days Wild can register at www.wildlifetrusts.org/30DaysWild and receive a free pack with a booklet of inspirational ideas for Random Acts of Wildness, a recipe for wild strawberry and thyme ice cream, wildflower seeded paper to sow, a wall chart to record your activities and wild stickers.There is also a 30 Days Wild app which is available at www.wildlifetrusts.org/30DaysWild/AppThis year’s 30 Days Wild theme is all about helping wildlife in your neighbourhood and our pack has inspiring ideas for sharing the challenge locally. See great ways to green-up your street from carving hedgehog holes in fences to putting up bird and bat boxes and doing a local litter pick.As part of the 30 Days Wild campaign, the first ever Big Wild Weekend of wildlife events will be held across the whole of the UK on the 16 - 17 June, and in this region, a series of events will be held at the wildlife charity’s Hauxley and Northumberlandia reserves. For more information visit: www.nwt.org.uk/whats-on

It’s happy days for festival fans as Lindisfarne Festival announces alt-rock legends Happy Mondays as their Friday headliner for the 3 day summer music festival which takes place from 30thAugust-2ndSeptember 2018 on Beal Farm, Northumberland. The announcement is made alongside plans to raise much needed funds at the festival for UK homelessness charity Crisis through the Musicians Against Homelessness (MAH) initiative.One of the most famous bands to emerge from the 1980s Manchester scene - with a slew of hits includingStep On,Kinky Afroand24 Hour Party People– Happy Mondays will join Brighton folk-punk band the Levellers at the top of the bill for the popular Northumberland festival.Plans for the 4thannual festival, which crowdfunded £75k in 6 weeks last October are going from strength to strength, with organisers confirming record ticket sales for the 2018 event so far.Happy Mondays are avid supporters of the grass roots rock music movement (MAH), which has already raised more than £100,000 for UK homelessness charities since the project launched in 2016, backed by patron Alan McGee.Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder commented:“We're all really looking forward to headlining Lindisfarne Festival on 31st August. It’s going to be a great party!! Love that the festival supports Musicians Against Homelessness too - a great cause!”A regularly shortlisted finalist at the UK Festival Awards, Lindisfarne Festival 2018 will showcase 150+ acts over its 8 festival stages, with live music & DJs until 4am over the weekend.Other acts already announced for the over 18’s festival include The Showhawk Duo, Ferocious Dog, Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5, Bombskare, Detroit Social Club, Bessie & the Zinc Buckets, Hip Hop Hooray, and local music sensation 13 year old singer-songwriter Tom ‘Mouse’ Smith.Conleth Maenpaa, founder of Lindisfarne Festival commented:“We are absolutely thrilled to add Happy Mondays to what is undoubtedly our biggest and best line up to date. This year we are stepping things up in every way imaginable and with ticket sales currently exceeding all our expectations, we know that this year is going to be the most incredible party the North East has ever seen!”As well as a new dedicated rock & blues bar, this year the festival will also see the addition of a new acoustic busking stage, which will give up & coming musicians the opportunity to expose their talents to the festival’s anticipated 4000 attendees, whilst encouraging charitable donations for the MAH campaign.Festival organisers are working closely with Musicians Against Homelessness to curate a strong lineup of unsigned talent for the new stage and maximise fundraising opportunities both at the event and in the months leading up.Conleth added:“We are exceptionally proud to be supporting Musicians Against Homelessness again in 2018. The organisation is a true inspiration and its dedicated volunteers are not only a huge credit to the music industry but to humanity! Last year our festivalgoers helped raise a substantial amount for the campaign and this year we’re committed to doing everything we can to support both their fundraising efforts and their mission to create opportunities for more unsigned musicians.”Independent, affordable and unpretentious, Lindisfarne Festival has become revered for being the perfect value for money party festival – offering a boutique festival experience without the expensive festival price-tag.Tickets with camping are currently priced at £59 - £95 and can be bought athttps://lindisfarnefestival.comA range of glamping options are also available.Photo credit - Paul Husband

