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Work experience (David)

6 March 2026

A week at the North Pennines

I did many things over five days during my week here at the North Pennines National Landscape, but two days really stuck out for me. On day two and three I feel we really got stuck in and made a change in the local area.

Day two: On Tuesday we were greeted with amazing weather, one of the nicest days of the year so far. We started the day with a risk assessment where we had to go through possible dangers during our tasks and what we could do to prevent them, this helped keep everyone safe and helped us understand what we were doing.

We then headed out to Bowlees Visitor Centre with Adam and Julia. We took a quick walk around Low Force to see if any work was needed. We noticed a small foot bridge needed to have the metal wire grip replaced as it was worn away and there was exposed metal wire, so we measured the dimensions of the bridge to cut some new wire later. Adam was also aware that there were people were often walking through private land in the area, so we walked in that area to find good spots to put some signs.

After a quick lunch break at Bowlees we fixed some latches and bagged up some old wood that needed to be taken away. We also cut some new wire to put on the bridge before heading down back to Low Force. While we were there, we used a hammer, horseshoe nails and fencing pliers to take the old grip off and replace it with new grip. On the way back, we found a broken gate and quickly fixed it with a new bolt. I thoroughly enjoyed this day as I enjoy working with tools and fixing things plus, I also feel I made the area a little bit more safe and enjoyable to visitors.

Day three: On Wednesday we had another day with amazing weather. Today we left straight away heading for Bowlees again with Adam. Once we arrived, we met up with Will and unpackaged some small saplings. Straight after this we headed 10 minutes down the road to a shrub plantation. We were told how to take the guards of trees to allow them to grow freely once they are big enough. We spent the next couple of hours taking these guards off getting quicker as we went. Once all the guards were off we took a break to eat lunch and quickly, however we made a bit of a mess so we began cleaning up ensuring every tree guard, zip tie and wooden stake was properly tidied. This activity was probably my favourite because I thought it was very satisfying and again, I felt I made a real impact on the area allowing these trees to grow.

David L, Year 10, Wolsingham School

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