Place and People
A part of Coquetdale
Hepple Whitefield is a privately owned estate in Northumberland National Park. It has been managed for decades in an unhurried, gentle manner - a style we plan on retaining. It is a wild place, partly due to its rugged topography but also due to sympathetic past management, where shy species have had space to live and breed with little human distraction.
80% of our 4,000 acres are open access, and we are committed to providing access for both locals and visitors from further afield in such a way as to keep disturbance to a minimum. We are incredibly proud to be part of the Coquetdale community, and are grateful for the experts, volunteers and enthusiasts who we work with, and who visit.
Amazing Volunteers
We are very lucky to have glorious volunteers
We have had help from a number of redoubtable and wonderful people over the past year - from the Young Wilders to individuals like Chris Brown and Michael Boxall who have dedicated many hours of time to the management and monitoring of the place. If you would be interested in joining we would really love to hear from you - we will try to find something that interests and engages you.
The Home Team
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Philip Chapman
Keeper Ranger
Philip has years of experience as a gamekeeper and today wears two hats - managing habitats and infrastructure.
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Mary Gough
Conservation Manager
Mary manages our approach to ecological improvement and monitoring as well as the funding streams to make it happen. She also has an excellent line in hats.
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Lucy Riddell
Owner manager
Lucy is always on the look-out for the strange, the beautiful and the very, very gory and is only rarely separated from her trusty hand-lens.
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Walter Riddell
Owner cocktail-maker
Walter grew up at Hepple and co-founded the Hepple Spirits Co to celebrate the wild spirit of the place. Hepple Gin makes possibly the best martini in the world, but it needs to be cold.
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Stewart Whitfield
The Oak of Hepple
Having lived and worked at Hepple for most of his life, there is simply nobody who knows the hills and this valley better.
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The Robson Family
Stock and woodland management
Robsons have been farming at Hepple Whitefield since 1952 and are widely admired in and beyond the valley for their livestock expertise. We are very lucky to have them running our extensive grazing regime.
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Richard Thompson
Hepple Wilds Guide
Richard has taken a lead of our Hidden Hepple events and tours. He has a keen passion for telling our story as well as spotting various birds, mushrooms and wildflowers.