March 2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the designation of the North Northumberland Coast as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Throughout the year the Northumberland Coast AONB Partnership will be organising a number of events so everyone can join in to discover more about our beautiful coast and learn how to look after it for future generations.To launch the celebrations, the team will be spending the day on the Coast! OnFriday 23rd March, the Partnership, guests and volunteers will be be planting 60 hedgerow trees near Bamburgh, before heading back to the village for afternoon tea and birthday cake. In the evening, John Grundy, local historian and TVpresenter, has been invited to give a talk. He is a passionate enthusiast for the history and architecture of the North East, bringing stories vividly to life with his unique and engaging style. His talk - "Castles to Cowsheds: the extraordinary buildings of the Northumberland Coast" - will be perfect for anyone who shares his love of the area. The talk is free of charge and bound to be popular, so tickets need to be booked early to avoid disappointment.The Partnership have also been awarded a grant of nearly £900 from The Pen and Palette Club to help them stage further events. Over the summer months, the Partnership will be hosting a written word competition for people from Northumberland and beyond to reflect on and write about the Northumberland Coast, with stories that reflect on local people and places encouraged.The competition will be open to three age categories: 7-11 years, 12-16 years and adults. Entries could be short stories, poem or verse, as long as they meet the terms of entry. The winning entries will be published on the Northumberland Coast AONB website and used in other displays and presentations as part of our diamond celebrations.The Finale will be in the autumn, with a concert featuring song, music and drama celebrating the cultural heritage of the Northumberland Coast. There will be an award ceremony and prize giving for the written word competition winners and a performance of the winning entries.Jeff Watson, Chair of the AONB Partnership said: ”Sixty years is a significant milestone and it deserves to be acknowledged. We hope that people will share their energy and enthusiasm for the area with us but at the same time, be mindful of the responsibility to preserve it for future generations”.Catherine Gray, Funding and Communications Officer for the AONB Partnership said: “There is an extraordinary amount of talent within the AONB and we wanted to find as many different ways as possible to celebrate that. We hope to add to these events throughout the year and would welcome any suggestions people might have. We’d particularly like to see any photos of the area from the 1950s”.

CLOSURE NOTICE!Due to extreme weather conditions, The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre will be CLOSED on Wednesday 28th February and Thursday 1st March.For emergency shelter, go next door to The Twice Brewed Inn, Bardon Mill, Hexham, NE47 7AN. For more visitor information and updates, please call 01434 611521 (9am - 5pm) or check the website www.thesill.org.uk Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens and Warkworth Castle To celebrate the release of Oscar®-winning Nick Park’s upcoming film EARLY MAN, English Heritage is teaming up with award-winning animation studio Aardman, creators of Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep, to bring a brand-new half term quest to its sites at Belsay Hall and Warkworth Castle this half term.Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of how plucky caveman Dug (Eddie Redmayne), along with sidekick Hognob unites his tribe against the mighty Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston) and the Bronze Age to save their home.Visitors to English Heritage sites can take part in a special trail, following clues to reach the end, and receive an Aardman Model Making kit, as well as entry into a special competition to win tickets to a VIP screening of the film at Stonehenge. Early Man is released in UK cinemas on 26 January by Studiocanal.Find our more the EarlyMan Quest at Belsay: http://bit.ly/EMQuestBelsayFind our more the EarlyMan Quest at Warkworth: http://bit.ly/QuestWarkworthImage courtesy of Aardman/Studiocanal

If the runaway success of ITV’s Britain’s Favourite Walks has inspired you to dust off your walking boots, then head for an Inn Collection Group pub and enjoy some of the UK’s best walks on your doorstep.A trailblazing nine routes close to the group’s pubs with rooms, made it into the programme’s top 100, with the North – and especially coastal walks – coming out top among voters. Around 8,000 people voted for their favourite walks for the programme, presented by Julia Bradbury and Ore Oduba, with famous faces and keen hikers profiling their own favourite paths.The Inn Collection Group’s operations director Sean Donkin said: “It’s no surprise that people love to walk in the North. We have the best beaches, more castles than any other county in England, rugged hill country and showstopper viewpoints – all interspersed with amazing local history and attractions. “Our inns, which span the North of England, including Northumberland, County Durham and North Yorkshire, pride themselves on welcoming in walkers. Our staff are keen hikers themselves. Myself, along with general managers from the whole group have just walked the route from Dunstanburgh to Craster – the very route which made the show’s final ten in the whole of the country.