Springing into Action

Richard Thompson joins the team as a Hepple Wilds Guide © Richard Thompson/Hepple Estate

So much has been happening in the last few weeks at Hepple, it is hard to know where to begin!

In January a furry mammal who likes water, aka Richard Thompson, joined the crew. He is a local ecologist and knowledgeable naturalist with a passion for sharing the wonders of the natural world. Richard will lead our new “Hidden Hepple” safaris. These experiences provide the opportunity to explore Hepple on foot with a guide who will reveal wonderful wildlife, stunning views, fascinating history and explain our approach to wilding the land. Some of the events include the chance to visit the Hepple Gin distillery. For further details and booking options follow this link which will take you to our ‘visit’ page.

During one of his familiarisation walks around Hepple, Richard was delighted to see a hen harrier quartering an area of moorland. Signs of otters - footprints and spraints - were found by some of our ponds. Many are already full of frog spawn and newts returning to breed.

Spring is slowly returning to Northumberland heralded by our cronking ravens. These highly intelligent, beautiful birds breed early when the last blasts of winter often mean there is potentially a good source of carrion to feed their families. One of the hills on Hepple, ‘Ravens Heugh’ is a favourite haunt of these wily birds.

More wetland created on Hepple. Tosson Hill and Ravens Heugh provide a stunning backdrop © Hepple Estate

Monitoring Mentors

Some of the monitoring advisory panel taking a break from the meeting at Hepple © Hepple Estate

In February we gathered our ecological monitoring advisory panel together to prioritise our long term monitoring framework. We are hugely grateful to experts from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Imperial College London, Newcastle University and Rewilding Britain for their valuable input and amazing support.

Of course experts don’t always agree and we had some interesting debates! Under the chairmanship of Dave Stone (Chief Scientist, JNCC) we agreed a comprehensive, scientifically robust monitoring plan which will enable us to track and try to understand the changes in the ecosystem at Hepple over future decades.

The plan includes a wide range of approaches for evaluating changes in biodiversity: both traditional observational fieldwork, citizen science and cutting-edge data collection and analytical techniques involving bio-acoustics, remote sensing and environmental DNA meta-barcoding.

Some of the associated research will use artificial intelligence techniques to build ecological networks that could help understand the hugely complex interactions between our soils, hydrology, fungi, flora and fauna and how they influence ecosystem function and resilience.

We are also excited to be one of the pilot sites contributing to the development of cost-effective and robust ecological and socio-economic monitoring of wilding projects with Rewilding Britain.

We will be sharing more about this as we go, so keep coming back for updates!

Investigating Invertebrates:

Contributing to the Wellcome Sanger Institute’s BIOSCAN Project is also thrilling. This project is studying the genetic diversity of 1 million flying insects from across the UK over a five year period. Hepple is one of 100 sites across the UK where insects are being collected on a monthly basis in a Malaise Trap. The catch is then analysed at the Sanger Institute labs using DNA barcoding. The resulting sequence data will provide a baseline characterisation of insect species diversity over space and time and thus form a much needed resource for DNA-based biomonitoring in the UK. Click here to go to the BIOSCAN website for more info.

Setting up the Malaise Trap at Hepple © Hepple Estate

Sphag-tastic wetlands:

Iain Diack, Natural England wetland specialist identifying mosses at Hepple © Hepple Estate

In February we were fortunate to be visited by Natural England’s senior wetland specialist, Iain Diack, along with some of the local Natural England team whom we work closely. They reviewed the wetland restoration work we have been undertaking across the estate and provided valuable input into the next phase that we planning.

Iain’s keen eye and knowledge of wetland plants enabled us to positively identify more new species for Hepple: Warnstrof’s Bog Moss (Sphagnum warnstorfii) - a stunning deep wine-red coloured moss, plus Twisted Bog Moss (S. contortum) and Rigid Bog Moss (S. teres). They were found in one of our areas of alkaline fen, along with previously recorded Schoenus nigricans or Black Bog-rush - another notable species.

