Volunteers help 'transform' woodland over 25 years

A team of volunteers who have been looking after "a woodland gem" for the past 25 years have said it is a privilege to watch its transformation.

The Friends of Holywell Dene was formed in 2000 in an attempt to restore the Northumberland woodland on the Delaval Estate, where the group said years of cattle grazing and a lack of land management led to its deterioration.

Vegetation blocked paths, there was litter throughout and hundreds of metres of barbed wire had to be removed.

The chair of the Friends for the last 12 years, Chris Wood, said the "magical" woodland had now been transformed with "well maintained paths" to be enjoyed by walkers and nature enthusiasts.

"I feel privileged to be part of an organization which so assiduously continues to protect, preserve, maintain, restore and improve an area which gives a tremendous amount of pleasure to nature lovers, walkers and photographers," she said.

In 2000, the Delaval Estate leased the dene to North Tyneside Council and Northumberland county councils for 100 years, and the Friends of Holywell Dene formed later that year to maintain it.

Owners Seaton Delaval Hall have been approached for comment about the dene's former condition.

The core volunteers, called the Working Party, have recently carried out work to install steps, repair broken fences and wade into the river going through the dene to break up a large fallen tree near a sewage pipe.

Every week for more than 25 years, volunteers in their mid-60s to 70s have dedicated hours of their time to improving the wood.

Peter Ellis, a volunteer with the group for 14 years, grew up near the woodland and saw how bad it became without maintenance.

"The biggest thing when I started was the litter and we used work our way through the dene with bags," he said.

"There has been a massive improvement and the public have caught on, as other people collect litter now too."

Ellis said the volunteers in the working party got a lot of satisfaction from seeing the benefits their work had on the area.

"When the group started 25 years ago people couldn't walk through the dene, we get a lot of satisfaction out of it and a lot of compliments from visitors too," he said.

Wood said the Friends of Holywell Dene now had more than 4,000 followers on Facebook and more than 100 formal members who paid a small fee for newsletters and updates on work being done in the woods.

She said: "Comments made on our Facebook page reflect how deeply important this woodland gem is to so many people's mental and emotional health."

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.