“We welcome muddy boots, have wash down facilities, help with drying wet gear – and staff are always happy to share local knowledge of nearby routes, facilities, accessibility, public transport and what people can see and do along the way – they will even drop off and collect walkers from their routes, if they can.”To celebrate the wealth of walks around their inns, the group has introduced Walk Inn breaks at several walking hotspots.Including bed and breakfast, a welcome drink on arrival, dinner, a pack of 20 waterproofed O/S walks around the inn of your choice, and a packed lunch, Walk Inn start from £40 per person on top of standard room rates.Walk Inn breaks are available at the following Northumberland inns:The Bamburgh Castle Inn at Seahouses, Northumberland The Lindisfarne Inn at Beal, near Holy Island, NorthumberlandThe Hog’s Head Inn at Alnwick, NorthumberlandThe Commissioners Quay Inn at Blyth, Northumberland See walks from ITV’s Britain’s Favourite Walks – Top 100 here.

St Valery in Almmouth, Northumberland has been awarded the title of Waggiest Welcome PetsPyjamas 2017 Dog-Friendly Travel Awards, as part of the UK’s leading pet-friendly holiday company’s recognition for the special destinations, who lead the way by offering a truly pet-friendly experience for customers and their Very Important Pets. With the Guide Dogs Great British Dog Survey 2017 revealing that 70% of pet owners like to take their dog on holiday, the Year of the Dog is most certainly set to be the Year of the Holiday Dog, with St Valery and the other 11 award-winning dog-friendly hotspots to choose from. Setting their standard of excellence to be met by all their travel partners - from five-star hotels to cottages, country houses and stylish pub inns with rooms, PetsPyjamas’ travel awards recognise only the very best, so St Valery and the 11 other winners were judged on the following criteria: 1. Super dog-loving atmosphere and staff at all times; 2. Three or more dog-friendly rooms available to book; 3. Dogs have access to some communal areas and are able to dine with their owners – a special doggie menu would be a bonus!; 4. Dogs are provided with beds, bowls and treats in the hotel room or cottage; 5. Nearby dog-friendly attractions, for example fabulous long doggie walks or a dog-friendly beach. Described by customers as a dog lover’s paradise, St Valery’s resident dog Roxy welcomes every canine and makes sure there are treats waiting in their room. Furry friends are also provided with beds, bowls and towels to dry off after walks on their neighbouring heritage coast and designated National Landscape. St Valery owner, Harvey Roberts says: “Having a dog of my own, I completely understand how difficult it can be sometimes to find good quality accommodation when you are away with your dog, so being dog-friendly was really important to me when I was setting up the business nearly two years ago. Northumberland is such a dog- friendly county and the beach we have here in Alnmouth is dog-friendly all year round, which we love sharing with other dog owners.” Commenting on their win he adds: “I’m really proud of what the team here at St Valery has achieved in less than two years since we first opened and winning the Waggiest Welcome award is absolutely brilliant. Clearly most (if not all) the credit has to be placed firmly at the paws of the most important member of the team – Roxy the resident house dog. Well done Roxy, and keep wagging that tail!” Co-founder of PetsPyjamas, Karen Hanton comments: “Having sent thousands of dogs and their owners on getaways since the launch of our dog-friendly division in 2014, we understand exactly what is needed to delight canine guests and their owners. We work closely with accommodation partners to create exclusive packages, all-inclusive deals and extras just for the dog, and our awards celebrate this new level of customer service and understanding in the hospitality industry. We believe dogs are very much part of the family and that holidays are much more fun when Fido comes too. The properties we work with share this ethos and have proved themselves to be truly dog-welcoming, going that extra mile with special touches to excite our two and four-legged customers.” She adds: “We’re thrilled to share and reward those properties that have particularly excelled this year with their own unique brand of dog-friendliness, and St Valery are such deserved winners of the Waggiest Welcome award.” A who’s who of dog-friendly hotspot, the other winners of The PetsPyjamas 2017 Dog-Friendly Travel Awards winners include Best Dog-friendly Pub with Rooms – The Fontmell, Dorset; Best Luxury Dog-friendly Hotel Award - Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa, Wiltshire; Pampered