Howgill Beck project at RSPB Geltsdale

Re-wiggling project creates re-naturalisation

The RSPB and the North Pennines AONB Partnership have collaborated on an innovative project at RSPB Geltsdale to allow the Howgill Beck to work in its natural environment and create a flowing wetland system. Capital works began on 4 August 2022 and were completed by 7 September 2022.

The project received £33,000 in funding from Northumbrian Water under the South Tyne Holistic Water Management Project. Defra’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, which is administered in this area by the North Pennines AONB Partnership, contributed £21,442. Other funding came from the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme (LPS), £16,000, and the RSPB, £16,066. Farming in Protected Landscapes is a Defra programme which funds projects within protected landscapes that benefit nature, climate, and people. Fellfoot Forward LPS is a major project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to conserve, enhance, and celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of a special part of the North-West of England.

Howgill Beck flows through RSPB Geltsdale and is within the Geltsdale & Glendue Fells Site of Special Scientific Interest, the North Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation & Special Protection Area, and is part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The beck originates three kilometres upstream of Stagsike on Cold Fell, running through Bruithwaite Forest, planted by RSPB Geltsdale, and Stagsike Meadow, an excellent area for breeding waders. A length of the beck was straightened to create a canal in the eighteenth century and lacked many of the natural features associated with this watercourse type. The beck now works alongside a permanent watercourse which can connect to its floodplain during flood events. Some of the water has been allowed to find its own path within the system, allowing a dynamic flowing wetland to develop, storing carbon, and creating more beneficial habitat for wildlife.

The site at Howgill Beck was an ideal location to deliver and demonstrate the benefits of restoring a natural watercourse and managing land for increased biodiversity on a sustainable working farm. Local farmers, Ian Bell and Rebecca Dickens, are farming the RSPB land at Tarnhouse with cattle and small numbers of sheep, to help create the ideal habitat for Curlew, Black Grouse, Lapwing, Redshank, Snipe, and many other species of wildlife. They produce quality sustainable food in balance with nature, running a viable business alongside protecting and enhancing the land for nature recovery, habitat creation, and biodiversity.

Working with project designer, George Heritage from Dynamic Rivers, and on-site contractors Gary and Ian Cannon, the original channel has been heavily modified and is now very different from the previous straightened and managed watercourse running between high banks. New, wiggling channels have been cut, creating a braided river with a longer stream bed. The project created much-needed variety within the new channels by adding pools and riffles, which reduced the energy within the channel and meant that any sediment will not be flushed straight down the watercourse as it did previously. The features and slower flow have already allowed some fine gravels to accumulate, creating places for fish to spawn in future.

Jen Selvidge, RSPB Geltsdale Warden and Project Manager of the Howgill Re-naturalisation Project, said: ‘’It has been immensely satisfying to see the reversal of an embanked, highly managed, and straight system. The energy in the channel has been reduced, holding flood water on site for longer, so finer gravels and sediment can be deposited, creating more beneficial habitat for a whole suite of species. We are already seeing high numbers of Snipe feeding within the project area.”.

Catchment Team Leader at Northumbrian Water, Susan Mackirdy, said: “We’re really happy to be supporting this in conjunction with our South Tyne Holistic Water Management Project, which aims to improve the health and resilience of our rivers. It is also a great example of the type of work we support through our Bluespaces scheme, which sees us going above and beyond our regulatory requirements when it comes to improving public access to good quality water environments.”.

Fiona Knox, the North Pennines AONB Partnership’s scheme manager for the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme, said, “It has been great to be part of this project from the start and to now see the beck make a natural route through the landscape and spill out into the surrounding fields. The new habitat created will be valuable for the wading birds on the reserve, and the plant and animal communities that support them.”.

Notes for editors

• About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
  Using money raised by the National Lottery, we Inspire, Lead and Resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk.
  Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund
  Since The National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised over £43 billion for projects and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK. More than £30 million raised each week goes to good causes across the UK.
• The RSPB is the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. We play a leading role in BirdLife International, a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations.
  The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity.
  In England and Wales, no: 207076.
  In Scotland, no: SC037654.
• Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme – Led by the North Pennines AONB Partnership, the Fellfoot Forward LPS is a major project to conserve, enhance and celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of a special part of the north west of England, which stretches from the Cumbrian fellside of the North Pennines AONB and UNESCO Global Geopark to the River Eden, and runs north from Melmerby to Hallbankgate. Fellfoot Forward will bring together management and restoration of habitats, such as woodland, peatland and grasslands, with community archaeology, conservation of historic buildings, community arts and education, and is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Fellfoot Forward LPS is made up of the following partners: Eden Rivers Trust, Natural England, Historic England, RSPB, Carlisle City Council, Cumbria County Council, Eden District Council, Cumbria Action for Sustainability, The Farmer’s Network, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre. For more information about the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership scheme visit https://northpennines.org.uk/what_we_do/fellfoot-forward/
• For media enquiries relating to the Fellfoot Forward LPS, please contact Kate Stacey, katestacey@northpenninesaonb.org.uk