Rothbury Estate, Northumberland
Fabulous piece of news around the Rothbury Estate, which has been purchased by the Wildlife Trust. Not sure if the caravan park mentioned is the one at Nunnykirk, but the only other I know in the area is a group of small private statics not far away. Lots of links online, but here is one
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e83y55538o
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This is fabulous news. In my early 20s I occasionally climbed and walked in the Simonside Hills. However, I always thought the area was little heard of and infrequently visited by those interested in nature and the great outdoors. The shooting fraternity held sway on the estate, an area which was pretty much devoid of those eco rich habitats which should flourish up there. Looking at the plans we will hopefully see many changes for the better and a different visitor/tourist being encouraged. Maybe a place for a new C&MC site?
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It’s a real turn up for the books, as the Estate has been in the Percy family since the 1300 hundreds. It will mean the end of all the shooting (hurrah) in the area. Mind the family do own lots more land. We climbed Simonside a few years ago, lovely area. There are some good places to park up for the day on the lower slopes with an MH.
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I mentioned it last night on micky's post "Wow, what an achievement ". It really is an interesting prospect.
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Yes, it is a beautiful painting I bought from the Sill, a couple of years ago. Still hard to believe that lovely tree isn’t there. We used to drive up to Hadrian’s Wall every Xmas for a day walking, back in the days before traffic got really packed on the A1. We had our honeymoon up there, a special place for us.
The amount of land that is in the hands of a few ultra rich people (Percy’s, Devonshire’s, Fitzwilliam Estate, etc……) is still staggering, so it’s good to see this going to Wildlife Trust.
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Yes, another good article Micky. I just hope the area doesn’t get swamped by visitors like the Northumberland Coast did post COVID. Thank goodness some rapacious Hedge Fund didn’t get hold of it like in other places.
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This is fantastic news ttda and hope all goes through, we have friends in Northumberland and we very surprised on how many shoots there are.
Would love to come upto that part of the UK again but a long drive from here.
Great picture as well.
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Probably good news for the area but it depends on just how the estate is managed. Never understood shooting, so happy to see that go, but some efforts to get it right can often make things worse.
Given the usage of the clubs site I doubt this will be kept on, it was clear when we were there last year people were not using it and many pitches were simply left. It is not that easy to reach and possibly will just be left as it would be difficult to turn a profit. Pity though, as we liked it.
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What surprised me was that it wasn’t just grouse shoots, it was the annual saturation of young pheasants into the lower environments. Driving up the Northumberland A1 and along its tributaries you noticed that they were strewn with game bird carcasses at certain times of the year. The whole area seemed managed to a large degree for shooting. I hope this all changes.
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