Pet Award - The Devonshire Arms Hotel & Spa, Skipton, North Yorkshire; Best for Walkies Award - The Arundell Arms, Devon; Home from Home Award - Moat Cottage at Wilderness, Suffolk; Fido’s Family Award – Fowey Hall Hotel, Cornwall; Best Unique Stay Award - Scamper Holidays, Swansea, Wales; Gourmet Hotel Award - Cliveden House, Berkshire; Best Dog-friendly European Destination - Abbaye de la Bussiere, France; Best Newcomer - Widbrook Grange, Wiltshire and Top Resident Dog - Ston Easton Park, Somerset. PetsPyjamas is Europe’s number one online pet lifestyle destination where people who love their pets can book from 1,500 truly pet-welcoming hotels, cottages, manor houses,cosy inns and stylish B&Bs around the UK and Europe, with new properties signing up almost every day. With a net promoter score of 77, PetsPyjamas is the leading pet friendly holiday bookers with something for every breed and budget from just £60 and unique dog-friendly weekend break packages you won’t find anywhere else. Pets go free and a complimentary pet travel kit worth £20 are standard for all stays, and all breaks are bookable via PetsPyjamas’ expert Pet Concierges - a dedicated pack of dog lovers and experts, who help their furry customers and owners find the perfect break for them. PetsPyjamas also offers a fabulous collection of over 10,000 pet accessories – all handpicked by in-house pet stylists and curated by breed. For more information on a pet friendly Northumberland stay, visit our dog friendly adventures page.

As Royal wedding fever sweeps across the country, Macdonald Linden Hall Golf & Country Club’s reputation as the North East’s perfect wedding destination continues to grow.The luxury four-star hotel, located in the heart of Northumberland, has delivered its third consecutive year of growth for weddings, after reporting a 20% year-on-year increase in bookings to date for the 2018/19 financial year.Macdonald Linden Hall Golf & Country Club’s wedding bookings have risen by more than a third over the past three years as the hotel cements its position as one of the UK’s most prestigious country house wedding destinations.The 450-acre private estate is set in idyllic countryside with a championship 18-hole golf course and luxurious spa facilities. The manicured estate is home to 50 bedrooms and Northumberland’s largest hotel wedding suite with exclusive banqueting facilities complete with a separate entrance, providing a private atmosphere for weddings. The famous Linden Tree Pub also provides the opportunity for wedding parties to start the festivities early with an intimate dinner the night before the big day. Situated just off the A1 and half an hour north of Newcastle, the secluded location feels a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the city. At the end of a tree-lined avenue lies an elegant mansion house, radiating charm and sophistication and providing the ideal backdrop for photographs.Built in 1812, the original manor house has since been transformed into a stylish hotel. This magical venue, replete with ornate ceilings, roaring log fires and marble cherubs, boasts state-of-the-art spa facilities, a fitness centre, a cocktail bar, Dobson’s AA Rosette-award winning restaurant and a cozy gastro pub.Denis Frucot, General Manager at Macdonald Linden Hall Golf & Country Club, said: “At Macdonald Linden Hall Golf & Country Club we have experienced a significant increase in wedding bookings in the last few years, underpinned by our continual investment in the hotel’s facilities and our hard working and flexible team who go the extra mile to ensure a magical day for our brides and grooms. Our award-winning restaurant, luxurious hotel and knowledgeable staff provide the ideal surroundings for the perfect wedding.”Winter packages, midweek offers, small intimate weddings and the use of outdoor woodland areas are all available at Macdonald Linden Hall Golf & Country Club. For further information, visit http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/macdonald-linden-hall-golf-country-club/

Leading pub company The Inn Collection Group has been confirmed as operators of a multi-million pound Northumberland pub with rooms development, set to open in October 2018.Arch, developers of the site in the marina town of Amble, selected The Inn Collection Group as operators ahead of national competition. The seven-site company will now add the Northumberland development to its acquisition portfolio of pubs with rooms, which includes new build schemes The Commissioners Quay Inn at Blyth and The Hog’s Head Inn at Alnwick. The addition of the 30-bedroom Amble development to the group’s estate takes their total bedroom number to 232, making the Kings Park Capital backed operator one of the north east’s largest independent accommodation providers.Construction of the inn started last month, generating an anticipated 60 jobs during the build element, with a further 35 positions created once the inn opens. Keith Liddell, chief executive of The Inn Collection Group, said: “We are delighted that The Inn Collection Group has been selected to operate this exciting new leisure development in Amble. Our brand is synonymous with delivering a value-for-money, quality service and attention to detail, principles we look forward to applying in Amble.