A year as a trainee

Tees-Swale: naturally connected trainee

Julia Deane looks back on her year as a trainee with the Tees-Swale: Naturally connected programme.

Julia Deane, farming and nature trainee

I have had an amazing experience over the past year working as the farming and nature trainee for the North Pennines National Landscape team.

It has been really enjoyable to work on a variety of projects and to have the flexibility to explore my passions in nature, although it has also been a steep learning curve.

During my time, I have improved my skills in upland plant identification, nature recovery techniques and practical land management; equipping me with the skills and confidence to achieve a job within the environmental sector.

There have been many highlights, including beautiful nature and wildlife, working with a friendly team and engaging with farmers and land managers. There have also been some challenging moments, including tree planting in 30mph winds and meadow surveying in a summer thunderstorm, but overall, it has been a great experience. During my traineeship, I have enjoyed experiencing the changing seasons in the uplands and how each time of year brings different approaches to nature recovery.

Having started my traineeship in the early summer, the North Pennines were coming back to life again. I assisted with surveying rare upland hay meadows, attended workshops for knowledge exchange with farmers and oversaw green hay restoration. I got to experience hearing the call of a lapwing for the first time and seeing a curlew’s nest with eggs. This merged into data analysis, report writing, seed sorting and helping attend to the plant nursery as autumn approached. With the arrival of winter, the upland wading birds had left, and I was deep into plug planting, tree planting and undertaking beating up surveys. Now that spring is arriving, the lapwings and curlews are slowly arriving back to the North Pennines and my traineeship is winding down. I am finishing courses, helping with the maintenance of the Pennine way and reflecting on the amazing time I have had.

I would highly recommend a traineeship with the North Pennine National Landscape team to anyone looking to enter the environmental sector, it was extremely rewarding and has equipped me with the skills to advance my career.