Alkaline fen is an extremely rare and special habitat in the UK as most have been destroyed by changes in land management and development over the decades. At Hepple we are increasing the extent and quality of alkaline fen by blocking up artificial drainage channels (put in many years ago) and grazing extremely gently with our native cattle and ponies. This will help to maintain the diversity of plant species and the varied structure which provides niches for a wealth of other wildlife. We were delighted when Iain sent an email after his visit saying:  “It’s a fascinating site and the work you’re doing is inspirational.”

Winter Wonders

Majestic Scots Pine, Hepple Estate. © Hepple Estate

When life gets frenetic there is something grounding and restorative about stepping out into wilder places, especially those with ancient trees. I'm so lucky to be able to head out into the low sunlight and walk up the hill to some of our 'Granny Pines'. Taking a moment to watch our herd of Exmoor ponies flowing effortlessly through the landscape, their fuzzy winter coats matching the russet hues of the bracken amongst the heather, crowberry and birch.

It is reassuring to lean in to 'Granny East', rest my cheek against rough, fissured bark, breathe in the familiar pine resin smell and look up into the arms of the canopy to try and spot the Goldcrests I can hear amongst the pine needles.

I often think about conifers in this landscape. Two of the three native British conifers; Juniper and Scots Pine, are here. They look very festive in the sparkling frost! Both species have been present in Britain in fluctuating numbers since the end of the last Ice Age, so it's no wonder it feels like they belong here. 

It was thought that the only truly native Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) were to be found in the Highlands of Scotland and any Scots Pine growing in England were derived from planted stock. However, in the last few years it has been confirmed by DNA analysis that a small number of trees descended from the original native Scots Pine have survived in remote corners of northern England as well as Ireland.

Could there be some on Hepple?

The quest for native Scots Pine © Hepple Estate

Back in the summer Professor Adrian Manning and I went on a mission to check out a group of promising Scots Pines hidden in a deep cleugh on the moor at Hepple. After a yomp through waist high heather and bilberry, a steep scramble and then a leap over the watercourse, we made it!

Clinging on to the sandstone rocks alongside Rowan, Holly and Juniper were a small group of Granny Pines, plus their much younger offspring. Could they be the real deal? We recorded the grid references, girth measurements and collected some pine needles to send off to Edinburgh for DNA analysis.

It would be wonderful if these trees are found to be descendants of the original native Scots Pine, the backbone of the celebrated Caledonian Pine Forest. At Hepple, and the surrounding Simonside Hills in Northumberland, there is the potential to regenerate the Northumbrian version of this amazing ecosystem in which a wealth of native species including Aspen, Cowberry, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Black Grouse, Raven, Red Squirrels and Pine Marten thrive. 

We can’t wait to get the DNA analysis results in 2024, so watch this space!

Alien Conifer Control

Dedicated NWT volunteers taking a well-earned rest from removing alien conifers. © Hepple Estate & NWT

Out on the moor, we continue to battle with non-native conifers invading from a neighbouring Forestry Commission plantation. These alien trees threaten to take over our internationally important heath, bog and native upland woodland and scrub habitats.

We are very grateful to local contractors and the fantastic team of volunteers from Northumberland Wildlife Trust who have been out in all weathers helping to remove the Sitka Spruce and Lodgepole Pine saplings. A few were taken home to provide Christmas greenery and everyone went away with glowing cheeks!

Juniper Conservation

Planting young home-grown juniper at Hepple. © Hepple Estate

Through the winter we continue to propagate more native Juniper from the ripe berries collected during the autumn from the fruiting female bushes growing at Hepple. Once widespread, this species is now very rare in the wild in England and is the focus for conservation action where it is still found.

Each year, the Hepple Team, supported by volunteers, plant out the young Juniper to supplement the aging native population. We hope we can create the special suite of conditions to enable more of the wild Juniper to regenerate naturally. This includes: ground disturbance for germination niches; low levels of grazing to prevent competition from other plants whilst not eating off all the Juniper seedlings - tricky!

Hopefully this will benefit species including the beautiful, but declining Ring Ouzel, also known as the Mountain Blackbird. Ouzels are known to feed up on Juniper berries before migrating south to northern Africa for the winter.