“Our eat, drink, sleep and explore model will be a tremendous addition to Amble and the surrounding area’s leisure and business markets and we are looking forward to revealing further details about the inn in due course. “The Amble development will be an excellent asset to our portfolio and cements our positioning as a leader in the leisure operator sector. With growing investment and regeneration in Amble there is a shortage of accommodation of this nature in Amble. The new development will undoubtedly fill this current gap in the market, offering much-need accommodation in the town to visitors so they can extend their stay locally, fuelling more trade for local businesses. “In both the short and long term, the new development will give a boost to Amble’s economy, both from the jobs created during construction and the 35 permanent, full time positions the inn will generate.”Located on Amble’s Coquet Enterprise Park Quay Road, an area earmarked for redevelopment, the two-storey building has been designed to provide an attractive venue for daytime and evening trade. The development will compliment recent investment in the marina town’s harbour regeneration. Richard Wearmouth Chair of Arch said: "This development will bring quality, new accommodation which would undoubtedly mean more visitors and therefore more business for Amble. The inn will not only enhance Coquet Enterprise Park as part of our long-term plans for the area but it will bring much needed jobs to Amble. It’s developments like this which increase the potential for attracting inward investment to benefit Northumberland as a whole.”Colin Bell, Business Growth Director at the North East LEP, said: “This is a significant investment in Amble and the surrounding area. The inn will contribute to the town’s leisure and commercial capability by increasing the area’s accommodation offer and helping to attract valuable additional overnight visitors.” The development has been designed with a mix of 30 double, twin, accessible and family bedrooms across two floors. A ground floor bar and eatery area will provide covers for up to 150 diners inside with a further 100 covers outside and offer informal meeting spaces. There will be on site parking and cycle spaces. The Amble scheme will operate on The Inn Collection Group’s model of providing value-for-money accommodation, quality beverages – with a focus on provenance and local real ales, and home made pub fare served all day, 365 days a year.Construction of the development will be delivered by Tolent Living Ltd.

Battlesteads Hotel & Restaurant in Wark, Northumberland, is celebrating after being named Hotel of the Year at the 2017 North East England Tourism Awards.Held at The Boiler Shop in Newcastle on Thursday 16 November, the North East England Tourism Awards celebrate the very best tourism businesses in the region.Sustainable hotel, restaurant and observatory Battlesteads, which was also shortlisted in the Best Small Attraction and Dog Friendly Business Categories, will now go on to represent the North East at the Visit England Awards for Excellence in 2018.Katie Meyrick-Scott, general manager of Battlesteads Hotel and Restaurant, said: “We are thrilled to be named Hotel of the Year, in a category where we were up against three other really fantastic businesses. Battlesteads is a proud champion of the tourism industry in the North East, and we are looking forward to representing the region at the national Visit England Awards for Excellence.”The North East England Tourism Awards are organised and delivered by the NewcastleGateshead Initiative in partnership with the Northern Tourism Alliance. The winner of each category is automatically entered into the annual VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, which will take place in April 2018.Sarah Stewart, chief executive at destination management and marketing organisation NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “Huge congratulations to all of tonight’s winners. It’s been another brilliant year for entries and we received a high standard of entrants across all categories. “The tourism sector in the North East of England continues to thrive, from our buzzing city centres to our beautiful coastline and varied countryside. Next year promises to be another exciting one for the region as we welcome the Great Exhibition of the North which will have a major impact on our visitor, and wider, economy.”More information about the awards can be found at www.newcastlegateshead.com/tourism-awards. For more information about Battlesteads Hotel, Restaurant & Observatory, visit www.battlesteads.com or call 01434 230 039.

