A father and daughter team have forged a new landscape feature in one of Northumberland’s wildest locations.
The 25ft long steel goat has been sited near the Carter Bar lay-by at the northern head of Redesdale on the Whitelee Moor national nature reserve. Its installation by the Revitalising Redesdale Partnership, led by Natural England, marks the conclusion of a five-year project to celebrate the valley’s cultural heritage and protect its landscape and wildlife.
The goat sculpture by award-winning designer/blacksmiths Stephen Lunn and daughter Ashlee Donaldson will be officially unveiled next month. Stephen and Ashlee work at their forge in Red Row in Northumberland on sculptural metalwork projects.
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Stephen said: “It represents a goat jumping down into water, leading with its front feet. A few months’ work have gone into it and we are pleased that it is in the public domain and can be seen by people. It fits into the landscape.”
Northumberland is noted for its wild goats, which mainly roam the Cheviot area. The feral herds in the Cheviots are regarded as a good example of a primitive goat that helped sustain people in Britain from the times of the earliest Neolithic farmers. They pre-date modern goat breeds and are hardy, living a totally wild existence.
Whitelee, which was bought by Northumberland Wildlife trust in 1999 with assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund, is one of Britain’s most important upland nature reserves. It is of European conservation importance because of its blanket bog and heather heath habitats. The River Rede and its tributaries add to the habitat diversity on the reserve. More than 35 hectares of new woodland have been planted.
Revitalising Redesdale was a £2.8m Landscape Partnership Scheme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which aimed to celebrate, conserve and enhance Redesdale’s rich cultural heritage, landscape and wildlife.
The Revitalisiing Redesdale Partnership included: Natural England; Northumberland National Park Authority; Northumberland Wildlife Trust; Environment Agency; Forestry Commission; Ministry of Defence; The Battlefields Trust; Tyne Rivers Trust; Northumberland County Council; Kielder Water and Forest Development Trust; Newcastle University Students Union; the Redesdale Society, Northumbrian Water and the parish councils of Otterburn, Elsdon, Rochester with Byrness and Corsenside.
The aims of the project were to empower local communities to better understand, conserve and enhance a landscape and natural environment forged by centuries of conflict; celebrate the unique character of that landscape, its biodiversity and culture; address the threats to Redesdale’s increasingly fragile natural, historic and cultural heritage, which have been heightened by a declining resident population and economic decline; and to ensure the local ownership and involvement of projects and schemes developed by the partnership.
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