So if you are enjoying a Hepple Gin & tonic or cocktail over the coming weeks, you can do so knowing you are supporting not only the recovery of wild native Juniper, but the restoration of the wider ecosystem. Something worth raising a glass to! 

One way to enjoy Hepple Gin © Hepple Estate & Hepple Spirits Co

To visit Hepple and find out more about what we are up to, look out for our new events in 2024, including Spirit of the Wild run jointly with Wild Intrigue.

For more information about native Scots Pine and Juniper conservation, check out the great work being done by Trees for Life and Plantlife.

Download a copy of the fascinating paper on the status, significance and research into wild Scots Pine in northern England in the recently published Journal of British and Irish Botany.

Damsels & Dragons Update

Golden-ringed dragonfly at Hepple © Chris Wren

The wetland restoration and creation work we began at Hepple in 2021 is already benefiting a wealth of species, including damselflies and dragonflies which emerged in abundance this summer.

One of the ponds & Longhorn cattle at Hepple © Hepple Estate

In 2022, with the help of dedicated and knowledgeable volunteer Chris Wren, we recorded a total of 10 species, including the spectacular Golden-ringed dragonfly, striking Azure damselfly, Large red damselfly and the dainty Emerald damselfly. This summer we were delighted to add two more species to our tally: the Four-Spotted Chaser and one of Europe’s largest dragonflies, the Emperor dragonfly.

Volunteer Chris Wren surveying at Hepple © Hepple Estate

Golden-ringed dragonfly at Hepple. The UK’s longest dragonfly species. © Chris Wren

Azure damselflies mating at Hepple © Chris Wren

Large red damselfly at Hepple © Chris Wren

Emerald damselfly at Hepple © Chris Wren

Four-spotted chaser at Hepple © Chris Wren

Emperor dragonfly laying eggs in pond at Hepple © Chris Wren

With Chris’ help and expertise we have recorded a total of 12 species of dragonflies and damselflies at Hepple so far.

We expect to find more species of dragonflies and other insects at Hepple in the future as our ponds mature and species currently found further south move north with climate change. The British Dragonfly Society have produced a fascinating report about this. https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/recording/state-of-dragonflies-2021/

Our records are shared with the British Dragonfly Society, Natural History Society of Northumbria and our regional Environmental Information Records Centre. We are contributing to regional and national datasets providing vital information on the distribution and abundance of species and how they are changing.

Huge thanks to Chris for his time and photos.

Mary

Taking the long view

Twenty years ago I read James Lovelock’s book “Gaia” and my world view shifted. I start to have a different view of how long was long, and how this planet worked.

The sand that formed the rocks that lie along the Simonside ridge are thought to have been washed down the giant rivers of Avalonia over 400 million years ago. At that point, in the Cretaceous era, what was to become the Simonside lay roughly on the equator. The CO2 levels were about 2,000 ppm, about five times higher than today and the seas were about at least 50m higher.

Only 22 thousand years ago, there was a mile of ice that lay above those same rocks.

We are living in a most surprising place.

A Riddell of Juniper and Stone

Tony Juniper runs Natural England but perhaps more importantly has a very important surname, as of course does Dave Stone, newly appointed head of Britain’s top natural science body, the JNCC. Lucy Riddell has a less important surname but arguably the most important job, which is to keep Hepple running.

Natural England has come in for the most absurd amount of stick, wedged between the unbending and immovable spreadsheets of the RPA (Rural Payments Agency) and the swarming anger of the Farming Lobby. We at Hepple very much like this institution. The people in it - and we have met many - have always been helpful, highly educated, and actually rather nice. Their insistence on trying to protect nature in England is sniffed at as if it is were deeply pretentious or precious or pedantic, rather than simply what they have been tasked to do. The clue is in the name.

Today (23 May 2023) its ebullient and personality-rich chairman came to visit Hepple with a broad retinue. Dave Stone - chair of the JNCC but ALSO chair of the Hepple Advisory Group (HAG) - was also here to review our monitoring work. We visited ponds, discussed the delights of British Bureaucracy and finally, as ever, ended up in the Distillery. Oh, and someone was able to take a photo of Tony Juniper holding a Hepple Juniper. Hooray!