An ambitious project to repair a stone footpath along one of Northumberland’s most popular walking routes has been carried out by Northumberland National Park Authority.Over 400 metres of flagged and pitched stone has been installed between Lordenshaws and The Beacon along the eastern slope of the Simonside Ridge near Rothbury.Due to the site’s remote location, the National Park had to enlist the help of a helicopter to fly the stone and building materials to Simonside in order to carry out the project. A total of 191 loads, each weighing around 1 tonne were carried to the site, overseen by a specialist team from the National Park.Famous for its spectacular rock formations and vivid purple heather during the summer months, the Simonside Hills are a popular spot in the north of the National Park with hill walkers and tourists who flock to the area each year to enjoy the panoramic views of the Cheviot Hills and North Sea coastline from the topmost ridge. The new pathway, which is now open to the public, will enable more people to enjoy the beauty of Simonside without compromising the area’s natural habitats, which are home to key wildlife species including the curlew, red grouse and red squirrels.Lorna Lazarri, Access and National Trails Officer at Northumberland National Park Authority, said:“The Simonside Ridge is an outstanding and well-known walking route which attracts lots of visitors throughout the year. It’s a key asset for the tourism industry of the National Park and the wider region. “Although the remote location and terrain presented us with some technical challenges, it has been fantastic to see the project come together. Watching the stone being delivered to the site by helicopter was really something special!“The work we have carried out on the footpath will enable even more people to visit Simonside and also ensure that the area’s natural vegetation and wildlife habitats are preserved for the future.”Public reaction to the new footpath has been very positive. Alan Walker, a visiting hill walker, commented:“What a fantastic job is being done to create the stone pathways at Simonside. It must be a colossal labour for somebody and although I suspect it is being done primarily to stop erosion, it is a tremendous and very much appreciated boon to a hill walker who is getting on a bit!”Another visitor, Jane Bertelson, emailed her comments to the National Park in praise of the new walkway, she said: “Today we visited the Simonside Hills. We would just like to thank you for the excellently-marked walk and the effort made to make paths for walkers and to reduce erosion. We had a wonderful day out and felt so grateful for our National Park network.”The repairs to the footpath were made possible by a generous donation in memory of the late Dr Alan Reece, the pioneering North East-based lecturer, engineer and entrepreneur who founded a number of major subsea manufacturing companies during his lifetime.A benefactor has placed a commemorative stone within the footpath dedicated to Dr Reece and the students of the Agricultural Engineering Department at Newcastle University who took part in the annual fresher’s ‘Great Downhill Race’ on Simonside’s northern slopes.Anthony Braithwaite, Chairman of Northumberland National Park Foundation, said: “The work carried out at Simonside would not have been possible without the generosity of our local benefactor and for this, we are truly grateful.“It is acts of kindness like this, facilitated through the Northumberland National Park Foundation, that can help the Park to make vast improvements to remote sites like Simonside, which not only help to improve the overall visitor experience, but also enable us to safely conserve ancient monuments and areas of special scientific interest for future generations to enjoy.”The Northumberland National Park Foundation is a registered charity which is dedicated to supporting initiatives across the National Park and beyond that help to enhance and protect the beautiful landscapes of Northumberland.To find out more about the Foundation, or to make a donation, visit www.nnpa.org.uk/about-us/northumberland-national-park-foundation/.Image Credit - A Mackenzie